CO-TEACHING

[|4 Knows.pdf] [|TIPS AND STRATEGIES.pdf]

Please read one of the 2 attached articles by RIGHT CLICKING on the name of the document above and then CLICKING ON VISIT. The file will then open. After reading your selected article, write a commentary response about what you learned and how this will help you as a new teacher. Please be sure to include your name at the end of your commentary so I can give you credit for your response. I am also going to post the articles on blackboard, in case you have trouble open them here. Regards, Dr. OReilly

"4 Knows" I chose to read the article titled “4 Knows.” The most interesting part of the article for me, and the most valuable part, was the section on high school level co-teaching. As the article points out, a strong collaboration between the two teachers is essential for success. It is not always easy for two people to get along, and the article emphasizes the difficulties team teacher face, especially in a high school. It is sometimes difficult to get along with others, but I believe that both teachers must communicate often, and the worksheets provided In the article help both teachers put their ideas don in one place, and the worksheets ensure that the curriculum standards can be met. I believe that the special education teacher will be at a slight disadvantage because he or she may not be a specialist in my area of concentration. This should not be a problem though if he or she has worked with me on the lesson plan, and has become familiar with the content of the class. I’m sure that a special education teacher will also have many ideas to offer on how to design my lesson plans, and how to differentiate the activities. I view the job of co-teaching as similar to parenting. In my home, my wife and I both have a common goal, which is doing what is best for the children. I believe that as co-teachers, my partner and I would both have a shared goal-making sure our students learn. Just as in parenting, I’m sure we may disagree on how best to accomplish this. Discussing the ideas before implementing makes for a united front, and our ideas are usually successful. Two heads are often better than one, and a combination of ideas can be much more effective. I would try to spend as much time as possible planning with my co-teacher. There are many opportunities for discussions with a co-teacher such as while the students are watching film. I think the key to co-teaching is to put aside one’s ego, and work together to make the class the best it can be for all involved. Paul Tomasheski

Paul, To have a good co-teaching partnership requires communication, collaboration and flexibility. I am pleased that you are open to sharing in responsibilities for planning and instruction with your special education partner. You are correct that the teacher may not be as comfortable with the content initially as you are, so having an opportunity to discuss what's essential for students to know and be able to do will be key. You will need to supplement face to face with other strategies like email, but you can be very effective when you both know what should happen in your shared classroom. Good commentary. Dr. OReilly

4 Knows

I read both articles, but chose to write about "The Four Knows" as I visited a co-taught sixth-grade class where some students left after math instruction and others came into the classroom for literacy. Although it is a general ed class, there are more students with IEP's than an average classroom in that school. Additionally, although the testing is not as high stakes as high school, the students are required to do well on the standards based tests. As Paul mentioned, communication is key. I view co-teaching more like a marriage, you have a partner and you will not always agree on everything. It is difficult to tell a person that you don't know very well that what they are doing bothers you. Moreover, students will notice if you and your partner don't get along well. The co-teachers I started to observe (I'm not finished yet) have been friends for many years and asked the district if they would be allowed to co-teach. Theirs is in the only co-taught classroom in Kenilworth. I liked the description of the four knows: Know yourself,know your partner, know your students and know your stuff. Other than know your partner, these ideas are essential for all educators. Although I am an elementary ed major with a co-concentration in English, I plan on getting additional certification in special ed. This is where I disagree with Paul. As if I co-teach high school English as the special educator, I will be just as knowledgeable as the gen-ed teacher. However, Paul may be right, as not all special educators will have a background in history, which would be helpful for him. After reading the articles, I have more questions to ask the co-teachers. I think I would enjoy co-teaching if I were in a partnership like the women I am observing have. Kate

Kate , I am glad that you are having an opportunity to view a good co-teaching relationship in action and to be able to speak to these teachers as well to hear their story. Being able to identify your partner is not typical in many schools. Having said that, you can always seek out a partner, and then suggest to your principal that you would both like to co-teach together. Depending on the needs of the students in that subject and/or grade, that may be a possibilty. You are right, as in any relationship, you need to develop trust in each other and your own ground rules not only for sharing the classroom, but for disagreeing with each other respectfully and constructively. I have found focusing discussions around what will help students works best and using "we" rather than "you" or "me" promotes more unity. Good commentary. Dr. OReilly

