CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS

SINGLE SUBJECT CREDENTIAL PROGRAM

INITIAL CLINICAL PRACTICE AND CO-TEACHING MEETING FOR COOPERATING TEACHERS AND TEACHER CANDIDATES

OUR AIM

Because teaching today is increasingly complex in a constantly changing digital, discovery, and political environment, our aim is to prepare the most effective teachers who can help to ensure access to learning, including college and career readiness, for all students.

To achieve this aim, we prepare teachers in a collaborative and supportive environment that helps them learn to navigate the complexities of the education profession.

FOCUS ON CLINICAL PRACTICE

(NCATE) 2010 report, Transforming Teacher Education Through Clinical Practice: A National Strategy to Prepare Effective Teachers

“To prepare effective teachers for 21st century classrooms… to shift away from a norm which emphasizes academic preparation and coursework loosely linked to school-based experiences… and to move to programs that are fully grounded in clinical practice and interwoven with academic content and professional courses.”

How is this description similar to and different from your own experiences and expectations?

COOPERATING TEACHER AND TEACHER CANDIDATE TRAINING AND INFORMATION

Purposes:

• Understand Single Subject Program Organization and Focus

• Review Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs)

• Review Co-teaching in Clinical Practice

• Discuss roles and expectations

• Peruse community Moodle site

• Conduct Co-teaching conversation with teacher candidate

SINGLE SUBJECT PROGRAM

Focus on :

• clinical practice

• digital age teachers and learners

• social justice

• Teacher Performance Expectations (Fondly known as TPEs)

PROGRAM ORGANIZATION TO FOCUS ON CLINICAL PRACTICE

16 weeks coursework Mondays

Co-teaching in clinical practice throughout the program T-F (includes some solo teaching)

Follows school site calendar

RATIONALE AND PROCESS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL FEATURES• Collaborative conversations and input from OSLs and CTs

(result: Monday coursework, T-F clinical practice)

• Like K-12, teacher preparation has state and national standards and requirements that must be met. Coursework AND clinical practice, together fulfill the requirements.

• Teacher Performance Assessments are also a state requirement and must be completed during the program.

• Co-teaching is beneficial for K-12 students (2 teachers is better than 1) and teacher candidate preparation (learning from success is generally better than learning from mistakes)

• Co-teaching is necessary to assure continuity for students since the TC is not present on Mondays.

CANDIDATE SCHEDULE

2 periods of one content class: e.g. English 9, Algebra, US history

Follow the co-teaching model – gradually participating more in planning and instruction

1 period assigned to assist in SEI, special ed, ELD, AVID, CAHSEE prep, etc. wherever there is a school site need

Assist only – co-teaching not expected

3 periods for planning, University work

(50% of the 6 period day assigned)

COOPERATING TEACHER EXPECTATIONS

Share planning information and lesson plans

(you are NOT expected to teach how to write a lesson plan!)

Meet with the candidate no more than 2 prep periods per week after the first few weeks

Participate in an interview and ‘pre-nuptial’ agreement meeting with the TC

Have candidate participate in a variety of activities from day one- begin with supportive and complementary

e. g. T C could greet at door, do bell-works, take role, stamp HW, collect work at end of period at door, introduce a new topic, create an activity, present part of lesson, take notes on the board, etc. other ideas?

During CP I: by week 6 of the semester candidates are presenting at least one lesson per week using co-teaching; by week 10 of the semester candidates are teaching 3-5 lessons per week

CT EXPECTATIONS #2

Attend an introductory meeting with the TC,OSL and US

Review co-teaching roles

Explain to the candidate how your department plans, uses standards (and CCS if appropriate)

‘Insist’ that they start ‘instructing’ and interacting with students immediately

Have TC attend all meetings and join you in your other assignments such as duty

Email the CT log (see forms page) on the first Friday of each month to the US and OSL

Check out the TPE (teacher performance expectations) requirements (see log)

FOCUS ON DIGITAL AGE TEACHERS AND LEARNERS

GROWN UP DIGITALTAPSCOTT (2009)

Broadcast Learning Interactive Learning

Teacher centeredIndividualisticTraditional delivery

Learner-centeredCollaborative Constructivist

REVIEW: FOCUS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE

Differentiation

English Learners

Special Needs students

Equity and Access

CO-TEACHING IN CLINICAL PRACTICE

VILLA, THOUSAND, AND NEVIN (2013)

Co-teaching is two or more people (i.e., cooperating teacher and credential candidate) sharing responsibility in planning for, teaching, and assessing the students assigned to them for instruction. In a co-teaching clinical practice approach, a cooperating teacher and credential candidate have an ongoing partnership in planning for and practicing four co-teaching approaches to collaboratively teach all students throughout the clinical experience

WHY CO-TEACH IN CLINICAL PRACTICE?

