Changing focus

As I move closer to the stage where I have to narrow down the focus for my thesis, the focus of the blog will share lessons learned, info from my favorite bloggers, technology links, and what we can do to help our students succeed.

The Richmond County Board of Education provides this information on the About Us link from the home page.

Learning Today...Leading Tomorrow

The Mission of the Richmond County School System is to educate students to become lifelong learners and productive citizens.

1. Every person has the right to a quality education.
2. Education is the shared responsibility of the individual, home, school, and community.
3. Every person can learn.
4. Respect and acceptance are essential for learning and personal development.
5. A safe, healthy and orderly environment is essential to learning.
6. Communication is the key to understanding among people.
7. Excellence cannot be compromised.

While the board claims this mission statement was developed from the results of a survey, bring up the subject of lifelong learning in a F2F (Face to Face) conversation and the responses vary from A to Z. This is also challenging when the graduation rate for the 10 high schools in this area range from 100% to 30%. While one person cannot do it all, if everyone did a little bit the district would see the change in attitudes toward education and improve the district as a whole.

I want to share this link from the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County's (PLCMC) project Learning 2.0 which hosts the "23 Things" Project. While I know this is old news in the online world there are many people who are not connected and are missing out on expanding their personal learning network. Thing #2 Lifelong Learning & L2 provides information on the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners.

The digital divide amongst parents, teachers, students, administrators, alumni, and community members of this district is so varied I thought a post about the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners is something to be shared. Maybe someone will request that 23 Things (which is now grown to 65 Things) can be used to help bridge the digital divide. Maybe individuals will incorporate the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learners. Maybe someone will follow the lead of other school districts and incorporate an opportunity for individuals to earn PLUs, CECs, or some type of credit for those students stuck taking a gapfiller course.

Comments and recommendations are always welcome and do not worry because the school district blocks blogs so no one at the brick and mortar schools will read this.

For those who have completed 23 Things, PLCMC created Learning 2.1 Explore, Discover, Play. Have fun improving your skills and sharing knowledge!