Nothing grows in a vacuum. Lessons get stale done year after year with no change. With collaboration, change can really open up what can be accomplished in a lesson. As everyone has said, two heads are better than one, and even more is even better. When we get a grade level team planing with the librarian, we get some awesome, meaningful projects for the students to work on. We get different approaches to reach every kind of learner.

Teachers are supposed to be lifelong learners - just as they teach their students. We can't know it all so by collaboration we can get more information together faster. Working with your strength and finding someone who's strength is your weakness makes the teamwork whole. New ideas, new processes and new learning opportunities are to be gained.

I think that collaboration will help teachers redesign their lessons by allowing for a different viewpoint of learning. Not all minds think alike, and with collaoration, different ideas can spur on other ideas and what may have started as a mediocre lesson can become a wonderful, creative idea brought to fruition. While it will inspire more creative ideas for a lesson, it will also open new outlets for where information can be gained or many other resources can be presented that may not have been found by oneself.

I am going to repeat what everyone else said: When you collaborate with another teacher about a unit or lesson, the teachers have a tendancy to feed off of each others suggestions, ideas or thoughts. It is almost necessary to have a 3rd person like an instructional coach to sit in on the meeting to help guide the conversations and guide the teachers in the proper direction. I also think that my teaching is more effective because the unit/lesson is much more manageable due to the fact that I was able to break down the lesson and concentrate on one or two areas of the lesson. I also believe that the students test scores would be higher due to the fact that both teachers are able to focus on the students learning in a much more effective way.

I think collaboration can really help alleviate some of the stress that many teachers face in that it is a new and different tool that offers many ways in which to enhance their own teaching and activities. I also many teachers may be afraid to go outside their comfort zones, but with effective collaboration, there is someone to give them a hand. As with anything else, when you do go outside your comfort zone, more times than not you find that it enhances your abilities to perform your job.

I think I stated this on another question, but when I need ideas I go first to the internet to look up teacher resource pages. I look for ideas from other teachers to make my own lessons more creatice and interesting. Collaboration will help teachers redesign and implement effective teaching and strategies by opening up avenues that one teacher may not have thought of. Having the same ideas taught in various subject matter only reinforces the concept for the student and has a greater chance of being retained. I think that is the goal of any teacher...retention of knowledge.

As mentioned in the book repeatedly, "two heads are better than one." As a school, we're realizing that it goes even further. Three heads, four heads, five heads, six. When we as teachers recognize our individual strengths and weaknesses, we have a better shot at using them to our students' advantage. Before collaboration was a common part of our school's mode of operation, we had a limited amount of resources, as we weren't familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of many other teachers. Each of us only had one or two colleagues (usually those in our own discipline) to go to for advice, support, or new insights. We have now become so used to working with all colleagues, that that we now where to go to get the right support for something we want to do independently in our classrooms or cross-curricularly.

The effects of collaboration are obvious in the teaching methods at the elementary school where I work. Teachers at each grade level are all on the same page now, and some wonderful curriculum units have been developed as a result. Occasionally, units are moved from one grade level to another, and teachers meet to discuss the unit and how it can be adapted to better fit the new grade level. This way, no one ever has to "start from scratch" and instead they can build on ideas already tried and tested. This is obviously a huge time-saver, and the teaching and learning strategies become more effective as well.

I think it will streamline teaching as well as make the school library more organized. Collaboration will also help solve problems that arise in class or in the library a lot quicker. Teaching and learning will also become more diverse. Teacher librarians' can sharpen their teaching skills while teachers' can improve their research skills. If teacher collaborate more with teacher librarians more resources will be available too. Everyone within the school will be on the same page. I think if everyone is on the same page a lot of time will be saved.

Like it is said, two heads are better than one. Two teachers bring different things to the table. When a science teacher and teacher librarian collaborate both teachers win! The science teacher learns more about research or technology and the teacher librarian learns new or different teaching strategies. It is definitely a win-win situation.