Tips and Staregies This article focused on tips and staregies teachers can use in the classroom as first time co teachers It gives tips on planning, instucting, and assessment.. Teachers need to get to know each other first before they begin co- teaching. Both teachers should agree on how the classroom will be conducted, no one teacher should dominate the other becasue this will lead to confusion in the classroom. When it comes to planning, both teachers need to find ways to use their strengths to ensure that the lesson is differentiated. They need to begin by planning sessions about what will be taught and how it will be taught. They should include days in which the special educator will take lead on planning. When it comes to instruction they must discuss different learning styles, and use their learning styles to assist students. Give students breaks to process information and to clear their heads.Vary instructional practices because the benefit of co-teaching is that you have two instructors which allows flexibility and creativity during lessons.When it comes to assessment you have to create rubrics that will help students see what is being assessed and how, discuss students individually to determine what is appropriate for each and come to an agreement in advance.I will definately use some of these tips in my own classroo. I like rubrics because it lets the student see what they need to do to achieve a high grade. i will use my learning style when I am teaching my students and I will definately differentiate my lessons because all students learn differently......... Keesha Keesha, You identified many of the key points of this article. I am glad you thought about the importance of partners deciding together what will be taught and how. I know you recognize that the power of 2 is to help differentiate instruction and provide time to confer and address individual student needs. Good commentary. Dr, OReilly

The article entitled Tips and Strategies for Co-Teaching at the Secondary Level provided excellent tips for co-teaching in a classroom. Although I want to teach at the Early Childhood level, the tips in this article can be used all across the boards in some shape or form. The number one thing that I got from the article is that communication is key. Constantly having communication with your co-teacher can help you find ways to reach the students in the class that need help mainly the students with disabilities, but also the general ed students too. A harmonious co-teaching relationship doesn't happen over night, like with all relationships it takes work. Getting to know each other in order to run a successful classroom is just as important as knowing your students. Another thing that stuck out for me in the article was the idea of S.H.A.R.E (Sharing Hopes, Attitudes, Responsibilities, and Expectations). This involves both you and the co-teacher writing down responses pertaining to S.H.A.R.E and sharing them with each other. Knowing this in the beginning instead of as you go along allows both parties to know what the other wants and hopes to accomplish. If reworded right, I also think that this would be a good way to get to know your students too in the beginning of the year, especially at the secondary level when they've been through a number of school years and have had different experiences with teachers. For a student with a disability, being in a co-taught class might just be what they need to finally prove to themselves and everyone else that they are capable of being academically successful. But for the teachers if they aren't on one accord then they nor that student may never know.-**Tashena** Tashena, You are correct that the relationship is the key. You may find yourself working in your classroom alongside a speech and language specialist or a special education teacher at some point in time. I think your awareness of building relationships right from the start will do you in good stead. Good insight. Dr. OReilly
 * Tips and Strategies for Co-Teaching **

Tips and strategies ( Mike Monaco)

This article discussed many different issues that will need to be faced in order to have a successful and functioning co-teaching environment at the secondary level. The article explains that at the secondary level many special education teachers have to work with numerous general education teachers which can provide the challenge of understanding and learning the various teaching styles of the various general education teachers they are working with. The most important argument this article makes in my opinion is that the co-teachers need to get to know each other and really work together in order to best benefit their students. Five steps given by the article preparing to co teach were (assess the environment, move in slowly, involve an administrator, get to know your partner and creating a workable schedule). Every environment is different as well is every teacher and every student. So becoming familiar and comfortable with each different situation is a huge part or creating a successful co-teaching environment. The two teachers involved should go out to eat or meet up outside of the classroom to really get to know each other and each other’s expectations for the class. The stronger the bond and understanding of the co teachers, the stronger the classroom environment will be. Dividing the workload and instruction equally is also essential in a functioning co-teaching environment. One partner cannot try and overpower the other partner. It needs to be a split responsibility and collaborative effort. The goal of all secondary teachers is to assure the success of their students as they prepare for the real world, and providing a functioning well planned co teaching environment is what is going to provide that. Mike, You are right that special education teachers have the challenge of many potential partners, not only at the secondary level, but it is possible at the middle and elementary level as well. Depending on the number of partners and subject areas a special educator must co-teach, they may not initially be as proficient in each subject area as their general education content partners, but they will bring a knowledge of individual student adaptations and learning strategies that can enhance efforts to differentiate practices. It may not always be an equal division of responsibilities (although that remains a good goal), but both teachers should actively share in the planning and instruction in whatever ways meets their needs and the needs of the students. Good commentary. Dr. OReilly

