Essential Skills, Framework and Standards

Essential Skills

Watkinson students are expected to demonstrate their mastery of essential skills before they graduate. This course features several demonstrations of mastery, with specific skills highlighted within individual assignments, including:

Communication

In this class, students will communicate by…

  • Expressing themselves effectively through visual media
  • Demonstrating an awareness of audience and adjusting style and tone accordingly
  • Determining and addressing relevance

Critical Thinking

In this class, students will think critically by…

  • Accurately assessing what they’re supposed to do
  • Using evidence to support original thought and ideas
  • Determining relevance

Media Literacy

In this class, students will demonstrate literacy by…

  • Managing, analyzing, and synthesizing multiple and varied streams of information
  • Developing proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology
  • Designing and sharing information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
  • Creating, critiquing, connecting, analyzing, and evaluating multimedia texts
  • Citing, attributing, and respecting intellectual property

Problem Solving

In this class, students will solve problems by…

  • Accurately assessing the requirements of the task
  • Practicing technique to make it better and better
  • Learning from success and failure
  • Revising based on feedback and reflection

Writing

In this class, students will show proficiency in writing by…

  • Composing with clarity and focus
  • Revising based on feedback and reflection
  • Demonstrating an awareness of audience and adjusting style and tone accordingly

Course Framework

This course uses the Framework for 21st Century Learning provided by the P21 Consortium as a curriculum guide. It includes the following themes and skills, as detailed in the framework:

21st Century Themes
- Global Awareness
- Civic Literacy

Learning and Innovation Skills
- Creativity and Innovation
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Communication and Collaboration

Information, Media, and Technology Skills
- Information Literacy
- Media Literacy
- ICT (Information, Communications, and Technology) Literacy

Life and Career Skills
- Flexibility and Adaptability
- Initiative and Self-Direction

Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
- Productivity and Accountability
- Leadership and Responsibility

Course Standards

The State of Connecticut uses the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for technology education. This course includes the following standards:

  • Creativity and innovation
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Research and information fluency
  • Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
  • Digital citizenship
  • Technology operations and concepts