Teacher World

In a past blog, I told you that co-teaching is a marriage; a marriage between the general education teacher and the intervention specialist.  As you know, this year my intervention specialist and I are in a full-time marriage as we are self-contained. So, now that I am in a more committed relationship, you might ask how our marriage is going so far this year.

I love it!!!!! Imagine having two teachers working in tandem at all times. That old adage that two heads are better than one is proven daily. Where I hesitate, my co-teacher jumps in, and where she falters, I fill in. As Jerry Maguire would say, “She completes me.” We complement each other so fluidly that our teaching is becoming seamless.

There is never a time when one of us is just sitting. We team teach, parallel teach, orchestrate centers, or work with individuals and groups throughout the day. There is never a time when I feel unsupported by her, or she by me. We role play, act out what we are teaching, and thoroughly enjoy both our students and each other. I can’t say that I have ever enjoyed the actual act of teaching quite so much. I am so grateful to have this opportunity.

I spent considerable time over the summer wondering whether the choice we made to be self-contained was a wise one. I worried about teaching subjects I had never taught before. But I needn’t have worried. And if I needed any proof, I got that at the end of this past week when another one of our school’s intervention specialists, who has stopped in often throughout the past two weeks asking for advice or just to see what we are doing, told us that she wished she could be doing what we are doing because it looked like we were so much more effective and the kids seemed to love it. She talked about feeling like she was being pulled in two different directions as she moves from teacher to teacher. I always called that the yo-yo effect. I think for the first time in three years my friend and co-teacher does not feel like a yo-yo, and I don’t feel short-changed. So, I love this marriage, and I hope to stay in it for a long time.

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As I have explained in previous blogs, this year my co-teacher and I are experimenting with a self-contained, co-teaching classroom. Since we are trying something so different, I plan to spend time blogging on a regular basis about what is happening in our classroom and how our efforts are paying off. So, here goes:

Day one down, only 180-some to go!!!!! Yes, today was our first day of school, and I am so glad it is over, although all in all, it went quite well. Our focus today was to set forth the important premise that there is no “unfair” in our classroom. To get this point across, we used two exercises to underscore the fact that we all come into the classroom with different abilities, and our job is to provide the tools to ensure that everyone will have the same opportunity to succeed. In this blog, I will describe one of those activities.

In our first exercise, we hung two large candy bars from the ceiling at a height we knew our tallest student could reach. We then asked him to come and take the candy bar of his choice. He did so easily, and then we picked a significantly smaller student and invited her to do the same thing. Of course, she could not reach the last candy bar, and she began to complain that it wasn’t fair because it was too high for her to reach. I asked what we could do to make it fair. She first said that I could reach it for her, and I said that I was willing to help her, but I wasn’t willing to do it for her. She thought for a minute and asked if she could use a stepstool I had in the room. I said sure, and helped her to use it to retrieve the candy bar.

We all celebrated her victory, and then I asked the class what was unfair about the candy bar exercise. Interestingly, no one said that it wasn’t fair that they didn’t get a candy bar, but everyone agreed that it wasn’t fair that we had placed the candy bars where only the tallest student in the class could reach them. I asked if they thought it was fair that I let the shorter student use a stepstool. They all agreed that using the stepstool made it fair for the student who could not physically reach the candy bar. At this point, we asked how learning was similar to this activity. After much discussion, we arrived at the conclusion that everyone comes into the classroom with different abilities and everyone also has areas which are a challenge for them. We asked them if they thought it would be fair for us to ask a student to do something they couldn’t do, or if it would be fairer to give them a leg-up and give them the tools (just like a stepstool) to achieve their goals. Everyone agreed that giving struggling students the necessary tools would be the fair thing to do. I asked them why they thought I wouldn’t just give the shorter student the candy bar when she asked. We all agreed it doesn’t help them if we simply give them the answers.

So, what did we conclude? They agreed they will not say, “That’s not fair!” when we provide students with the help they need, or their peers have a reduced assignment to complete, or a different activity to reinforce the same skill is used, etc. We agreed that our goal to make sure everyone in the classroom is successful is the fair thing to do. How awesome to have students reach this conclusion on their own!

So, as I write this, even though I am exhausted, I am optimistic about this group and its potential, and I think it is going to be an awesome year! I’ll keep you posted.

