Conversations

In MHS we have content planning time and time to work with students in our Academy. Our Social Studies Department is very strong as we collaborate almost weekly in content time on common assessments, district incentives, lesson planning strategies, content sharing and many how do I do x,y,z sessions. We are encouraged to observe each others classes while this isn't collaboration in the traditional sense, it is time to gather skills, gain ideas and time to reflect on our work while we watch others work. Observing each others classes could be seen as collaboration in providing a high standard of social studies education within the district as we always provide feedback and debrief what we observed. I do **not** do this often outside of common planning time. I tend to work closely with one or two teachers in the Department due to friendships and content driven needs. Since I have yet to implement many of these 21st Century strategies, I do not know honestly. I do see other teachers within the department working closely on improving their 21st Century classrooms as they have already participated in this course and have access to student lap tops 2-3 days/week. I see them trouble shooting, brainstorming and sharing ideas about best practice and use of technology.
 * How does your school/district currently support and or encourage collaboration between teachers?
 * How much do you seek to collaborate with teachers and how do you accomplish this?
 * To what extent do you think collaboration is of growing importance for teachers seeking to implement a 21st century classroom?