Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach stated the above quote on Niel Rochelle’s blog. I don’t think our schools are there yet. I think schools are not preparing students for the information age. Our schools are still preparing students for industry and in some cases a society still based on agriculture.

Ah…The age of conceptualization. I agree that our students need to be prepared to compete for jobs that have to do with conceptualization. Where on Bloom’s Taxonomy is conceptualization?  I have tried to teach teachers to use technology were they had to create a project that involved a great deal of conceptualizing.   Many teachers can’t do it.  Now I will try to be fair.  You can’t do a project that requires conceptualizing in just a 6 hour one shot professional development secession.  But many teachers that I deal with don’t want to put the mental energy to work that high on Bloom’s Taxonomy.  I guess I can’t blame them.  If I was in a classroom everyday and had to prepare students for high stakes testing and I had a day where I could refresh by learning things, how much effort would I put into it?

I have got to say the number one skill that students need in the 21st century is that ability to communicate.  And we don’t test for that.  I’ve got to say that we have worked with students in our entrepreneurial program.  Students completed, with the aid of a great teacher, a business plan that had to do with real businesses coming into our area.  Students had the opportunity to present to state senators and some real prominent people in our area.  The students had to explain their project.  I will take some blame for this for not knowing the students’ abilities, but the students could not do it.  They did not have the skills to communicate their projects, concepts and ideas.  I felt bad for them.  Communication is where we need to start.