I chose the video Co-Teaching Strategies because it was the only one I could find that had student testimonies. I was shocked at how hard these testimonies were to find. I looked for almost two hours and only found this one. The entire video is good and part of a trilogy. The team teachers say they base their philosophy on that of Bruce Tuckman. Bruce Tuckman’s mantra for team teaching is forming, storming, norming and performing. This video discusses the first two mantras of forming and storming.

Forming encompasses the preteaching phase of team teaching. This is when the teachers organize their classroom and make rules about what is and is not permitted in their classroom. The teachers formulate structures and routines and get to know each other better. This is an especially important step for teachers who have never team taught together before. Imagine a prearranged marriage, you would want to get to know your partner a bit and set some rules before you tie the knot.

The storming phase is when the teachers regroup to reflect on how they are doing. They fine tune their machine making any and all necessary changes. This should happen periodically with even the most experienced team teachers. New students, lessons and other variables always bring new challenges to be addressed.

The unique aspect of this video is that we actually get student testimonials from the Brooklyn Preparatory School about how students feel about team teaching. One boy says he likes that, "while one of the teachers is teaching, the other one is always available for help".  Indeed this is a great advantage to team teaching. Another boy says he likes team teaching, "because it helps with discipline and classroom management". Once again a student has picked up on another great advantage. A girl remarks that she particularly enjoys class with these two teachers because they are seen as equals by the students. Keeping up on this notion a boy says that he prefers team teaching because the great rapport and witty banter betwixt the teachers makes the class more fun and engaging. This is my own favourite aspect of team teaching. When the teachers are having fun it is contagious. The students are drawn into the dialogue, and learning takes place in authentic ways of which children are often unaware.

This video emphasized that co-teaching is all about collaboration between a general educator and special educator. It also explains the benefits of co-teaching and the importance of collaborative co-teaching. Co-teaching promotes differentiated instruction, increases instructional options and flexible grouping which leads to lower student to teacher ratios. The video also highlights the core of co-teaching which is partnership between two teachers who share everything including planning, instruction and assessment. Both teachers should start to build mutual trust and respect, and open communication. They needed to decide who will plan the lessons, whose teaching strategies they have to use, and how to determine students' grades. To work well as a team, both teachers should also share their teaching styles, philosophies and teaching values. The video also emphasizes the importance of commitment, collaborative working relationships, and that both teachers should create a schedule and meet regularly to plan instructions and evaluate students' outcomes.

The article by S. Arkoudis was a very insightful article.  Though it focused on ESL teachers and mainstream teachers, it could have been speaking about the collaborative struggles between general and special education teachers.  I paused and reflected when it was highlighted how ESL teachers feel like they are side-lined out of the mainstream classroom and often feel devalued in their role as a teacher.  The assumption that their only area of expertise focuses on such a narrow group of students, that the are not able to positive influence an entire classroom.  The feeling of isolation is compounded for an ESL, and I would infer a Special Education teacher.  

The article spoke at length about the importance of the dialogue between the two teachers as they collaborated and planned together.  It was interesting to read the transcripts and note the change in their language as the conversations continued.  I was encouraged when the author of the article pointed out that as these interchanges continue, each teacher influences their colleague in a positive way, shares their expertise and enlightens the other person to become a more effective teacher.

Arkoudis, S. (2006). Negotiating the rough ground between ESL and mainstream teachers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9 (4), 415 – 433.

The video entitled Co-Teaching Strategies was great. It clearly displayed all five team teaching styles: team, station, alternative, parallel and one teacher with one support. I would have liked it to be a bit longer and more informative, but all in all it gave a decent demonstration. Another thing I liked about the video is that it seemed authentic and not at all staged. One can clearly see the distinction between the five teaching strategies. Even without the headings it is apparent when the teachers are working as a team with one head and two bodies. Of course the station teaching is very apparent as is the one teacher one support. Another reason why I chose this video is because it has the ideal of Marita Shingler being a general education teacher, and Cindy Alexander being a special education teacher. When they are doing the one teacher one support strategy it is clear who the special education teacher is, but at other times they weave together with the automaticity of a finely tuned machine. This is the type of team teaching that will close the gap between the special and regular education students because it is inclusive and productive with two specialized teachers working as a team.

The video by Jessica Stamler was an informative video on how her and her cooperating teacher set up their classroom for success.  She highlighted that there is a fear that as co-teachers you have to give up your teaching philosophy.  It really spoke to me that this whole idea of co-teaching isn't about compromising to the point of losing your teaching identity for the sake of working with a different individual, but sharing and as a result gaining their expertise and experience.  She illustrated it like a Venn diagram where we merge in the centre and have many things in common, but that we retain and celebrate the things that are unique about each teacher.  That concept gave me more confidence to embrace the idea of co-teaching. As well as she stressed it is important to have constant communication.  I can't say enough how vital this aspect is in working with another teacher.

Avoiding the Clash of the Titans. Retrieved August 23rd, 2013 from TEDxTalk:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_k8rbv9ccY