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About
Us and
Anne Shaw.
Greetings!
Thank you for your responses to our newsletter,
our web site and our professional development
programs.
I'd like to take this time to tell you a little
more about who we are (and who we are not) at
21st Century Schools, what makes us truly unique
and valuable, and explain how we can benefit you
and your students.
We would
also appreciate your participation in a survey
which will help us to provide the services that
fit your needs. I thank you in advance for your
time in reading this newsletter and taking part
in the survey.
Who We Are (and who we are not)
We are an independent company founded in 1995 by
Anne Shaw. We specialize in professional
staff development and curriculum design. Because
we consider ourselves agents of change,
we do not cater to the traditional ways of
designing and delivering education that are no
longer appropriate for the 21st century.
Our goal is to assist educators in creating
schools and classrooms that are truly 21st
century. See our article,
What is 21st Century Education?. We can
help you develop an authentic paradigm of 21st
century education, discover an almost infinite
variety of ways to create schools and
classrooms, and learn specific strategies to
make your 21st century schools a reality.
Who We Are Not - Although the names are
similar, we are not the federal program,
21st Century Community Learning Centers, a
program established by the federal government. Our
company, 21st Century Schools, was established 7
years prior to the federal program with a
similar name. That said, our workshops are
perfect for, and have been attended by, many
people running these federally funded programs
at their districts!
21st Century Schools is unique among the many
providers of professional staff development.
First of all, our workshops are purposely
limited to small groups. This allows the
presenters to provide truly personalized,
individual assistance to the participants.
We don't just talk about the 21st century
classroom, we model it. These are NOT the
typical "sit and get" lectures you are used to
attending. They are highly interactive, and, in
addition to the serious reflections and comments
we receive, we frequently hear exclamations of
how the workshop was "truly amazing" , "fun",
and "the best workshop I ever attended". Read
additional
comments by attendees.
Other providers offer a traditional, fragmented,
content-focused, almost textbook-driven menu of
topics. We feel that what they offer serves to
maintain the current (and past) educational
system, and that they do not address authentic
21st century schooling.
Our menu is 21st century, interdisciplinary and
integrated. We connect directly to skills and
knowledge required for success in the 21st
century. Please see our article,
What is 21st Century Education? Also
see our chart
comparing the traditional classroom to the 21st
century classroom.
You've got a cell phone at one ear and an iPod
at the other. You know that Blackberry is now a
verb and that Spam is not just canned meat. It's
the 21st century . . .
Today's students, digital natives, were born
into a media-saturated world, and their lives
are immersed in technologies from cell phones,
iPods, handheld gaming devices, PDAs, and
laptops they take everywhere, to the computers,
TVs, and game consoles at home.
Even toddlers are utilizing multimedia devices
and the Internet through handheld video games
such as Leapster, and web sites such as
www.PBSkids.org and www.Nick.com, where
preschoolers (including my 2-year-old grandson)
easily navigate these electronic, multimedia
resources to play games in which they learn colors,
numbers, letters, spelling, and more complex tasks
from mixing basic colors to
creating new colors, problem-solving activities,
and reading. Even many of their cartoon
characters such as
Dora the Explorer, and a character named
Pixel on
LazyTown
utilize the Internet, digital
cameras, printers and other technologies!
At 21st Century Schools we focus on these
aspects of the new millennium
-
Multimedia and Technologies connected to
our Media Culture
-
Global Classroom - for a Globalized
World
-
Diversity - linguistic, religious,
racial, physical ability, class and more
-
Service Learning
-
Multiple Literacies for the 21st Century
-
We take you and your students beyond the
standards - more than mere test prep for
NCLB
-
Classroom strategies for independent,
self-directed, interdependent student
learning
-
Integrated, project-based and
interdisciplinary
-
Directly connected to the real world of
the 21st century
-
Connected to the community
Benefits to You and Your Students
Benefits to Educators -
-
New understanding of what a 21st century
classroom IS
-
How to create 21st century curriculum
-
Delivery of curriculum via multimedia
and technologies
-
Specific strategies to create and
maintain a 21st century classroom
-
Design and deliver meaningful curriculum
AND exceed NCLB
-
Personalized - create curriculum
designed for YOUR classroom, school and
community
-
Fun
-
Opportunity to attend in cities that are
fun and have excellent curriculum resources
Benefits to Students -
-
High levels of student motivation
-
Higher levels of student learning
-
Higher test scores
-
Higher graduation rates
-
More students go on to college
-
Curriculum is connected to students'
interests and experiences
-
Curriculum is connected to real world
-
School is aligned to media-saturated
world
Workshop by Location
Workshops by Title
Workshops by Date
Forms of Professional Development
Available
In keeping up with 21st century technologies,
trends and needs, we now offer professional
development in a variety of options:
In Closing . . .
In closing, I would once again like to thank
those of you who have shared your classroom
ideas and experiences with us, who have
contributed so wonderfully to our workshops, and
who have continued to read and express
appreciation for this newsletter.
I hope that this newsletter helped create a
better understanding of how unique our programs
are at 21st Century Schools, and how much our
programs can benefit you and your students. If
you haven't contacted us yet, please do. If you
haven't attended one of our workshops, please
do. If you have attended our workshops before,
please come again - we have new offerings all
the time.
Survey
Whether we've met or conversed with you or not,
we would ask at this time that you do correspond
with us so that we may learn more about the
specific needs for your classroom, campus or
district. We would appreciate your taking a
little time out of your very busy schedule to
help us provide the best services possible for
you. Please complete the Survey we've added to
our web site, or if you prefer, send us an
email. We really do want to hear from you and
work with you to make your schools the best they
can be! We're looking forward to hearing from
you.
Sincerely,
Anne Shaw
Who We Are