My Understanding Of The Skill

I understand Collaborating Productively as working together in a group effectively, to finish a project or an assignment with quality. To include everybody's strengths and knowledge, and to communicate clearly with each other. I believe that to Collaborate Productively, we should use our time wisely. To get something done in a group, especially a group of kids, we need to stay on task, put in our best efforts, but also to stay focused and disciplined. Everyone has different strengths and skills to offer in a group, and I think it's important to include everyone and listen to everyone's voice.

It also means recognizing the right time to take a stand as a leader, but also knowing how to follow. Listening to each other is one of the most important parts of this skill. We should take in everyone’s ideas and find the best one based on everyone’s perspectives. For example, if you are talking over others, you wouldn’t be Collaborating Productively because then you couldn’t listen to their ideas. Also, if you tell someone “That’s a horrible idea! We should do this instead.” that would be putting their ideas down, which isn’t working together. Trying to take over the whole project because you like your idea better is what we don’t want to do while working with others. We should always listen to others and find a compromise. This helps each team member to feel heard and included. This is important to Collaborate Productively because we should use everyone’s ideas and strengths and not leave anyone out.

When you’re not Collaborating Productively, you aren’t participating or contributing anything to your group, and keeping quiet the whole time. This is the opposite of the skill because you would be letting others do your work for you, and you wouldn’t be sharing your ideas. It’s important to use your voice as a tool in group work, so we can communicate with others to get things done. If we don’t speak to each other, we probably won’t get anything done. We should also speak together kindly, and not use any disrespectful words. Collaborating Productively also means to work together in harmony, and if we aren’t being SKRR (Safe, Kind, Respectful, Responsible) then we aren’t using this skill correctly. If you aren’t contributing, you are not participating and you can’t be a leader or share your perspective in any of these cases.

This past semester in Distance Learning, it was very hard to Collaborate Productively, because we were online and separated from others. I met most days with my two friends, Kaia and Zephyr at 1:00 during independent work time to complete our homework together. Usually it was math homework because during distance learning it was hard to learn in math as a result of internet troubles. So my friends and I would use all of our strength to work on the math, and understand it. For example, my friend Zephyr is really good at doing calculations, and we would usually give that job to her. Other times we worked on different subjects, and sometimes we would be on our call until after school. There were times we got our work done, but sometimes we procrastinated our work and talked instead. This wasn’t Collaborating Productively because we weren’t using our time wisely. During this difficult time, I learned that we should always incorporate this skill into our lives, no matter the situation.

My Growth in the Skill

Before coming to SEEQS, I had a good understanding of how to work with others. Because I was homeschooled for four years, I was used to Collaborating Productively with my friends, and in my dance classes. My two friends and I loved to build forts out of wood, usually in the forest, and we needed to work together. I would usually collect wood, and one of my friends would strategically place them together so they could stay. She excelled at building things and I think she could be an engineer one day. My other friend liked to collect things to put inside, and she was good at making things look organized, beautiful, and cozy. In the end, we would have a nice fort to hang out in. We couldn’t have done it if we didn’t work together. In this example, you can see we are Collaborating Productively because we are using each other’s strengths and working together to build something that will benefit us. Without my friends, there wouldn’t be a fort, and I wouldn’t have a place to hang out away from the sun. Without me, our fort would also not be made because I am the material collector and materials are needed to build our forts.

When I first came to SEEQS in 7th grade, I had a bit of understanding about how to use the skill. We did a lot of partner and group work during school, and I usually put in my ideas, but followed the leader rather than being the leader. I was new, and more shy with the students here, so I didn’t feel as comfortable sharing my ideas with others because I was worried that they would not like them. Because of this, I learned that my ideas would not be heard if I didn’t speak up to the group. Soon, I started to warm up and start sharing my ideas. The first time I used the skill Collaborating Productively, I shared my ideas with the group confidently. I was in EQS Choicemakers and we were brainstorming on a topic. I put in my ideas and they liked them, and that experience taught me how to be a better leader.