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Okay, some of you have read my blogs all year about co-teaching and the class I had this year. If so, you know that my team teacher and I were given a large number of low-achieving Gen Ed students, and my homeroom specifically was comprised of a homogeneously low group with no real leaders. We worried and stressed over the OAA’s, and I can honestly say that we never worked harder than we did this year to prepare our students. The dreaded news arrived last week that the test results were in. As I opened my email which would disclose the dire news, it was a feeling akin to facing your executioner. I forced myself to study the numbers which flashed on my screen, in spite of the knot tightening in my stomach. And, guess what?

Our students’ scores were awesome! Unbelievable based on the difficulties we faced! Our combined classrooms had a 90% passage rate for both reading and math and 100% for science for our general education students! Amazing! And our SPED students did a wonderful job as well. The passage rate for reading was 60%, and for math and science it was 50%. This was a huge improvement over last year’s SPED results. My first reaction was total elation and a sense of pride that our hard work really paid off. There was no way, judging from last year’s test results, that we should ever have achieved such an outcome. After I came down from the ceiling, I began to ask myself what these test scores had taught me. So here goes:

1. Co-teaching works. Pure and simple! The methodology behind co-teaching sounds great, but we proved it is great. The ability to restructure a classroom in dynamic ways with the aid of an intervention specialist and a paraprofessional is hugely responsible for the results we attained.

2. Homogeneous grouping of children, especially of lower achieving children, is a huge and unnecessary stress on teachers and is unfair to students. I cannot emphasize enough what a constant struggle we faced with my students to get them to progress. Statistically, my homeroom had a lower passage rate by one student for both reading and math on the OAA. But I can hear you saying, “Hey, quit whining! That’s just part of the job you signed up for.” And to an extent, you would be right. We all know we will have students who will need extra time and help from us to be successful. But I did not sign up for a classroom where the majority of the students fell into this category. Maybe I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that we believe in the philosophy of inclusion. If it’s good for the SPED population, shouldn’t it be good for the Gen Ed population as well?

3. As much as I am celebrating our victory, I am fearful of the message it sends to others, especially our principal. You see, I am afraid that some people will look at what we achieved and say, “See, we knew they could take on this difficult task and succeed. All of the concerns they voiced last year were proven wrong, so we can load up the co-teaching classrooms in the future just like we did this past year. They will make it work!” Maybe we performed way beyond even our own expectations, and maybe we were just lucky. I would rather not be thrown back into the fire to see which it was.

4. It felt so good to see those exceptional results, but I am already dreading the stress that these tests will make me feel again next year. And that’s what’s wrong with these tests. They have become too important to teachers whose very jobs may someday ride on the outcome of random questions which, supposedly, are the criterion for determining how effective they are, not their students, but they are as teachers.

So, for now, I celebrate our students’ success, our success, and try very hard not to worry about next year’s tests. (At least for a couple of weeks…)

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It’s that time of year again; that busy time spent packing up and wrapping up another school year. This time of year, I think teachers everywhere spend some time counting their successes and targeting areas that still need improvement. This is a necessary exercise as it shapes our next year and helps us to make critical decisions about the future. So, here goes! Here are some of my triumphs and some of my works in progress.

* I am grateful that I was able to receive training for co-teaching and have had the opportunity to practice all of the teaching strategies. My goal next year is to start the year out right. No “my class/your class”. And a good balance of tried and true approaches to presenting curriculum. My co-teacher and I had time to sit down and tentatively map out our hopes and dreams for next year, and I am so excited that I wish I could jump in right away! I am grateful, however, for the summer and the time to make our plans more concrete so we will be well-prepared for next year.

* I am encouraged that my voice was heard regarding the need to establish a classroom which has a better heterogeneous mixture for next year. I am confident that we will be more successful as a result. This year’s homogeneous grouping of students stifled many of our attempts to raise the bar academically, but we have higher hopes for next year’s students.

* We successfully addressed the issue of bullying this year. I worked hand-in-hand with our guidance counselor to introduce anti-bullying curriculum, and incidents involving bullying were dealt with quickly and effectively. This is an on-going goal which will require time and effort every year.

* It has been an awesome reprieve for me to only have to prepare students for the reading OAA test, since the social studies test has been removed for this year and next. But, I realize how difficult a task it will be for me (since I will be teaching a self-contained fifth grade class) to cover all that I am required to cover to prepare students for three tests next year and all four the following years. Yikes! It comes as no surprise to you, if you have been following my blogs, that this is the least favorite part of my job. But I take the OAA seriously; therefore, I realize I have my work cut out for me.

