Ted Dintersmith, in his TED Talk “Prepare Our Kids For Life, Not Standardized Tests”, shares what he considers to be important life skills. List what you consider to be 3 important life skills that your school is good at teaching. Then, list 3 more important life skills that you wish you had more time to work on with your students. Of the 3 life skills on your wish list, choose one and discuss, specifically, what you could do to better prepare your students in this area.
Three life skills my school is good at teaching:
ReplyDelete1) Community Involvement (Civic citizenship)
2) Character Development
3) Belonging (Including others)
I wish my school was better at...
1) Goal-setting
2) Self Responsibility
3) Global Awareness/Empathy
I would really like to work on Global Awareness/Empathy. In my small town, not many kids travel or get to learn about other cultures and values. I would like to take my students on more "virtual trips" through technology (online museums, Google Map Trips, Google Earth). I would like to get them to meet others online (safe pen-pal). I would like to use more books from other cultures and expose them to stories with differences celebrated from other countries and backgrounds. I feel like my students are sheltered and not very worldly. Travel, even virtually, creates understanding and empathetic views.
3 important life skills that your school is good at teaching:
ReplyDelete1. Setting Goals
2. Problem-Solving
3. Growth Mindset
3 more important life skills that you wish you had more time to work on with your students.
1. Community Involvement
2. Communication
3. Organization
Of the 3 life skills on your wish list, choose one and discuss, specifically, what you could do to better prepare your students in this area.
Community Involvement. I want to be able to provide experiences for my students families to take part in their learning and to come to the classroom to experience experiences with them. I would also like to see this school wide at my school. In the classroom, I could have parents volunteer in the classroom such as reading with students, helping with class parties etc. For school wide, we can host monthly school wide activities such as bingo night, family night, ice cream and bingo etc
Three life skills my school is good at teaching:
ReplyDelete1. Developing good character traits.
2. Problem solving
3. Accountability
3 more important life skills that you wish you had more time to work on with your students.
1. Communication skills
2. Emotional regulation
3. Learning to be part of a community
Of the 3 life skills on your wish list, choose one and discuss, specifically, what you could do to better prepare your students in this area. I would love for opportunities to take the kids out into the community more to learn how to behave and interact appropriately with other citizens. Also, being able to teach them some of those daily living skills that they will need to have in the community such as acting appropriate, ordering at a restaurant, shopping at a grocery store.
I would like to implement communication skills through methods like storytelling, role-playing, games and active listening. Focusing on expressing feelings, asking questions, turn taking and showing empathy toward others. I would like to practice emotional regulation through having more time to teach coping strategies using tools like feelings charts and calm corners to help students identify and manage their feelings. Also providing a supportive environment to allow for coping skills like deep breathing and mindfulness.
3 life skills my school is good at teaching:
ReplyDelete1. Taking responsibility for actions
2. Character traits
3. Being kind to all
3 important life skills that you wish you had mor etime to work on with your students:
1. communication
2. organization
3. money awareness (budgeting, how much things cost)
Of the 3 life skills on my wish list, I would choose money awareness. I think it would be easy and fun to put studetns in real life situations with money to show them how it all works together. They could be assigned a job with a salary, rent or mortgage, groceries, bills, etc. You could even take them out in the community to carry out some of these things. Meal planning and buying groceries for those meals would be a great example. Or going out to eat - they would have to budget their money accordingly and also being able to communicate and order for themselves is another skill incorporated.
The life skills that our schools are very good at teaching are called The Lynx Way. It includes five areas: Respectful, Responsible, Safe, Kind, Active Learners. We take lots of time at the beginning of the year to go through these areas and then each fifth of the year is dedicated to one of the areas and skills are retaught. We also have an amazing STEM program and teacher where the kids get to explore and problem solve, but unfortunately only 6th graders to take part in this program and only for one quarter of the school year.
ReplyDeleteWhen I test, I find that many students do not know how to (1) read the time on an analog clock or (2) count/add coins or determine the worth of individual coins. I also wish that there was more time for the students to (3) explore, to make mistakes, and to build grit as many students, not all, are quick to give up and to think there is only one answer or one way to solve problems.
In his powerful TED Talk, Ted Dintersmith challenges educators to rethink what truly matters in school. In “Prepare Our Kids For Life, Not Standardized Tests,” he argues that education should prioritize real-world skills over test scores. His message resonates deeply with me as I reflect on what we teach well—and where we can grow.
