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

I just watched the “Bad Co-teaching” video. I’m sure everyone has a horror story about a lesson that has gone awry. How many of those experiences involved co-teaching? Personally, I haven’t had a bad experience with REAL co-teaching, but have had a few less than stellar experiences where an extra set of hands have gone to waste. Without pre-planning and collaboration, co-teaching doesn’t work. The responsibility to plan, instruct and assess should not all fall on to one person’s shoulders if the teachers want to be effective. When one person looks after everything and the other teacher just shows up you may end up with what the text refers to as a “glorified aide”. This co-teaching guide is a great tool for pre-planning and collaborating.

Co-Teaching Collaboration Guidlines GUHSD. (n.d.). Retrieved August 22, 2013, from Grossmont Union High School District: http://www.guhsd.net/index.php/procedures-and-resources/curriculum-and-instruction/doc_view/2762-co-teaching-collaboration-guidlines-guhsd

I wonder why some teachers are so resistant to collaboration? I guess if you are forced into a situation with someone you just don’t “click” with it could be quite frustrating. In the qualitative study I read, researchers tried to develop a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of collaboration between ESL and classroom teachers. The findings were that more successful collaboration between teachers is shown by shared language and experiences; the more time the teachers spent collaborating and debriefing, the better their experience was. The researchers also outlined the five stages of collaboration. The five stages are:

1. Passive Resistance

2. Compliance

3. Accommodation

4. Convergence

6. Creative Co-construction

I think as a group we have reached creative co-construction. We have discussed every part of this project and there have been some things we’ve agreed on immediately and other things that have been debated. The end result however, is an in depth inquiry project that we can all take pride in. Working with five other people on a group project could have been super difficult, but after all is said and done, I’m really proud of my group.

Davison, C. (2006). Collaboration between ESL and content teachers: How do we know when we are doing it right? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9 (4), 454 – 475.

As a substitute teacher I love team teaching. Whenever I know that I will be spending my day with someone who knows the complexities of our classroom I am relieved of all my stress and know the students will have a productive day. My team teacher will know the students and the routine, plus I will never be stuck searching a foreign classroom for something that is not where it is supposed to be. Substitutes aren’t the only ones who benefit from team teaching, the students do as well. Occasionally when there is a substitute in the room the days are not particularly productive. Some students view these days as a holiday and refuse to work resulting in disturbances that impede others progress. Furthermore, sometimes with a substitute the students are simply given ‘keep them busy’ work that they know isn’t relevant or educational. Having a substitute can be even more disruptive and belittling for the special education students. These children often get removed from the classroom which damages their sense of community belonging and devalues them. Finally, team teaching also benefits the absent teacher. There is strength in numbers and it comforting for the away teacher to know that someone they trust is in their classroom who knows exactly what is going on and needs to be done.

What I like best about co-teaching is how it allows us as teachers to be in two places at once, teaching two completely different lessons. In a grade two/three split classroom both planning and teaching can become a hair-pulling experience. That is, if you are trying to do everything on your own. With two teachers the shared responsibilities are much more manageable. One teacher is able to focus on teaching the grade two students their science lesson, while the other teacher is teaching a grade three science lesson to the rest of the students. Without a partner teacher, one person cannot possibly teach two different lessons to two different groups of students at the same time. Trying to do everything on your own will most likely lead to utter chaos and extra, unnecessary planning. But have no fear......co-teaching is here!!

I wish everyone could have the opportunity to collaborate and lesson plan with someone they could trust. It makes teaching much more fun, and much less stressful. If we could all have a teaching partner, or team, it would be like being a cop ... someone would always have your back. You could bring out the best in each other and have the opportunity to do things you wouldn't undertake alone. You would have someone to share the ups and downs with. If every classroom could have two teachers there would also be a huge amount of job creation ... there are a lot of unemployed teachers out there!

I have taught in a variety of different junior/high schools and various teaching assignments.  One thing has remained the same throughout the years, I have always had students with behavioural or academic issues.  I heard about this co-teaching idea a few years ago, but it was never a strategy that anyone thought could be implemented; it was too time consuming, would be a scheduling nightmare, would cause another strain on already stressed teachers.  Now that I have done more research with my colleagues, I have come to realize that it would be much easier to use than previously assumed.  It actually saves time, allows much more professional support and sharing and benefits all students.  I wish I could go back to some of those Math, Science, Social Studies or Reading Recovery classrooms and use co-teaching.  I can only imagine how much we could have all learned......

Challenge: Comment to this post by writing your favorite inclusive quote of the day. The above quote came from the link below and there are many more to choose from.

 I am currently an EAL (English as an Additional Language) teacher. The hardest part of my job is to gain access to the mainstream classroom. At a philosophical level, I do not believe in a pull-out model of intervention. I believe that with proper collaborative planning, most of the students' needs can be addressed within the classroom. This is why I have joined this collaborative effort to learn more about effective co-teaching. I hope that by sharing what we have learned, mainstream teachers will become more open to true collaboration for the betterment of all students.