21st-Century Learner

Mark Stevens of NEA wrote this article discussing how education is quickly changing and what we need to do to catch up.


No one sees more clearly than educators how the technologies we use in our daily lives influence how students learn. Students have changed, educators have changed, learning itself has changed. And learning tools have evolved accordingly.

Yet the typical physical building where all that learning takes place has remained largely the same over the last 100 years. We live with the reality that the same structures of brick, mortar, and steel will continue to greet us each morning. The great news is that 21st-century learning can take place in every school.

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Using Ted Talks to Enhance Narrative Writing

R. Milian

One of the most difficult things for students to assimilate is Voice. I have lost count on the number of essays that are just too numbing to read. They lack voice and as a result what appears on paper is nothing more than empty platitudes that, honestly, I can't bear to read. Ted is one of my favorites places to watch educational videos, and I came across one by the African writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that discusses the dangers that writers tend to make when they view the world from a single perspective. It is a thought-provoking video that also discusses how she found her voice in writing and how she expanded her literary world. For this writing activity, I will use her Ted Presentation as a way to teach students what it means to use Voice when we write. 

Objective: Students will enhance their narrative writing skills by learning how to develop voice by watching a Ted video

CCSS  WRITING STANDARDS:  Applies to grades 9-10 and 11-12

W.9-10.3

W.11-12.3

CCSS  SPEAKING AND LISTENING STANDARDS: Applies to grades 9-10 and 11-12

SL.9-10.5

SL 9-10.1

SL 11-12.1

SL11-12.5

Step One: Watch the video

Step 2  

Students will collaborate in groups using Google Docs to discuss the video

( Here you may want to ask the students how Adichie was able to find her voice)

Step 3

Using a projector, the instructor displays the answers the groups produced

Step 4

Practice by having  students develop a brief paragraph using voice

Step 5

The instructor shows  what the students came up with and discusses their results.

Step 6

Using Google Docs students edit their classmates paragraphs. 

Step 7

If students are still having difficulty with voice, I have them read and discuss  in groups the short story “ My Name” from Sandra Cisneros’s

“ The House on Mango Street.” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-3G4XJ-lN7doAMtk8uuU2zbQLCeqsIhFPrEq3vs6DO4/pub 

Step 7

Have students write a narrative essay using as key component voice