Effective Collaboration is the Key to Achieving Goals

21^st Century Skills

I can remember sitting down to have dinner with my Mom and Dad listening to my Dad tell stories about his work and the people he had to work with. Form an early age I was taught two things by this, “Life is not fair” and “You have to learn to work with people, even people you don't like.” So I have to pick Collaboration as by 2st Century most important skill. This skill is the most important to me because we are social beings. No matter if it is play or work we have to interact with other people. There are countless examples of group projects, starting in elementary school where we have to learn to do our share and to bring out the best in our partners, this is sometimes easier said than done. We are on sports teams, where the hope is that you play well as a team to achieve your goals of winning it all. These are just a few examples of how collaboration is a life skill we use everyday of our lives, to enhance our lives.

In my early stages of thought about my Technology Infusion Plan, I see collaboration as a huge key. I need to collaborate with our staff on many levels. I first need to get them vested in a Google PD so they will be comfortable using the Google Drive format with their students. This would set up a classroom of Collaboration between students and teachers and students and students monitored by the teacher. I then need to collaborate with the teachers on classroom presentations. I want to be more involved in their planning. I want them to see me as a useful resource to take some of the time restraints off of them when planning, creating and implementing a technology based project or presentation.

This skill can be assessed by how many of the teachers I can persuade to get on board with the Google Drive format as a way of “running” their classrooms. I could also, create a survey at the end of the year to serve as a climate audit to measure the teachers feelings of how successful the collaboration in their classroom was during the year.