Hello EDU Friends! I hope you are surviving this crazy world that we are living in right now. Whether you are in distance learning, hybrid, or fully back in the classroom, I hope you and yours are safe, healthy, and happy.

Today, I will be sharing a simple, easy, and interactive presentation that can be given during professional development. The district in which I work is huge with the 4 C’s which, eventually, morphed into a personal passion through my Google Innovator project. I truly believe the 4 C’s in an excellent way to evaluate the depth of teacher lessons and improve these lessons for the future.

Recently, I delivered some PD to our new teachers breaking down the 4 C’s into a simple, short presentation. The 4 C’s can be a really deep and complex concept, so I tried to break it down to its simplest form, while also providing more depth for the future. In this presentation, you will find that it is broken into three parts:

1. What are the 4 C’s?
   • In this section, teachers are introduced to the lowest level and highest level of the 4 C’s, as well as provided rubrics for breaking down each C.
2. How Can I Assess the 4 C’s in my Lessons?
   • In this section, teachers are challenged to evaluate the current depth of 4 C’s in their own lessons and find next steps for improving their lessons.
3. Resources for Lesson Design
   • In the last section, teachers are provided links to lesson design ideas, websites, and resources.

Below, you will find a preview of the presentation, the view access, and a link to make your own copy:

(View) (Make Your Own Copy!)

I hope you find this presentation beneficial and feel free to drop any comments, ideas, or suggestions below!

I’ve been fortunate to work for a district that values deeper levels of learning. For years, I have been challenged to think about the depth of 4 C’s within the lessons that I taught. It challenged me to be more creative and more thoughtful about the lessons I designed for students. It challenged me to think about how I integrated technology into my classroom. It very much became the guide in every lesson an experience that I designed for students. It never was easy nor do I think it ever will be. But no one can deny that it is good for kids – and that’s all that matters.

As my district challenged me to integrate the 4 C’s into my lessons, I quickly found that it became a passion area of mine. So, it’s no surprise that 4 C’s became a big part of my BoostEDU launch in the last year. With the launch of the BoostEDU 4 C’s Self-Assessment, I designed a series of questions to help educators evaluate the depth of the 4 C’s in their lessons. As teachers answer the questions, it tallies up their responses and gives them their depth of the 4 C’s in their lessons, followed by practical ideas and activities for them to use in the future.

(Interested in trying out the self-assessment? Click HERE!)

While the self-assessment is extremely valuable (I’m biased, of course), I thought it would be helpful to create an infographic/rubric of the breakdown of the 4 C’s. I have to give MAJOR credit to my school district, Hesperia Unified SD, for the initial rubric which was the launching point for these rubrics. From that rubric, I broke it down into three parts:

• What/Who – What types of <insert critical thinking/creativity> are being used? Or Who are students <collaborating/communicating> with?
• How – How are students demonstrating “insert 4 C”?
• Why – Why are students <insert 4 C>?

By breaking this down, I was not only able to create the BoostEDU self-assessment but I was better able to understand the depth of the 4 C’s. I was better able to understand the many factors that make the 4 C’s what they are and gained a clearer picture on how to implement these ideas in a lesson. I am in no way an expert but I did spend several months tearing apart the 4 C’s and breaking it down into chunks.

Below, you will see a breakdown of the 4 C’s. These infographics are located in Google Slides and they are yours to take for free. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m all about “teachers give teachers”, so steal away. All I hope is that this can help educators provide a greater depth of learning in their lessons to students. It’s cheesy – but that’s worth a lot more than money.

Want access to these freebies? Click on the image and/or links below!

The 4 C’s Google Slides Rubrics

PNG’s: Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity

I hope that you find value in these resources. And, if you have any other resources to share for the 4 C’s, please drop them in the comment section below!