21st Century Learning

As I viewed this web-site, I noticed a big push towards learning on a different frontier. I was impressed by the support that was given by its members and the mission that they are trying to achieve. I feel that they really trying to reach out to us and allow us to think outside the box when it comes to education. We must not think like dinosaurs anymore when it comes to educating are children of tomorrow.
As educators of these children, we must have a more worldly process which will allow our students to become better citizens an in ever growing non-industrial society. The site is trying to make us aware of what the focus of learning should be in the 21st century not the 19th, or 20th. Our world is changing and it is time for us in the United States to catch up with our neighbors throughout the world or we will definitely be falling behind.
I live in the state of Michigan and we all have heard or seen the BIG THREE auto makers are falling behind and the world market has basically passed them by. The focus now at least in our state has to change its philosophy and look to other resources and other means for economic growth if we are going to survive. It has to start with the education of our youth of tomorrow to see that this is met and for us as citizens of Michigan can move beyond the old industrial image that it has taken on.

Blog in the classroom

I feel that teachers can use blogs to set up homework assignments or list missing work. I know several teacher who have set up their own web-sites that their students can enter. I think setting up a blog would allow students to converse openly about their concerns or give feedback about certain assignments or classwork. Teachers can post daily topics that students could check and respond to for extra assignments or part of the daily or weekly lessons. Basically it would set up very similar to what I am doing at Walden university.

Attendance

Why do alternative education students have a hard time with being present or on-time to school? I have been in alternative education for eleven years. I have seen many students drop out and fail on a regular basis. Why? It is because these students do not come school. Attendance and truancy is a huge problem in alternative education and it reflects the students lack of motivation and discipline in their lives. If these students are not present, these students are unable to listen to lectures, complete assignments, or even ask for the missing work. These types of unmotivated students already have issues with education or they would not be in an alternative educational setting.

Our district has an attendance policy which allows a student to miss up to seven days. After three tardies, the student will receive an absence as well. Now the policy does state that a student, who has gone over the seven days, must carry a D- in the class and get a C+ or better on the final exam to receive credit for that course. As I looked through my attendance book I noticed that 3/4 of my students have gone over the seven days and 1/2 of those students are failing and will probably not pass the course. What a shame and what a waist of time, right?

What is the underlying problem? These students continually make excuses for their lack of responsibility and effort for not coming to school. These students are unmotivated even when they're in a class and what scares me is what they may be doing when they are't in school? How are they going to be even if they graduate from school? Will they skip work or show up late? If they do, these students will be released (FIRED) and most likely bounce from job to job, while creating a poor resume. Someone help me, what can I do to get my students to come to class?