1. Improved student achievement…..the stakes are high

2. Improved teacher preparation….scaffolding and training the brains of beginning teachers

3. Collaboration is crucial to the changing culture of education…isolation is not the most effective process in a constantly changing environment

4. Increased confidence and competence building to solo teaching

REVIEW: THEMES FROM CSUSM CO-TEACHING PILOT RESEARCH

Results are from small focus group interviews with a total of 30 teacher candidates and 41 cooperating teachers.

• Increased Teacher Candidate competence

• Increased Teacher Candidate confidence

• Increased opportunities for Teacher Candidate and Cooperating Teacher to actively participate and contribute

• Overall, stronger teaching to support student learning

• Increased ability to differentiate

BENEFITSIncreased sharing and exchange of knowledge and skills through the processes of collaborative planning, problem solving, and co-teaching

Professional development for both cooperating teachers and credential candidates in a shared language and understanding of collaborative planning and teaching and methods for high quality co-planning and co-teaching

More opportunity to differentiate instruction to increase student access to and performance in the general education curriculum in mixed-ability classrooms, inclusive of English learners

Increased probability of closing the achievement gap and preventing special education referral by providing research-based instruction and intervention in a Response to Intervention co-teaching approach

 

CHALLENGES OF CO-TEACHINGPlanning Time – Initially, co-teaching necessarily involves more time for planning together. While building a working relationship, both teachers need time to voice their thoughts and ask one another questions to be sure the lesson preparation and delivery go smoothly.

Reflection Time - Since teaching is a recursive process – planning, delivery, reflection -- discussions of assessment and reflection are usually threaded throughout the planning conversations. However, once a routine and pattern emerge, the planning time usually is reduced.

Preparation for Individual Teaching – For Co-teaching in Clinical Practice, there is a gradual shift of lead responsibility for the planning from the Cooperating Teacher to the Teacher Candidate. In addition, the Teacher Candidate can do a few days or even a couple of weeks of solo teaching. In CPII, TCs generally do several weeks of solo teaching after state required testing periods.

Relinquishing Control – For some teachers, the idea of not being in complete control is a foreign notion. After all, one teacher per classroom most of the time is certainly the norm. For teachers who have difficulty relinquishing control, co-teaching is not likely a good option.

CO-TEACHING MODELS• Supportive - Supportive co-teaching is when one teacher

takes the lead instructional role and the other(s) rotates among the students providing support.

• Complementary-Complementary co-teaching is when co-teachers do something to enhance the instruction provided by the other co-teacher(s)

• Parallel - Parallel co-teaching is when two or more people work with different groups of students in different sections of the classroom.

• Team - Team co-teaching is when two or more people do what the traditional teacher has always done – plan, teach, assess, and assume responsibility for all of the students in the classroom.

PREPARE FOR A GOOD EXPERIENCE

“Pre-Nuptial Conversation” Issues for Discussion and Planning

Clinical Practice Timeline for Primary Teaching Responsibility (handout)

Time Commitment necessary for co-planning and reflection conversations

Recursive Nature of Teaching (University Supervisor has 1 planning observation early in the semester and 3 teaching observations)

PRE-NUPTIAL CONVERSATION: SAMPLE QUESTIONS.

Time for planning:

How much time do we need? (Suggestion: You will probably need more time initially than you think you might.)

When and where will we meet on a regular basis specifically for planning?

Communication:

How will we ensure regular communication with each other?

Instruction:

How will we share teaching responsibility this week?

How will the content be presented – will one person teach and the other arrange and facilitate?

How are we comfortable complementing and supplementing one another during instruction?

Student Behavior:

If we could each have only three class rules, what would those be?

How will we be consistent in dealing with behavior?

HAVE THIS CONVERSATION ASAP!

ROLES IN CLINICAL PRACTICE (IN BRIEF)University Supervisor

• Mentor and coach

• 4 formal observations (1 planning, 3 teaching)

• Prepares final documents

On-Site Liaison

• Mentor and coach

• Site contact, sounding board, help in problem solving, reflection guide, etc.

• Plans opening and closing meetings and meets weekly with TCs

Cooperating Teacher

• Daily role model and mentor

• Collaborates in co-planning and teaching

• Guides reflective conversations, offering formal and informal feedback

CO-TEACHING REMINDERS• Cooperating teachers: Introduce the teacher candidate as a

co-teacher and be sure they have supportive and complementary roles in the lesson.

• Teacher Candidates: Be proactive in the beginning of the semester. During planning, ask what you can do to support and complement the lesson. Do not sit in the back of the room. Observation of your CT is important, and you can observe while assisting students during independent practice and watching students to make sure they are “on task” during direct instruction. Act like a teacher. Stand at the door and greet students.

• Throughout the semester, candidates will have assignments that use the co-teaching tools (prenuptial conversation, lesson planning, reflection on co-teaching, etc.)

CO-TEACHING COMMUNITY MOODLE

http://www.csusm.edu/education/