Oh, collaboration - what a love hate relationship I have with you. BUT, collaboration is such an integral part of who we are as members of the human race. Think of some of the problems we have as a society right now - reaction to election results, protesting/rioting, divorce rates, war, famine, genocide, and the list could go on. We don't all truly understand what it means to collaborate and neither do our students (now don't get all worried - I'm not going to get political on you). I think Mother Teresa said it best when she stated, "We have no peace because we have forgotten we belong to each other." Word, Mother. Word. This is especially true in my class that I am trying PBL with this year. They have no peace because they have forgotten they are all in this together. And, they have forgotten because I have allowed them to forget. I totally agree with Austin - PBL is messy. Collaboration is messy (see previously listed world troubles). However, that doesn't mean it is not attainable. And there is nothing I love more than making a goal and achieving it. So, that being said... It is on, Collaboration! It is on!
After reading the assigned blog posts, some of my classmates' blog posts, and reviewing the 6-12 Collaboration Rubric, I chose Respect for Oneself, Helps Team, and Respects Others as the 3 most important keys for my present class to successfully collaborate. Not sure if you picked on the fact that RESPECT is a need int his class. I like the idea of contracts and naively tried to do a class contract at the beginning of the semester, but that didn't work as well as I had dreamed it would (imagine that). I think group contracts for each group project would be a better bet in the future - we live an learn, right? I also like the suggestions for having students write the contracts. Finally, I would like to try the "self-grading" procedure posted in the comments of one of the assigned blogs as well as noted in Austin's blog. This may take some tweaking and all the rules would need to be established at the beginning of the semester, but it has promise.
Finally, I love collaboration because of all its positive results in society - healthy marriages & families, charities, missions, awesome companies like Google & Compassion & Samaritan's Purse, District 6's teacher forum, etc. I try not to be overly optimistic, but really, my classroom and my PBL attempts can be successful only when there is healthy collaboration within the groups and class. I have been disenchanted as of late, but am ready to give it another try. Peace, Love, & Collaboration.
Karen, I love reading your blog posts because your voice shines right through each word. I also appreciate how you connect every concept we read about with what you and your students are experiencing in the world. The Mother Teresa quote is spot on and while I agree with you and with Austin that collaboration is messy and hard to teach, it is one of the most valuable tools we can teach in our classrooms because it's relevancy extends beyond our classrooms and into every relationship: professional and personal we have. I am glad that you have made improving student collaboration as a goal for your students. I am more and more convinced that we have to teach what we value and we cannot afford to assume students come in with effective soft skills. We owe it to them to go beyond identifying what we expect and actually teach it in the same explicit, consistent ways we do with students, providing time, ownership, and response. I cheer your Peace, Love, and Collaboration! Yes!
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