Thinking Outside the Box

Abstract

At its core, inclusive education takes a great deal more than educators who follow a checklist of best teaching practices and procedures. It requires professionals philosophically committed to inclusion who effectively and efficiently co-plan and co-teach instruction to a diverse group of learners. Co-planning is one of the most important elements of co-teaching and inclusion, yet one of the hardest things to make time for amongst a busy school week. Within this chapter, the authors will discuss and analyze their co-planning and co-teaching models across two semesters of teaching a differentiation methods course to pre-service undergraduate teachers, specifically sharing about their successful utilization of a virtual platform for co-planning. The chapter will conclude with the positives and challenges of using a virtual planning platform, as well as specific recommendations for how to use one.