teaming in co-teaching
TRANSCRIPT
Articles
We will review assigned reading articles.
Please have them ready to reference and
make comments about them throughout.
Co-Teaching: Getting to Know Your
Partner
by Jane Sileo
Getting Started: the relationship building stage.
Effective Communication is key to navigating professional relationships.
Unresolved issues interfere with efforts to collaborate on behalf of students –communication is key.
Planning: the Co-teaching
Stage
Define who:
Plans and teaches the
lessons.
Prepares and organizes
instructional material.
Chooses co-teaching
structures that
complement the lessons
and the students’
abilities.
Grades assignments.
Description of Co-Teaching
Structures
One Teach, One Observe
Parallel Teaching
Station Teaching
Alternative Teaching
One Teach, One Assist
Team Teaching
Problem Solving the Ongoing
Relationship Stage (See the example in the article), Step 1: Identify the Issues
Step 2: Develop alternative courses of action.
Step 3: Analyze the risks and benefits of each course of action.
Step 4: Choose a course of action.
Step 5: Take action.
Step 6: Evaluate results of the action
Step 7: Assume responsibility for the consequences, correct potentially negative consequences, or re-engage in the decision-making process.
Share with a partner how you
would implement the 3 stages.
Relationship-building stage.
Co-Teaching stage.
On-going relationship stage.
What would the stages look
like for you?
Strengthen Your Co-teaching
Relationship by Jan Stivers
Please reference your article for whole group
discussion.
Planning and Instruction Set aside large blocks of time for
planning.
Adapt planning tools to suit your needs.
Lobby for instructional materials that support coo-teaching.
Try new models of co-teaching
Use your time strategically.
Reexamine the layout of your classroom to be sure it continues to be well-suited to your evolving co-teaching practices.
Assessment
Give and get feedback,
twice as fast.
Clarify your understanding of
each other’s grading
expectations.
Experiment with ways to share
responsibility for grading.
Enhancing Your Partnership Recognize the little things that
can mean a lot.
Pay attention to parity.
Acknowledge problems early and
honestly.
Address conflicts in a manner that
is comfortable for both of you.
Learn to let it go.
Extending Your Reach
Attend a professional development
workshop together.
Model collaborative skills.
Volunteer to serve as mentors to new co-
teaching pairs.
Maintaining Perspective
Honor your sense of humor.
Create a mission statement.
Reminder: It is not a marriage.
Beginnings
Working together in teamwork probably
began around cave fires ages ago.
Over time, people have improved their
quality of life by working together.
Toddlers are expected to outgrow
egocentrism and learn how to interact
with others.
Teacher Isolation in the Past
In the past, teachers worked alone in their classrooms for the most part.
In more recent times, schools have become multidimensional centers of activity and much more social places.
Chunking of the typical school day insulates teachers from sources of ideas beyond their own background of experiences.
Why work together as
educators?
Consultation and collaboration helps us
achieve common goals.
Processes of sharing expertise and
challenging basic assumptions can
stimulate growth in exciting ways when
colleagues team up as productive
partners.
Consultation
An interactive process in which school
personnel in general education and special
education, related services and support
personnel, families of students, and the
students themselves are working together and
sharing their diversity of knowledge and
expertise in order to define needs and then
plan, implement, assess, follow through and
follow up on the ways of learning that learners
develop to their fullest potential.
Co-Educators
Co-educators are persons who
collaborate, consult, and work as a team
to provide appropriate learning
experiences for learners’ diverse needs.
Co-education can be school based, such
as teachers and related services or
support personnel; home based, such as
family members or caregivers for students,
and community based in support roles.
Teamwork
In the collaborative school environment is
the process by which a group of co-
educators work to address common
purposes and strive to achieve shared
goals for the benefit and ultimate
successes of children and youth.
Group work Group 1: Describe consultation and how it
works.
Group 2: Describe collaborative co-education and what that looks like.
Group 3: What is teamwork in an educational setting?
All groups: list some of the things they may be observed doing.
A List of Some of the Things Educators
May Be Observed Doing
Discussing students’ needs with co-educators and planning ways of addressing those needs.
Listening to colleagues’ concerns about a particular teaching situation.
Recommending classroom alternatives as first-to-be-tried interventions for students with special learning and behavior needs.
Leading or participating in professional development activities that focus on special needs.
Networking with other educational professionals and agencies who can be resources for students’ needs and school improvements in general.
Motivation for Working
Collaboratively
Reports from school districts throughout the U.S. identify collaboration as a key variable in the successful implementation of inclusive education.
Collaborators do not compromise and cooperate as much as they confer and concur.
Collaborators need models that provide structure, practice, encouragement, and positive feedback in order to perform the sophisticated and demanding functions called for in collaborative school consultation.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Used high stakes testing in reading and math
Inclusion of children with disabilities in the testing scheme
Intensive preparation for the tests
High-profile reports of schools that made or failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP)
Higher standards for teacher certification
Common Core Standards of
2012
Relevance to special education:
Skills to articulate a personal philosophy of special education.
Roles of individuals with exceptional learning needs in planning individualized programs.
Models and strategies for consultation and collaboration.
Several other measures focusing on assessment, communication, para-educators, and families.
Technology for Working
Together Effectively
Gathering and sharing information.
Communicating with co-educators in
schools, homes, and communities.
Developing resources for curriculum and
instruction
Organizing and managing data
Networking with co-educators and
support services
Ethics for Working Together as
Co-Educators
An ethical climate for collaborative
school consultation and teamwork calls
for a system of values and principles in
which beliefs and actions about working
together will guide practices and inspire
excellence.
Collaborators must create environments
in which respect and caring characterize
their professional interactions.