Now as an 8th grader, I have grown a lot in being a leader and keeping my group on task. I’m less shy, and I can share my ideas more freely, without hesitation. When I use this skill, I like to split the task into easier more manageable steps, so my group members can work on different parts that apply to their strengths. This helps us to be productive and to get work done faster. It also can make working together more enjoyable, because it’s easier to do something you are naturally good at. Whenever I’m doing group work, I like to keep ideas brainstorming while we are working. This helps us find the best idea to use for our project or assignment. For example, my partner and I were trying to find a EQS project, and we needed to brainstorm as many ideas as we could. In the end, we decided on a project that we were both interested in and excited about.

A part of this skill I continue to struggle with is not getting frustrated at my peers. If my group is off task, not paying attention, or not contributing any work, I’m likely to get frustrated at them. I get stressed easily when I think that we aren’t going to be able to finish the task on hand.

What Project Helped Me Grow

In my 7th grade English Language Arts (ELA) class, we did a project called a Book Talk. We picked a book , and partnered up with others who also chose that same book. I chose a book called “Mapping the Bones” by Jane Yolen. So did my partner, Cara. We are friends, so I knew I could trust her to get work done and I was excited for this project.

Our first and most important step of this project was to read the book. We were assigned to read about a chapter each class, and if we didn’t finish then it was for homework. My partner and I always finished at least one chapter each class, and we were both very engaged in the story. We often had time to discuss the book after we finished our chapter, and this made it easier for us to make the presentation.

Once we finished the book, it was time to start creating our presentation. An important part of this project was to rate the book. We used two different types of ways to rate books. One was rating it using stars (how much we enjoyed/liked it), and the other was rating it on how difficult it was to read. We decided that Cara would do the ratings, because one of her strengths is being honest. She wasn’t afraid to tell the honest truth, even if it was mean. I’m the opposite and I don’t like hurting other people’s feelings. She showed me what she rated the book, and I agreed with her, because I felt the same way.

Next, we created a script for our presentation. Cara and I worked together to figure out what each of us were going to say. To make the script easier and more organized, I suggested that we put what we were going to say in different colors. I like to stay very organized and I think this is one of my strengths. Color coding made it easier for us to practice our lines.

​We practiced every class, and gave each other feedback. Cara told me that I should speak a little louder, and this helped me present better. A piece of feedback I gave her was to stand up straighter which improved the quality of her performance. After our script outline was finished, we worked more on our slides presentation. Cara was an amazing partner to have because she got work done fast and didn’t try to distract me.

This lesson was designed by our teacher (Mrs. Rita) to teach us more about Windows and Mirrors, our topic for that quarter. A window is a new insight that you gain by reading or hearing something. A mirror is a way that you connect to new information. We were assigned to identify either a window or mirror about our book.

​Finally, we presented with these slides.

Our presentation went very well and I think that we did a very good job on this assignment.

How Does My Project Connect To The Skill?

This exemplar demonstrates that I Collaborated Productively because I worked effectively every class with my partner, Cara. I learned how to work together with a friend productively, which is something I’m not very good at. In the past, usually I would talk and hang out with my friends, instead of actually working. This taught me how to be focused, even with a friend by my side. During our work time, we often would split tasks up so we could get work done faster. For example, I would work on finding pictures for our slides, and she would work on our script. I think this helped us because we would get two things done at once, which helped us finish faster.

A time where I wasn’t Collaborating Productively was when Cara and I wanted to read the same passage from the book, and we took a while to make a compromise. We eventually decided to cut the passage in half, and we both got to read where we wanted to. This made an impact because we had less time to work on our script after that. I learned that we could have saved more time if we compromised faster, and argued less. Next time I will try to find a compromise faster, instead of being defensive.

​This project helped me deepen my understanding of the skill because I felt more comfortable with Cara, so I could openly share my ideas without feeling self conscious or shy. This helped me become less afraid of sharing ideas, and helped me grow in the skill. I now understand that to Collaborate Productively, we need to communicate with each other in a way that feels comfortable for both of us. For example, if I was telling Cara what to do in a bossy way, then she would probably get annoyed and not want to work with me. That’s why we were peacefully communicating with each other, which made this process a lot easier.

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