Katherine D. Perez

I could not believe my eyes at a recent convention when I came across this book and spoke to the author. Co-teaching? Is anybody except teacher librarians still talking about this topic. Oh yes, the author responded. My calendar of workshops and conferences is packed! After reviewing hundreds of books in education, I can hardly remember the last time I read about collaborative teaching as a part of school culture from any of the major educational writers. Well, here is a practical guide with list after list after list of tips and steps to take during the co-planning, co-assessing, and co-teaching of learning experiences. Admittedly, Dr. Perez has a bias toward special education teachers because that is her field, but she does include other specialists, just not technology folks or teacher librarians. Well, we don’t seem to be able to have everything, but there is so much wiggle room in the lists that it is a simple matter to include our agenda in an information rich and technology rich environment. Teacher librarians need to be experts at collaboration whether or not they can reach every faculty member. So, this is a b ook for your bedside table to read a list every single night before going to sleep. The ones we can work on, we adopt as our strategy of the week and perhaps we showcase one strategy alongside a classroom teacher at each faculty meeting. Get this book! Use this book! It can only push you toward that center of teaching and learning whether in the physical learning commons or the virtual learning commons.… (mer)