Samantha Dugan Tips and Strategies for Co-Teaching

The article I choose to read was Tips and Strategies for Co-Teaching at the Secondary Level. This article focused on different strategies and tips co-teachers can use within the classroom. This article provides multiple tips on instructing, planning, and assessment. Co-teaching is one way to deliver services to students with disabilities or other special needs as part of a philosophy of inclusive practices. As a result, it shares many benefits with other inclusion strategies, including a reduction in stigma for students with special needs, an increased understanding and respect for students with special needs on the part of other students, and the development of a sense of heterogeneously-based classroom community. From reading this article I am now aware that Co-teaching is first and foremost an approach for meeting the educational needs of students with diverse needs. Instruction is the cornerstone of the co-teaching approach. In both elementary and secondary settings, the reduced teacher-student ratio can make possible increased attention for all the students and thus create a more positive classroom climate. Teachers can also use co-teaching as a vehicle for creating opportunities for positive social interactions between students with different learning styles. Co-teaching is optimized when a strong collaborative relationship exists, but we recognize that co-teaching can also exist, albeit in a significantly limited form, with minimal collaboration. Co-teaching is like a professional marriage. To keep co-teaching relationships and instructional arrangements fresh and effective, teachers should consider trying several of the approaches listed in this article and altering their co-teaching methods regularly. Samantha, I hope you will one day have a good partner with whom you can try to apply some of things you read about in this article. You might also want to view the other one as they complement each other. Good commentary. Dr. OReilly

4 KNOWS: The article that I choose that was interesting to me was “The Four “knows” of Collaborative Teaching”. In this article, the authors talks about how co-teaching can be a difficult thing to do. The article focused more on talking about how it was difficult at the high school levels, whereas I think this is a problem throughout all grades. For instance, there can be problems with planning, grading, teaching methods and styles, sharing responsibility, etc. The most often problem that occurs with co-teaching is, sharing the classroom. According to the text, “A major barrier to successful co-teaching resulted from the lack of parity felt between general education and special education teachers. General education teachers tended to consider themselves the content experts and viewed special education teachers as not sufficiently knowledgeable of high school curriculum” (Duff, Keefe, and Moore, pg. 36). When I was in the sixth grade, I remember being in a co-taught class room in which the special education teacher was treated more like an aide. She barely taught the class on her own and was given small tasks, sometimes unimportant to do. She also worked a lot with the kids who had special needs rather than all the students.

When reading the article, I learned that in order for co-teaching to work successfully and efficiently, it is important for both teachers to know themselves, know each other, know their students, and know the content (what they is teaching). By knowing all these things, general educators and special education teachers will be able to work together because they will be able to understand one another’s work ethic. This will prevent tension in the classroom. By knowing the students, both teachers will be able to create lesson plans that suits each students need and even make changes when needed. Two heads is always better than one and by working together as partners, the students will get a better education that will allow them to succeed academically. --- **RENEE AMO** Renee, You are right that this is the goal to strive for. It is truly a waste of time when one teacher is not allowed to actively teach. That is where knowing the different models of small group instruction can be helpful so students can get more attention and instruction when two teachers are actively working with them in small group arrangements. Thanks for sharing the anecdote - one definitely to avoid. Good commentary. Dr. OReilly

