Jennifer+Rausch+Design+Space

=**link to my Creative Synthesis project:**= []

=**I. Design space to develop your 250-300 word** // abstract // **that summarizes your question, rationale, and your findings.**= The following Creative Synthesis Project was designed to illuminate and reflect upon how teachers can utilize different strategies to help students apply concepts they are learning in the classroom to their lives. I will examine ways for teachers to use technology and other resources to get students to make meaning from what they are learning. Rationale: The focus of my synthesis is a direct reflection of my interest in finding new tools to get my students to think critically and apply taught skills. Additionally, given the emphasis of 21st Century Thinking Skills in school I wanted to make sure that these experiences allowed for my students use technology meaningfully. It is necessary for me to evaluate the learning tools that are available to me and ensure that they hold benefit for my students and allow for more complex thinking. So many times technology is implemented on a surface level and holds little value. My purpose is to gather resources that hold meaning for my students and highlights the purpose the skills being taught. Through the use of these tools students are prepared for life in the 21st Century.

Purpose I work in a rather affluent school, where most of my students are working significantly above grade level. Despite my five years of experience teaching- three in fourth grade and two years in second grade- I #|continue to struggle with finding new ways for my students to think critically about what they are learning and applying basic skills. With the adoption of the new Common Core curriculum, there is even a stronger emphasis on the #|application of taught skills.

Further, given the current weight placed on incorporating 21st Century Thinking Skills into the classroom and my experience in the New Literacies Reading program my interest in incorporating #|technology in to my daily teaching has continued to develop. The framework for 21stcentury learning provides an “innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century”.Skills involving browsing the internet and communicating via different technologies are skills that were not needed ten years ago in school, yet today are stressed more and more due to the changing world around us. These skills are needed to “survive” in this digital age. The emphasis on utilizing technology and web tools in the classroom is a direct reflection of the world surrounding us. Technology is constantly changing and surrounding our everyday lives. What we are doing in the classroom must reflect the real world. Therefore, techniques and methods of teaching years ago are no longer effective. There are a plethora of tools that are out there that hold so much power and meaning in the classroom. The purpose of my synthesis is to reflect upon the information I have obtained throughout my experience at North Carolina State Universityand apply this to effectively getting my students to think critical and apply the skills I am teaching them so that they can see implications of these skills in the real world.

=**II. Design space to plan out your** // creative synthesis // **that will visually represent your findings. Remember to include your abstract in your visual representation.**=

> How can I get my learners to think critically and apply what they are learning to their lives while utililizing 21st century thinking skills? >
 * ==Compelling Question:==

> Use coursework (including core courses ECI 546, 524, 523, 508 and your content specialty courses), individual investigations, and outside experts to explore different aspects of your question. Actively analyze information from multiple sources and perspectives as you explore answers to your question. Make a list here of the information you are analyzing. As you proceed with your analysis make some notes here about your initial findings and where you anticipate needing more information. Also, make sure to note if and how your compelling question has changed. 21st Century leadership: teaching students how to problem solve and collaborate, using multiple intelligences. Global learning: Teaching students about the world around them and different cultures, their relationship to others, understanding and accepting differences
 * ==Gather & Analyze Information:==

Using Technology: having students use new web tools to apply what they learned.

> Synthesize the information from and across your sources to create a unique response to your question. You should be able to distill your synthesis into 4-6 bullet points (to be included in your written abstract) as well as provide a creative visual representation of your findings. You may use a variety of media and tools to design your visual representation of your Creative Synthesis. Think carefully about the tools that you will use to represent your findings. The first draft of your Creative Synthesis should be developed no later than Midterm/NCSU Spring Break while you are taking the ECI 508, Teachers as Leaders class. Click here to see sample products from former students. []
 * ==Creatively Synthesize Information:==


 * Students need to be able to problem solve and apply what they have learned (it should not be a drill and practice), preparing our students for the real world.
 * Students need to learn about other cultures in order to begin to understand and accept different perspectives
 * Students need to be able to collaborate and work effectively with one another, this does not happen naturally and they need to practice these skills beginning at an early age
 * Students need to become leaders and internalize leadership skills
 * Students need to accustomed to and learn how to use the internet and other web tools.

> Seek out at least two colleagues in the NLGL program in addition to your advisor to provide peer feedback on your abstract and creative synthesis based on the NLGL Creative Synthesis Rubric. Based on the feedback you receive, you may choose to make revisions to more fully meet the rubric criteria.
 * ==Critically Evaluate and Revise:==

> Be prepared to present your Creative Synthesis at the NLGL Design Studio Showcase during your final semester of your degree program, in conjunction with the ECI 508, Teachers as Leaders course.
 * ==**Share, Publish, Act:**==