Conversations

We get some collaboration time on Monday meeting time during early release or late entry, although much of those meetings are often for district or school-wide initiatives, we are collaboraing on mandated topics. A few times a year (the hope I think was for once a month) subject-based collaboration is suppose to happen and we often get a chance to talk about upcoming common labs or assessments, but there never seems like enough time to get everything in that we want to. The 9th grade team teachers get to meet once rotation and sometimes they share their work with the rest of the teachers teaching biology. I probably collaborate with colleagues in short, quick moments 2-3 times a week, often during lunch or in between periods there is a quick discussion then the "sharing" of work via a USB download or email. The more we learn about how technology can help us accomplish the goals for a 21st century classroom, the more collaboration will be necessary. The teachers that are getting trained now will (hopefully, given time) share their knowledge with colleagues and the more we all can share the more we can get our students rolling with the technology and skills.
 * 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?