In our elementary school library we have executed some very successful collaboration by choosing one unit in a grade and then offering special support, time, and talent to both students and teachers. It really works well for a research based project. Students work with the media center staff to find materials and organize information. Then students can schedule time with staff for individual help with note cards, papers, display boards, etc. Final projects are presented to staff and parents in the media center and projects remain on display for a day or two. I agree that the key is time in the media center that is unscheduled. We block off time for the presentations, but the research and writing support happen during the class media time or after school during our extended hours.

In order to build successful collaborative experiences, it seems like the first necessity would be the support of the administration. The principal really sets the tone of the school and provides leadership (or sometimes lack thereof) in a certain direction. It would be difficult (a big roadblock) to get the teachers "on board" with collaboration if the principal is not. The next necessity seems to be knowledge of how to collaborate. It is such a huge buzz word right now but I'm not sure that current teachers or preservice teachers are being given practical staff development on what this all looks like. Even reading our book, I feel like it is very philosophical but not always concrete in HOW this gets accomplished. The scenarios help to envision different ways to collaborate but I think teachers need much more than that.......a real overlying framework of how this can work for the entire school. Third, like others said, time is needed for true collaboration. Time is so scarce in a teacher's world that it becomes a real roadblock. Even teachers who might be receptive to new ways of doing things but feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities, might immediately shut down this new paradigm simply out of exhaustion. Sad but true. How do we create more time or help teachers feel like this collaboration doesn't have to completely tap them out?

I agree that time is the major barrier to PLC's getting together and being effective. I think Administration needs to take a stance about this too. At my school, we've been reviewing the lists of poor student performance ( grade and individual class) and the percentage of students receiving a D or F is very high. What's going on? What are the factors that are contributing to this high precentage? What can we do about it? Having a PLC in place to discuss this issue would be wonderful.

I think one of the reasons things do not get done or tried in public schools is because there is so much going on and so much competing for our attention. Just recently, I recommended to an administrator that we focus on one issue for a year which would also include a strategy and implemenation phase too. Too often, things are talked about, acknowledged but then nothing gets done. It is so frustrating. Again, a PLC would be very helpful.

I really liked the above comment that stated colloboration periods were mandated twice a month in her building. That's a step in the right direction!

As this chapter points out, there are so many roadblocks to collaboration. I think that two major barriers are time and lack of knowledge. Many studies, such as Wolcott's "Assessing pre-service teachers beliefs about the role of the library media specialist," show that collaboration is not taught to preservice teachers. Thus, classroom teachers are sometimes not aware of the positive effects and potential of collaboration on student achievement. Ultimately, creating a system where preservice teachers are educated on the topic of collaboration would be ideal, but strong advocacy from the library media specialist is another and currently more realistic alternative. As far as the time barrier, I think that flexible scheduling would be helpful. Also, administrative support, and blocking out time during the school day for common planning would make a tremendous difference.

Collaborative learning will prepare students for their future because employers are always expecting their workers to be able to work collaboratively and have computer skills. By allowing students to interact and work in collaborate groups this will be the cornerstone for their future employment. It is unfortunate but the educational system does a horrible job teaching students how to work in a collaborate effort thus by the time students graduate from high school and are in searching for a job they are not aware what they must do.

If schools would begin to implement smaller learning environments this will allow students to learn that they are responsible as an individual for their own work but they must also contribute to the entire project or a wiki by giving in their two cents. Many students in the classroom are relunctant to speak out and voice their opinion due to fear of being wrong, causing the class to miss out on a particular students expertise. By allowing students to voice their opinion on their own time maybe they would be a lot more perceptive and interact in a lmore friendly environment.

There are a few roadblocks teacehres, librarians, and even students need to overcome but the biggest one is to try to entice teachers to become part of this new style of teaching. This is the biggest roadblock because some teachers are so set in their ways that they stay away from anything new because they feel it will create more work for them. By destroying the myth that creating PLC's will create more work on the part of the teacher I truly believe it could become a reality.

