A quick screencast I made to introduce my classmates to NaNoWriMo...
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In his first Op-ed, Thomas Friedman spoke to Laszlo Bock, who is in charge of Hiring at Google. Bock made the point that Google is looking for problem solvers, not just people who are “well educated”. In this follow up, Friedman asked him to elaborate a bit. To paraphrase Bock a little bit: it’s not as important that you have a degree as much as it is important that you worked for that degree, developing critical thinking skills in the process. Having a set of knowledge really makes you no better than an encyclopedia. Having a set of knowledge and knowing how to put that set of knowledge into action, however, creates value. People who can do that can achieve goals.
So what does “that” look like? Bock says that “that” looks like a “structured thought process and creativity.” To look at this from an educator’s standpoint, I ask myself “how the heck do I develop that?” This points us, I think, to developing a classroom where students have a buy-in. It is a classroom where students know they are learning something worthwhile. Or, at least, they recognize the value of developing skill sets that promote “college and career readiness”. I know that in my lessons I am constantly trying to encourage kids to work collaboratively and problem solve. I am always teaching them healthy habits for developing literacy like close reading and annotation. I am always pushing them outside of their comfort zone so that they are really thinking, not just giving me answers. Here’s the thing though. I don’t always tell them that they are developing those particular skills. I think that in a lot of ways, this lack of transparency does students a great disservice in developing as thinkers and doers. I am willing to bet that a lot of educators make similar oversights. In order for students to develop critical thinking skills, we need to tell them that they are being taught how to develop critical thinking skills. This, of course, seems obvious. But, I am going to make it a very high priority from now on to explicitly tell students some iteration of this phrase: “This skill that I am teaching you right now is a skill that will help you solve this kind of problem. What matters more than you doing the work for my class is that you know how and why you are doing this work.” Friedman, Thomas L. "How to Get a Job at Google, Part 2." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 April 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. Thomas L. Friedman’s article, “How to get a job at Google”, outlines who and what Google’s hiring manager is looking for when he interviews job candidates. He is not looking for the classic indicators of what we might consider “well-qualified”. He is looking for problem solvers. In essence, Google is looking for candidates who are able to indentify problems on the fly and collaborate to brainstorm ways to solve them. Of course, the question then is: How do we educate kids to be better problem solvers?
We show them How to solve problems in groups. We show them how to pool their resources. We show them the value of synergy. I think that, in addition to cultivating a work ethic and a sense of empathy within students, we need to teach them How to collaborate more effectively for problem solving. Oftentimes, Students are told to work in groups, but are never told what is expected of group members. We, as educators, can be guilty of assuming that because we assign group work, our students are working together. More often than not, students will divide the work and conquer. In some cases, the highest achieving student of the group becomes responsible for the bulk of the work while the others slack. To truly develop what Friedman calls “emergent leadership”—Leaders who step up when they are needed, and relinquish power when it benefits the group—educators need to model effective group work strategies. Before assigning group projects and group work, we should try to be conscientious about whether or not: 1. Our lessons have been scaffolded correctly to ensure that all student input is valued and considered, 2. Students have ground rules and prompts for having productive conversations for achieving the project’s goals, and 3. Students’ collaboration skills are considered as much in the grading process as their final product. I’m not quite sure what this looks like exactly. But, the best part about identifying a problem is that you can choose to become responsible for solving it. Friedman, Thomas L. "How to Get a Job at Google." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Dec. 2015. |
AuthorTrevor Rawlings is an educator at Pinacate Middle School in Perris, CA. Archives
April 2018
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