Connecting Teachers, Students, and Standards: Strategies for Success in Diverse and Inclusive Classrooms (edit title/settings)

Collaboration is one of the main keys of educating. The more diverse our students become the more collaborative teachers need to be to meet the needs of their students. The hardest part of this is finding the time to do it the most effectively. Suggestions for coming up with the time to collaborate include using creative scheduling concepts, supplemental pay suggestions, and profession development credit options.

The authors of this book also suggested using technology to help communicate. They listed two separate types of communication, synchronous and asynchronous. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Types of this include wikis, blogs, Skype, and phones.

Another strategy to collaboration is to co-teach. The authors suggested team teaching, one teacher teaching and one teacher observing, and one teacher teaching and one teacher supporting. All of these strategies can and do work but which strategy used depends on the teachers and students involved. Also, time and effort needs to go into this in order for it to be a good learning experience for the students.

Another important type of collaboration that educators should perform is collaborating with the "home." Teachers need to take the time to get know their students, parents and culture in order to effectively meet the needs of each individual student. This is time consuming on the educator's part but will definately benefit all involved. It can lead to better communication and family involvement.

Ending the chapter were some helpful tips for collaboration educator to educator and tips for collaboration with parents. I think these tips could be helpful to people who are new to the teaching field and those who have many years under their belt.