4 KNOWS I Chose the article about the 4 knows simply because it appealed to me specifically at the time. When I read the article, I was in the middle of team teaching unit in my education 310 class. I really enjoyed the article because it doted on knowledge, and what was unique was that it was not just about the knowledge of your discipline. The article explains that co-teacihng is a difficult task but then it gives us tools to be successful. The article explore the foundation of Co-Teaching which begins with the teachers. This article gives the importance of knowing yourself and not just depending on a surfaced understanding. Knowing yourself is very important because you have to know your limits so that when interacting with another equal professional, you know what to expect of yourself. Also, the article talks about knowing your partner. I think this part is key because this is someone who will be working beside you with the same goals and objectives. Is it important to know your partner because you need to know how to deal with their ways of doing things. Next, the article talks about knowing your students which has to be the utmost essential part because as a teacher, it is your job to know your students' interests, strengths, and weaknesses. Knowing the student can make teaching for efficient because you know who you are gearing lessons toward. Lastly, the article instructs that you know your stuff. It is impossible to be able to teach without knowing more than just about your discipline. You have to be wellrounded and the article expresses that. The 4 knows will be a big help in my classroom because all of these factors are the foundation to the success of my students. without these tools, i would be underprepared as an educator. In my classroom i would want to do Bi weekly meetings with my co-teacher and my students individually so that i can personally assess the effectiveness of my tactics. - Da'Cheray Thomas Da'Cheray, This article has a lot of ideas that you mention to reflect upon when trying to establish an effective partnership. Because co-teaching is not easy, I hope that these ideas will help you if and when you happen to have a co-teacher in your classroom. Good commentary. Dr. OReilly

__ Tips and Strategies for Co-teaching at the Secondary Level __ I chose to make my commentary on this article because I believe the tips and strategies can be altered to fit the needs of the grade levels that I will teaching in. I have started my classroom observations at this point. Co-teaching is a method by which educators can meet the needs of students with and without disabilities who are struggling in a secondary class. I understand that there are three major areas involved in co-teaching including planning, instruction and assessment. In order for co-teaching to be successful, it is imperative that those three major areas are covered and that both teachers are involved. Any collaborative relationship can be doomed if one partner dominates, or leads in a direction that the other partner is not expecting. Being collaborative is just as important for middle school as it is high school. I also think the table provided for preparing to co-teach is an excellent template to build a stronger relationship between the co-teachers before they are working with the students. The second table on teachers action is also an excellent template for smoother transitions in the classroom. I've seen a few of these actions put in to motion during my field experience and it works! It was not a disruption to students because it showed that they were both involved in the planning time. The article, to me, stresses the importance of the co-teachers understanding one another first and foremost befoe they can even present themselves to their students. They have to collaborate on everything from the discussion of learning styles to the taking turns of grading papers. The goal of secondary teachers, as all teachers, is to ensure the future success of their students as they prepare to become responsible and productive citizens. Co-teaching is an option for teachers to assist the students and serve as models. ~Danielle Cofield

__Tips and Strategies for Co-teaching at the Secondary Level__

the article that interested me the most was tips and strategies for co-teaching at the secondary level. this article focused more on the teacher side of the issues with co-teaching. Specifically the mandates place upon teachers by the no child left behind act, the difficulties of working with-in an administration that it not fully prepare to implement co-teaching.

of the many issues raised i found the article criticism of the no child left behind act to be in accord with many of my own tough's on the subject. The no child left act has created systematic testing across the country leading to the idea that if all the children in the USA are tested problem that the test can be use as a guide to route out failing school and failing student and provide them the help they need ; Good idea poor execution. The no child left behind testing methods are as much a problem as those it means to solve. For one it does take into account student with special ed to any degree. It expect such students to preform at grade level even though their very nature would suggest that such a feat would be wonderful to see, but a folly to expect. There is just no reasonable way to expect such heroic result, yet mean while grading special ed student along side their gen ed peer only servers to punish the efforts of the many teacher that have hard to bring those child to the scholastic level they're currently in.

not much need to be said about the "ready fire and aim" approach some principle have enacted in their school district. such methods will no work and the reasons are obvious. you just can't do that and expect it to work period. Co-teaching require two teacher to work together as one team through the school year. a 15 minutes pep talk is not going to get co-teaching implemented into the school, but rather a long summer or two teaching planning a join curriculum together and working out their difference before they ever set foot in a classroom together. Alain Jimenez