ReplyDeleteIf our goal is to prepare students for life, not just exams, we must continually evaluate the skills we emphasize in our classrooms.
What We’re Doing Well
1. Collaboration and Teamwork
2. Communication Skills
3. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving
Where I Wish We Had More Time
1. Financial Literacy
2. Resilience and Stress Management
3. Career Exploration and Real-World Readiness
A Closer Look: Strengthening Financial Literacy
If I could choose one area to expand, it would be financial literacy. Financial confidence can dramatically impact a student’s independence, opportunities, and long-term stability.
Here are specific steps I could take to better prepare students:
• Embed Financial Scenarios into Class Projects
Students could create a realistic monthly budget based on a chosen career path. They would calculate taxes, compare housing options, factor in student loans, and plan savings goals.
• Host Guest Speakers
Inviting local bankers, entrepreneurs, or financial advisors to speak would help students hear practical advice from professionals who manage money every day.
• Create Financial Simulations
A classroom simulation where students face “real-life” expenses—car repairs, medical bills, unexpected emergencies—could help them practice decision-making in a low-risk environment.
• Teach Practical Tools
Students should learn how to read a pay stub, understand credit scores, evaluate loan offers, and compare basic investment options.
These experiences would move financial literacy from theory to application.
Katie Blocker
DeleteMy school is good at teaching reading, writing, and foundational math skills. Three life skills I wish I had more time to work on with my students are functional skills (bathrooming, dressing, eating), social skills such as cooperative play and self-regulation, and problem-solving skills. I would like to focus on self-regulation and could prepare my students by providing consistent routines, modeling ways to manage emotions, using visual supports to help children identify feelings, and offering structured opportunities during play and daily activities to practice waiting, turn-taking, and calming strategies in a supportive environment.
ReplyDeleteMy school is good at teaching reading, writing, and math skills. I wish we had more time to work on social-emotional skills, problem solving, and areas that students have interest in. I would choose to work on the areas of interests. In elementary teachers could give students time to work on projects of their interests to present to the class. In high school they could do the same type of activity but do a deeper dive into it and work on what is needed to succeed in the areas of interests. I would have the Senior class pick a community project of interest for a required course to fulfill before graduation. This give the students an opportunity to help others as well as learning how to be a leader.
ReplyDeleteThree life skills I believe our school does well teaching our students are collaboration, goal setting, and resilience. Students have many opportunities to work with peers in classes, activities, clubs, organizations and teams, which helps them learn how to communicate and work through challenges together. Goal setting is also emphasized through academic planning, career exploration, and postsecondary preparation. Resilience is another area where students grow, as they learn to navigate setbacks, balance responsibilities, and continue working toward their goals.
ReplyDeleteThree life skills I wish we had more time to intentionally develop with students are financial literacy, self-advocacy, and decision making. These skills are essential as students transition out of high school and into the world as adults, but time constraints and academic requirements sometimes limit how deeply we can explore these things with students.
If I could focus more intentionally on one of these areas, it would be self-advocacy. As a School Counselor, I would like to work towards better preparing students by creating more structured opportunities for them to practice speaking up for themselves. This could include student-lead conferences (which we do in elementary years) where students discuss their progress and goals with their families and teachers, classroom lessons on how to communicate concerns or ask for help, and guided reflection activities that help students understand their strengths, needs, and future desires. I feel that especially when working with high school students being able to advocate for oneself and talk to other adults in general or about concerns is a critical life skill. Helping students build confidence in expressing their needs and asking for support would better prepare them not only for their post-high plans, whether the military, college or career, but also for navigating challenges throughout life.
3 important life skills that I think our school does a good job at teaching are
ReplyDelete1. responsibility
2. communication
3. teamwork.
Students are expected to manage their assignments, meet deadlines, and take responsibility for their work. They also get opportunities to communicate with teachers and peers through discussions, projects, and group work. Teamwork is something students practice often through collaborative projects and activities as well as with the many extracurricular activities, groups, and clubs that are offered.
There are several life skills that I wish we had more time to focus on with students. I hear so often about things that students wish they had learned in school but didn't.
1. financial literacy (budgeting, taxes, etc.)
2. problem-solving in real-world situations
3. emotional regulation
These are all skills that students will use every day in adulthood, but don’t always get as much direct instruction or practice as academic content.
