21st Century Skills

21st Century Skills are important for students to learn.  The most important of these skills that students need to be able to master is collaboration.  In my elementary classes (grades 3-6), this is the one skill that all students need to be successful.  Some students will effectively collaborate with other students, but I find that the majority have difficulty working with other students.  Even as adults, we are more successful in our careers if we collaborate with our peers than if we try to do everything alone.  It is so important for teachers to work together for the common good of the school and students, so it is very important that we teach our students the same.  Students are keen observers when adults in the school building do not work together, so modeling effective collaboration is just a important as teaching it.

One way this skill can be used is through Google Apps for Education.  Since beginning GAFE this school year, students are beginning to learn how to collaborate with each other.  It was difficult at first when they were working on an assignment in small groups on a Google doc or presentation.  I have seen improvements since the beginning of the school year with the collaboration of students when using Google apps.  Their collaboration skills have improved in other areas around the school building as well.

The collaborative assignments and projects can be assessed using rubrics  The students can also peer assess the group's effort and contribution to the project.

Learning how to collaborate effectively at the elementary level will help students become more tolerant of each other as they enter middle and high school.