Singapore's 21st Century Teaching Strategies

I recently came across this video on Edutopia.  I watched it several times just trying to grab onto every AWESOME thing that was said.



Here were some of the quotes that really got me...

• When school is fun, you don't get kids waking up in the morning saying "Oh, do I have to come to school AGAIN?!"
• If you're not savvy with technology, you're going to lose the kids in the school.
• Today, knowledge is no more a monopoly among the teachers.
• They {students} are no longer a consumer of knowledge, they produce knowledge.
• Instead of looking at Facebook as a distraction, I would rather use it to engage them.
• The teachers realize they cannot TEACH the same way they were TAUGHT.

IF THOSE QUOTES AND THIS VIDEO DON'T GIVE YOU CHILLS, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG PROFESSION!  Students actually WANT to come to this school.  One of the slides in the video read "Ongoing professional development is one of the key factors in Singapore's educational success."  I cringe when I hear teachers say, "We're doing everything we can do - what more do they want from us?"  Yeeeahhhhh...I don't believe that.  This is my favorite quote from the entire video:

There's always something new to learn.  You never stand still.  You're always moving ahead, pushing boundaries, trying to discover new things, new ways of teaching.  Even if the pedagogy is sound, there's always a technology that is challenging us.  We always have to find new ways to connect with the kids and to challenge them.

I heard a quote recently that  we are witnessing "the death of education but the dawn of learning."  Don't you want to be a part of that?!  Don't miss the boat!