Out of those three, emotional regulation is one area I would especially like to spend more time on. I work with specials needs students and so many struggle with handling frustration, stress, or conflict in healthy ways. I would love to work with our school counselor with modeling calm responses, teaching coping strategies such as using breathing techniques, and helping students reflect on situations after they happen could all help students develop stronger emotional regulation skills.
Ted Dintersmith, in his TED Talk “Prepare Our Kids For Life, Not Standardized Tests”, shares what he considers to be important life skills. List what you consider to be 3 important life skills that your school is good at teaching. Then, list 3 more important life skills that you wish you had more time to work on with your students. Of the 3 life skills on your wish list, choose one and discuss, specifically, what you could do to better prepare your students in this area.
ReplyDelete1. Organizational skills
2. Reading & Math
3. Accepting Others
1. Life skills
2. Perseverance & problem solving - not giving up so easily
3. Budgeting & Living within your means
I think 1 & 3 go together because life skills and budgeting should all be addressed better in school. Many of the kids in my school don't really know any life skills because we don't offer classes like home-ec or accounting which I had as a kid. Yes, should parents be helping with this but we all know they aren't! These kids are leaving HS and either going into the workforce or college not knowing how to budget - save - or live within their means. I was one of the very few parents in my kids' classes that made them have a job during the summer and they had to buy their own car. Some of their friends drive a nicer car than I drive and didn't work 1 hour to buy it. Yes, I pay for insurance and gas etc at times but my kids needed to learn how to save up and buy something within their buget. This is one of the most important skills I think we could give students so they know about interest rates, house payments, credit cards etc.
Our school does a great job at teaching students perseverance, basic collaboration skills, and communication.
ReplyDeleteWe could be better at teaching executive functioning skills, time management, and creative problem solving.
Of these, I would most like to focus on creative problem-solving. To better prepare my students in this area, I could incorporate more open-ended, project-based learning experiences into my classroom. For example, instead of always assigning tasks with one correct answer, I could present students with real-world problems and ask them to design their own solutions. This might include activities like creating a product, solving a community issue, or developing a proposal to improve something in their school.
3 life skills my school is teaching:
ReplyDelete>Christian Character
>Accountability
>Reading, Math, Science
3 skills I wish I had more time to develop
>critical thinking skills
>social emotional behaviors
> perseverance
Why do you think ...? This type of questioning is so difficult for students to answer. Students want an easy answer that requires only memorization, not thought. To spend time formulating thoughts takes time or perseverance. I feel that today's students want instant gratification and to finish everything quickly.
YES ! Christian Character is so needed. Bible as a mandatory read 7th-12th
Delete3 important life skills that we teach are:
ReplyDelete1. Goal setting
2. Accountability
3. Teamwork
3 skills I wish I had more time to work on:
1. Communication skills
2. Organization skills
3. Problem solving skills
Of these skills I would really like to work on is problem solving. I try to get kids to think outside the box for other possible solutions to the situation. It just like they just want the answer and move on. I like to pair them to get them to talk about the situation and come with options for the solution and then defend their response.
List what you consider to be 3 important life skills that your school is good at teaching. Then, list 3 more important life skills that you wish you had more time to work on with your students. Of the 3 life skills on your wish list, choose one and discuss, specifically, what you could do to better prepare your students in this area.
ReplyDelete3 life skills our school does well at teaching:
* great collaboration and consistency
* professional appearance and attitude
* encouragers
3 more important life skills is
* Bible as a mandatory read
* Budget financially
* Key components of successful work - be on time, eye contact, respect for others, listen more than talk, ask questions, work hard
One characteristic: work hard no matter what is going on. I tell the student to "focus in" and don't get into the drama
Three important life skills my school is good at teaching:
ReplyDelete(Our elementary is a PBIS school)
1. Safe
2. Respect
3. Kind
4. Responsible
Three important life skills that I wish we had more time for:
1. Goal setting
2. Leaving things better than we found them
3. Ownership of our actions
Although the three things I wish we had more time for technically fall under the PBIS life skills, there is still work to be done in all of these areas at our school. If I had to pick one, it would be respect. I see it everyday where students don't respect adults, and unfortunately, I see the opposite of that as well. While I continue to try and teach respect daily, it is hard for these lessons to stick once the students leave my classroom and/or our school building. Why? Because there are many in this world that are not showing respect in a big way and our kids are observing it. They may not be observing it directly, but they do see it on Social Media and in the news. It is unfortunate and that is why I view it as my job to keep plugging away with my respect lessons/conversations.