Collaboration among teachers, librarians, parents, and students will ultimately improve education for our students. When there is a high level of communication and common goals at all levels, students will excel. I know in my current job, collaboration is required in order to deliver smooth instruction for our students. Collaboration can be challenging, but it is an effective way for all parties involved to support the education- because it takes a village to educate a child. With parent teacher conference around the corner, I know that one of our common themes when talking with parents will be how to increase parent involvement in our classrooms. I think when a staff collaborates, there is actually less work to be done because all member contribute a little to generate a whole lot of knowledge. Collaboration can be challenging, but the benefits far outweigh to obstacles to team work.

Collaboration will help teachers redesign and implement more effective teaching and learning strategies by building good relationships between classroom teachers, administrators, technology specialists, music, physical education, art, library/media, and ELL teachers, among others, and put into place a basis for effective teamwork, and successful curriculum alignment.

We ask our students to be critical, reflective learners in order to grow. It only makes sense that adults need to do the same thing. Collaboration allows for more ideas, divergent thinking, and collective problem solving, but it also sort of winnows education down to the important foundational points. If, like Laura said, we can create a sort of non-discipline specific "toolkit" we are really addressing the universal needs of every learner. Building these types of skills in learners (critical thinking, problem solving, reflection) will be far more beneficial to them as they go out into the "real world."

Collaborative learning experiences will prepare students for the future in the 21st century by heavily involving them in teamwork. It will increase their ability to gather information and ingrain in them a desire to network. They will be prepared with great communication skills, and most likely, a feeling of working well with their peers.

I think that the whole point of collaboration is change. When I have sought out collaborative experiences with other educators, it is because I don't like what I have been doing and I want to try something different. When teachers collaborate, they are almost forced to compromise with another person. When this happens, you are bound to realize that someone has an idea that you had not thought of! Teaching is a huge job, and there is so much research and information out there, it is overwhelming to think that one person will know it all. Working with others, especially if you are able to collaborate with a variety of people, allows teachers to "steal" information and strategies from others.

Again, this reminds me of our Strengths Finders survey. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Collaboration allows us to "use" people who have strengths that we do not.

I think the best part of collaboration is the idea of 'redesigning'. When I sit down with my PLC, we take 15 minutes to talk about what has worked recently for us and what hasn't. I know that when I bring my 'failed' lessons to the table, my colleagues will have ideas of how they would have done things differently, and 99% of the time, if I take one of these ideas, the lesson works the second time around. And it's a great feeling to share a success with colleagues and then see them implement the same ideas in their classrooms.

I think collaboration helps us be more efffective as teachers because sometimes we're too close to the class and we forget about all the aspects of learning. When we work together, one of us always remembers the visual learners, one of us remembers to include the tactile learners, etc.

Learning from colleagues through collaboration will help teachers redesign and implement more effective teaching and learning strategies. There are so many “tricks and tools of the trade”! I believe we all (as teachers) have something we can teach each other.

Teachers will not have the sole responsibility of teaching on their shoulders, it is more of a team approach. Also, librarians, administrators,support staff, teacher-librarians, and teachers all have strengths and weaknesses and this will help in both extremes. Looking at the benefits of collaboration, the one that caught my eye was: reduced stress. This seems huge right now in education. Administrators and teachers have way too much on their plates and they are stressed. Another benefits is the integration of technology. Teachers who are hesitant in joining the 21st century could work with a tech-savvy teacher to build confidence. They could collaborate on an existing unit of study and make it more appealing to students and ultimately improve the unit for every ones benefit.

Collaboration will lead to more effective teaching because multiple teachers will look at the lesson plans and provide input on how to best teach the students. Students will work in a different manner and see how different subjects can be tied together and the benefits of learning from multiple sources. The teacher librarian has a large amount of resources available in the library that can enhance the students' learning experiences. Taking advantage of the TL and the resources available will allow the students a new perspective that will benefit them throughout their school experiences and into their future careers.

It's just like the text chapter said, "Two heads are better than one." This also goes back to the Strengthsfinder exercise...a wise person builds on his/her strengths, not devoting an inordinate amount of time to boost weaknesses. Studies show that collaboration and PLC's lead to better learning and higher test scores. More eyes, ears and brains dealing with a situation needing help wil only generate more ideas, possibilities and solutions. As Heather also mentioned above, the collaboration needs to extend beyond each building, that is, to help students transition from one instructional level to the next. Elementary and Middle school teachers must communicate just as Middle and High school teachers must collaborate and communite to help kids make the vertical move from year to year.

