A recent eSchool News article by Meris Stansbury lists ten skills cited by its readers as being most important for today’s students to acquire:
- Read
- Type
- Write
- Communicate effectively, and with respect
- Question
- Be resourceful
- Be accountable
- Know how to learn
- Think critically
- Be happy
The list is interesting to ponder. I would not argue that any skills on the list should be dropped, however I suspect we could have endless debates about what order to list them in or how to best group them. I am happy to note that all of the skills are beneficial in studying just about any subject or discipline.
There are a few additional skills that I would advocate adding to, or being more explicit about in the above list:
- Listen actively
- Draw or doodle
- Speak in a group or public setting
- Debate the point, not the person
- Perceive patterns, connections, or similarities
- Be open to trying new approaches
MathMaine 