We+aren't+in+this+all+alone

The idea of creating or finding educational experiences that give students opportunities to implement the 21st century skills can be intimidating. We can feel like we need to be an educational Inspector Gadget. Concern about encountering the many mishaps that the cartoon Inspector Gadget may loom over the heads of some educators. It is not necessary to reinvent the entire curriculum. Educators can find ways to bring these skills into the curriculum that is in present use existing (Wagner, 2008).

Furthermore, some of the worry and anxiety can be taken out of the situation if we remember we aren't in this all alone. We have colleagues that we can engage in collaboration.

Collabortaion is not only a skill for our students. It is an activity that teachers themselves should be engaged.



As Clemmons and Sheehy (2011) point out, we should not go alone on this journey of creating or implementing these educational experiences that require students to apply the 21st century skills. They suggest that this is best done by partnering with a colleague. That partner could be the reading teacher, technology specialist, or any other teacher. The support a teacher gets from another will help this task to be less daunting. (p. 45)

Rotherham and Willingham (2009) challenge administrators to help teachers find the resources to make collaboration a reality. They feel that “. . . we waste a valuable resource when we don't give teachers time to share their expertise." (p.19) Together we can implement the 21st century skills into the experiences that our students engage in our classrooms.