Collaboration

Collaboration is essential in our classrooms because it is inherent in the nature of how work is accomplished in our civic and workforce lives. Much of all significant work is accomplished in teams, and in many cases, global teams.

• Working effectively with others

• Cooperating with partner(s).

• Contributing thoughts and ideas.

• Encouraging equal effort from all.

• Listening and giving constructive feedback

* Allocating resources and responsibilities ensures that all members of a team can work optimally.

* Brainstorming ideas in a group involves rapidly suggesting and writing down ideas without pausing to critique them.

* Decision-making requires sorting through the many options provided to the group and arriving at a single option to move forward.

* Delegating means assigning duties to members of the group and expecting them to fulfill their parts of the task.

* Evaluating the products, processes, and members of the group provides a clear sense of what is working well and what improvements could be made.

* Goal setting requires the group to analyze the situation, decide what outcome is desired, and clearly state an achievable objective.

* Leading a group means creating an environment in which all members can contribute according to their abilities.

* Managing time involves matching up a list of tasks to a schedule and tracking the progress toward goals.

* Resolving conflicts occurs from using one of the following strategies: asserting, cooperating, compromising, competing, or deferring.

* Team building means cooperatively working over time to achieve a common goal.