Co-Teaching

January successes, struggles, and questions: (Maryvale High School)


 * Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see a chart of needs/possible solutions/district outcomes. Take some time to add possible solutions to the teacher needs that are listed. If you have a concern that is not listed, please add it to the table. **

The following are the results from the three follow-up questions you were asked.
 * 1/28/09**
 * Session Two:**

• The co-teaching relationship we have built • The students view us as equals • With two brains, lessons are incorporating more HOTS • We have more time to spend on test taking and writing skills...students are showing improvements in scores • I feel like I am an equal member of the team • It is beneficial to have two people in the classroom for students to go to. • Using the different types of co-teaching • Seeing improvements in student performance • Complimenting one another (students don't know who the lead teacher is) • Using our own connections to make teachable moments • Being able to depend one each other • The students respect us equally • Working with strong/great teachers
 * Successes:**

• Planning time • Some of the students do not see us as equals • I need to better communicate what some of the the special education students needs are. • More planning time would be helpful • Not being comfortable with the curriculum • It is difficult to co-teach with the amount of teachers we are doing it with • When one person is teaching the other person is not as active • Finding common planning time • Not feeling as if all parties are fully invested • Unequal distribution of work • Lack of communication • It is difficult to co-teach when you have no common planning time • At times it feels like someone is the student teacher • Having one person be responsible for student behaviors and grades • Students needs are not being met • Sometimes teachers are not willing to give students modifications
 * Struggles:**

• Text-to-speech software • More information on HOTS • Historical documents written at a lower reading level • Are both teachers accountable for student success? • Information on differentiated instruction
 * Questions/Needs:**

A free download from [|here] can help you convert text to speech. Naturalreaders gives you an opportunity to download software to save to your computer. You can copy and paste different types of text and it will be read to your students.
 * Text to Speech:**

Another text-to-speech website can be found [|here]. Spoken Text will save your files for a day free, on the web, password protected. There are no downloads for your computer when you use Spoken Text.

This document will help you choose which text-to-speech program you would like to use.


 * Information on Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS):**

You may find something [|here]. I didn't have a chance to full explore, but there are some great ideas.
 * Historical Documents Written at a Lower Level:**

Part 200 State Regulations can be found [|here.] Part 200.6 lists co-teaching on the continuum of service.
 * New York State Documents:**

A great link with DI resources can be found [|here]. Internet4classrooms has complied a list of great websites and categorized them according to the multiple intelligences, learning styles, and by content areas.
 * Differentiated Instruction:**

Here are some different ways to implement DI in your classroom by using • Choice Boards- Give students different choices to show you what they know. Maybe they can do it through writing an essay, maybe through writing a song, giving a speech, putting together a collage of pictures. • Menus- List different appetizers for them to choose from, give a selection for the main course, and list different assignments they can do for dessert. • Questioning- Differentiate the way you question your students. Using the [|Six Hats] helps you to think about the types of questions you are asking. It is also a way for your students to be able to identify the type of questions you ask.


 * Concerns/Problems, Possible Solutions, District Outcomes Table: **


 * ** Concerns/Problems ** || **Suggested Solutions ** || **District Outcome ** ||
 * Lack of common planning time || - Can one of the three duties in the contract be for co-planning? ||  ||
 * Keeping the co-teaching pairs consistent ||  ||   ||
 * Supervision time ||  ||   ||
 * Accountability…who is responsible for student success? ||  ||   ||
 * Having an hour of planning/week is not enough time ||  ||   ||
 * What should lesson plans look like for special education teachers? ||  ||   ||
 * The scheduling “rush” at the end of the year || -Can department chairs meet together to schedule the classes? ||  ||
 * When students fail, there is often no room for them in the courses. || - Can we anticipate failures and leave a few seats in the courses for this? ||  ||
 * Special education teachers do not have enough access to students that are in their resource room || - Can students be in a 5 day cycle for resource, rather then a 3 day? ||  ||
 * There seems to be a lot of duties for special education teachers during Regents week. This is a crazy week because of the transition of new students and IEP writing. ||  ||   ||
 * The amount of teachers we are co-teaching with ||  ||   ||