As the teacher/librarian in a high school, I have found that often have to reach out to and almost push myself into subject area teachers' rooms just to see what they are doing and to share ideas that might help them (teachers and students) achieve more. It's tough sometimes, but all I can do is keep throwing new ideas and strategies their way so that they can try them. When I come into a room and demonstrate it for the teacher, rather than just talk about it, I find s/he is much more willing to give a new strategy a try. Showing the kids something new is like opening a can of spring-loaded worms. They will be off and running with a new web 2.0 tool before you can walk away from his /her desk. That leads to greater involvement and self-directed learning experiences for the students. They often simply need something new to trigger that motivation.

Collaborating with teachers will allow them to be introduced to new technology and ways to find information, which in turn will update lesson plans so that they meet the 21st century learner standards. When teachers and librarians collaborate, I think that more creativity is used, as well as two or more people being available for teaching and assessing. Collaboration leads to discussions about best practices, about what works and what doesn't, and about new and exciting ideas for teaching students.

I am having so much fun right now being a substitute teacher. I am seeing so many classrooms and so many approaches to doing the same things. When teachers get to be around one another, and see ideas and methods in practice, their own instruction changes. Building in opportunities to collaborate exposes us all to stronger methodology than we have as an individual. The TL needs to actively insert her/himself into this process, I think most teachers think of the librarian as an afterthought. In the school I am in the most, the grade-level teachers get together to collaborate all the time. The TL, if a meaningful part of this discussion, could take the teaching and learning strategies of the team into a whole new direction.

I have done collaborative work previously as a team teacher in the high school I work at. There are certainly pros and cons to the collaborative effort. It is the background of the collaborators that have the ability to both improve and keep teaching in a state of stasis. The pros are like those mentioned by previous posters: shared experiences, more resources, two heads are better than one, increased ability to utilize technology, etc. Challenges that I found were mainly based around timing. For instance, a common plan time is absolutely essential; without that time there will be no time for planning how to combine strengths. The great thing about collaboration, from a non-curricular standpoint, is the redesign of the classroom dynamic--students have twice the resources to access which can help in numerous situations one could imagine when looking at a lesson from a student's perspective. If members of a collaborative effort are willing to put forth the resources then very effective teaching will result.

As expressed in Chapter six of The New Learning Commons: Where Learners Win!, two heads are better than one so think of how much better the entire school will be if all teachers, support staff and school administrators collaborate while planning and delivering instruction. Grade level planning ensures that units are enriched and students reached through different styles of teaching but equally as important is vertical collaboration where over time the students are exposed to techniques and experiences that build upon each other to increase success and growth. Traditionally in our school the teacher librarian, specials teachers, and behavioral specialists, along with the special education staff meet with grade levels monthly to plan and compliment units, but the classroom teachers also then meet K-2, and 3-5 so as to keep the curriculum aligned. It has been very beneficial to the building as a whole.

Collaboration offers many benefits that should result in more effective teaching.
• Having joint learning goals across content areas should allow the students a deeper learning experience that creates nature connections
• Joint planning allows sharing of experiences
• One assessment for both teachers goals
• Co-teaching the lesson, highlighting each other’s strengths
• Reflection
• Extension activities
• More available resources
• Increased using of technology
• Take risks, try new things will support
• Modeling of best practices

If we can persuade teachers that they have the time to sit with us for just a few minutes, we will have such an array of tools and teaching aids, besides our own great ideas, to share with them that they'll be clamoring to work with us! Most teachers don't have the time or the training to explore new educational technologies, unless it is their personal hobby. If we have a toolkit that is flexible enough to apply to nearly any discipline, we may not only revolutionize the school library, but instruction in general. If we can show that collaboration improves learners' engagement, perormance and actual learning, we have won.

Collaboration leads to discussion between teachers about best practices for effective teaching. When you discuss a unit with another teacher you share ideas and learn from each other new techniques for use in the classroom. My school serves grade 7-12 and prior to working as the Teacher Librarian here, I taught grades 9 and 10. I found that collaborating with the Junior High teachers helped me strengthen my teaching skills for the 7th and 8th graders. It helped me break down some concepts to more manageable steps, which led to more effective teaching.