Curriculum21 — Visual Literacy

Learning from a Book

Curriculum 21 by Heidi Hayes Jacobs

You must have noticed that I have been reading and re-reading “Curriculum 21” by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. I have posted my first impressions and recommendation here and since then have joined and written about the companion Ning to the book here. I created a Flickr Curriculum 21 group to have a hub for images and videos of Curriculum21 teaching and learning examples.

I was inspired by quotes from the book to write the following blog posts Geography is a Separate Subject. Really? and “It Isn’t the Answer Anymore, It is the Question”.

Curriculum 21 is a book that is just FULL of information, ideas, thoughts, research, recommendations and exactly about the change in education, life, skills, literacies, and global competencies I am contemplating and working for.

Unfortunately, the book is not available as a Kindle Edition, which means, I am relying on sticky notes and highlighters as a way to make the rows and rows of text more appealing to my visual eye as well as a way to find passages and quotes more quickly later on.

Stickies and Highlights

I am conducting an experiment about my own learning style. How can I read this book and best:

filter out the information that I want to keep?
make connections to my previous thoughts, ideas and blog posts?
remember quotes from different chapters?
make the text content more visual for my brain?

I am eager to find out:

Will I be able to learn about the content of the book differently/better/easier/?
Will I be able to “see” connections that with the text alone I did not?
Will the process of looking for and selecting the right image that will represent the quote make me think “deeper” about what the quote us trying to say?
Will the sum of the quotes I selected from the book tell a story in itself?

I wonder how my personal experiment will turn out… but in the meantime, please take the time to share:

How do you learn best from a book?
Highlighting, taking notes, talking/discussing it with someone ?
Do my visuals help you visualize what Curriculum21 is about?
Do the slides do nothing for you?
Do the visuals give you a different point of view, than when you were reading the text alone?
Are you interested in reading Curriculum 21 (if you have not done so) because of the visual “Preview”?
What opportunities do you give your students to learn from a a book?

: Adapted from Tim Tyson (p. 130), Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

: Adapted from Tim Tyson (p. 130), Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Curriculum 21 – Visual Book Review

Cross Posted to Langwitches Blog

Curriculum 21

I am usually a fast reader, but I have been taking my time with this book. There is not only a wealth of information, but it connects to so many of my thoughts and ideas I have contemplated in my mind as well as on this blog over the last few years. It resonated with me when Heidi Hayes Jacobs says:

a school does not need reform— it needs new forms.

Heidi advocates that

New essential curriculum will need revision- actual replacements of dated content, skills, and assessments with more timely choices.

I really liked her approach when she suggests the distinction between a “growth model” instead of a “change model” that needs to be introduced to a school’s culture.

As I was reading the book (hard copy, not on my Kindle), I was using highlighters to not miss thoughts or quotes that I wanted to remember. It did not take long to realize that I was highlighting too much 🙂 How was I going to get through this book and make sense of it, connect and wrap it around my thoughts which were floating around but had not been verbalized?

I know that I work best through concepts and ideas when I create diagrams or use mind mapping tools. I really like using the SmartArt Graphics in PowerPoint. The visuals below are a summary of what I “read out of the book”, the most important points in my mind and quotes.

Curriculum 21- What does it mean to be educated?

Based on Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

What does it mean to be educated in the 2st Century?

Information Literacy

Understanding of knowledge, creation & authority
Make meaning of information to create new knowledge
Find, evaluate, organize, interpret & distribute information
Pattern recognition, critical thinking, perception
Gather knowledge to become intelligent vs. apply knowledge

Network Literacy

Social production is enabled by power of networks to connect people
Nature of learning & teaching
Locating experts & eyewitnesses
Relationships NOT technologies determine learning
Enhancing the process of learning to be (Identity)

Global Literacy

Compete. Cooperate & connect with global peers
Greater understanding of 95% of world’s population
Knowledge-driven global economy
Global competency knowledge, language &respect
Global perspective

Media Literacy

Critical Thinking
Literary Authority & participatory culture
Media is shaping the way students think and express themselves
No longer print-centric world
Find, analyze, evaluate, organize, remix, store and share media

Student Portfolios

Collecting-Selecting-Reflecting
Metacognition
Gather data about own learning
Self-Modifying as lifelong learner
Alternative assessment tool

Connecting

Non-linear learning
Semantic Web
Interdisciplinary linkage to real world applications
Global Connectivity
Ubiquitous connectivity

Collaborating

Learning is social
Collective Intelligence
Engage students to produce meaningful contributions
Students making contributions to learning communities
Establishing & maintaining working relationships

Communicating

Tools to share what we learn open up new ways of thinking
Professional Development
Community
Nationally/ Internationally
Foreign Languages

Adapted from Alan November (pp. 186-194) in Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Arthur Costa & Bena Kallick (pp. 210-226) in Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Arthur Costa & Bena Kallick (pp. 223-225) in Curriculum 21 (ASCD, 2010) "by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Adapted from Stephen Wilmarth's chapter in Curriculum21 (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Visual based on Heidi Hayes Jacobs in "Curriculum 21" (ASCD, 2010) by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. We need to upgrade curriculum content. She suggests to start with assessments. Decide what kind do we need to keep, what do we need to throw out and each teacher pledges to at least upgrade one assessment type a year.

I also like taking quotes and create visuals of them.