Collaborative learning experiences will not only better prepare students for learning and living in the 21st century, they will help teachers, librarians and all educators improve their teaching practice through sharing of ideas and evaluation of design. WIth two or more experts combining talents and perceptions, lessons and units will naturally become more thorough and more carefully thought out at every step. Assessment and other critical, ongoing evaluation methods will be viewed through a larger lens, as collaborators expand their knowledge and experience through others' ideas. The naturally isolating classroom and library paradigms shift as educators share and blend educational and world views. Collaboration is the key to providing the richest, most authentic and useful learning experiences for our students.

Our school is making more of a commitment to collaboration, and like anything, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Our school has short Mondays in order to make time for meetings. Our site has limited staff meetings to once a month, department meetings to once a month, and collaboration meetings to twice a month (these groupings take various forms). When tenth grade English collaborates on the i-Search, the teachers just work independently in their rooms-no collaboration is done. When the biology teachers meet for collaborations, they share and search for online resources to be added to the virtual library page. So it depends on the teachers, leadership, task, and accountability.

In general, I commend our school administration for making time for collaboration. The next step will be, how do we make that time more effective, and how do we measure it?

Our school already has in place the intent to provide ways for stake holders to collaborate. Prior to the end of the school year, our professional development team was requesting a place where they could post information about upcoming PD topics, poll teachers about topics they feel a need to cover, and to gather together best practices for others to reference. Our system currently doesn't allow access to some of the tools that would make this type of collaboration smooth and effective. Establishing a professional devleopment workspace through the Experimental Learning section of the commons seems like a no-brainer. Presenting the possibilities of the benefits of such a space is my goal this next year. Getting other district librarians on board will help to build our case.

IT'S THE PROCESS! Look i was the child who knew all kinds of strange information. I could recite all the presidents of the United States and all the kings and queens of Great Britain and France. I lectured in history, art and literature for years and experienced the strange allure being a "sage on the stage" has for some teachers. But, in a way, this is a bit selfish. If I spend all the available class time showing students what I know from my educational experiences, how will this allow them the opportunity to do the same?

PLC are a sacrifice not just of time and resources, but of ego. When I consider how to address PLC, I really need to think about how convince other faculty and myself, that students can display the same critical thinking skills as the faculty. This is risky because PLC removes the level of control that makes some teachers feel secure. The focus of 21st century education will threathen some because there is always the suggestion that moving the focus to a student centered process will abolish the need for teachers. I doubt this will happen. What will happen is our focus and training as educators will change and that change will be the biggest upheaval in education since the 19th century.

What we are really addressing is a shift from repeating content according to established methods of assessment (mutiple guess tests, etc.) to processing information and creating student determined methods of assessment. This is not standardized assessment and that is what may worry traditional education systems.

I concur wholeheartedly with the reasons collaboration does not occur. Leadership and willingness are often not present. The funding and pressures of standardized testing steer instruction towards rote memorization. Collaboration happens gradually with willing participants like the students, P.E teacher, teacher, and teacher-librarian mentioned at the end of the chapter. If change is to be wide spread, political action is necessary. Teachers will have to fight for more allocated time in the contract for collaboration. More teacher pay is needed to get the necessary buy in for the expanded number staff development days throughout the school year. Finally, educators must advocate a different vision for student success over No Child Left Behind. We can’t just be against the government mandate; we must fight for something better!

Creating Professional Learning Communities (PLC's) often runs up against the road block of a lack of common planning time. By creating collaborative environments that do not require everyone to be in the same place at the same time more people will have the opportunity to participate on a regular basis. Once contributing to an on-going online discussion has become a norm, teachers will be able to take advantage of their colleagues that they have been isolated from. One road block to collaboration at my school was the length of time between meetings and a lack of followup on the work we were supposed to be engaging in. Adding an online component to our collaborative efforts would have helped keep the conversation going between meetings and provided a place for reminders to be posted where we all could be aware. Figuring out a way to promote participation and helping all staff become comfortable with the technology would remove some of the roadblocks to communication and success. Collaboration can inspire a teacher to revamp a stale lesson using input from a co-worker. Having other adult eyes on your work is immediately inspiring - who wants to look unprepared and unprofessional in front of others. Collaboration actually helps increase accountability as we move into the realm of visibility after hiding out in our isolated classrooms for so many years.