* I have learned how to share my space this year, and actually enjoy having another adult in my classroom. I have even learned to give up the reins more frequently and rely on my co-teacher to share my job. This is a work in progress for me, as it is not natural for me to give up control in my classroom. Luckily, we get along very well, and I trust her judgment. We also agree philosophically on what is best for our students. I look forward to making decisions mutually and truly sharing every aspect of the classroom.

All in all, this has been a great year. I have grown professionally and have been challenged, which keeps teaching from growing stale. Next year the challenges will be even greater. I can’t wait! And I hope you will follow my continued journey throughout the summer and into a new year. Good luck to all of you teachers out there as you close out your year. God bless you for the job you do.

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I am here to tell you that I love co-teaching! Now that the intervention specialist and I are more aware of what we should be doing and we are trying correct approaches to co-teaching, we firmly believe that it is the best way to service most special education students, and I am so glad to be involved in this experience.

Since participating in the class taught by Marilyn Friend, we have been experimenting with different techniques. My team teacher, co-teacher, paraprofessional, and I blocked off the whole morning one day last week to set up six stations, three in each classroom, to do a variety of math and reading activities that would reinforce and/or review concepts we have been teaching. Students circulated in groups that were strategically planned to provide a heterogeneous mixture and a blending of the two classrooms. The activities were fun but content aligned. The students loved it and expressed their desire to do this again. So we just finished stations with activities to reinforce the differences between homophones, homonyms, and homographs. Again, the activity level was high, kids were physically and mentally involved in each station, and the day was a success.

The intervention specialist and I have also been utilizing parallel teaching. The benefits I see to this technique are numerous. It is advantageous to the students to work in smaller groups allowing us to better determine understanding of the concepts we are covering. There is better opportunity for students to get their questions answered. The movement from group to group provides a break between activities which many of our students really need. The intervention specialist and I have learned that we need to watch our volume when we teach. There are times I find myself listening to what my co-teacher is saying rather than to my students, and she admitted the same to me. So this is something we will continue to work on. 

We have a long way to go, but this is so exciting! We sense it, and so do the kids. We are on the right road, and working hard to make up for lost time. And my fervent hope is that I will be able to do this again next year. Now that we know what we are doing, you’d better believe we will do whatever it takes to get it right!

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We have missed the mark when it comes to co-teaching. Oh, don’t get me wrong! I firmly believe that co-teaching is the right strategy for effectively teaching our special education population. But at the administrative level things break down when the time and the money is not spent to educate all teachers in a school system as to what co-teaching is and how it works before they ask them to become involved in a co-teaching classroom.

Teachers are pragmatic, content-driven, goal-oriented, problem-solving souls. But to be successful, we need all of the information up front that will help us to accomplish our task. Teachers are wired to work in a unique way. When faced with the need to make significant changes in our teaching assignment, we need to do our homework (reading about and studying that new technique) and our planning (aligning our curriculum and creating the strategies and materials we will need to support that new technique) before we are comfortable with the changes we are asked to make.

So, along comes co-teaching. A significantly altered way of teaching and running a classroom than most of us are used to. Now, what happens when we are asked to teach in a co-teaching classroom but we have not had any training or been provided with the opportunity to gain the expertise we will need to be successful? Panic, fear, stubborn unwillingness to comply, anger, frustration! The reactions are usually negative because this is not how we work. And then our administrators are surprised when we don’t get all excited about the prospect of this new assignment.

Train us first. Make sure we are comfortable with the concept and even excited about the potential. Give us time to do the research and practice the techniques. Let us even observe co-teaching at work. Then come and ask us. I guarantee that in most instances, the reaction will be so much more positive. Now, I am not naive.  I know that there are going to be a few teachers who will dig in their heels and be unwilling to put forth the extra effort that it most certainly takes to teach in a co-taught classroom. And there will be some, no matter how much they are trained, who will never be comfortable in this type of classroom and probably should not attempt it as a result. But I am sure that most teachers would be much more willing if they knew what they were getting into first.

Instead, teachers are usually asked first and trained sometime later, if at all. Our training was way too late, and I know of some teachers involved in co-teaching who are still waiting to be trained. Where else would this ever happen? (Certainly not in business, medicine, law, etc.) And then when we don’t meet AYP with our sped population, how can they wonder why?

Come on! Let’s get this right! Train us and we will come! Train us ahead of time and watch the excitement and success rate increase. We are in this career because we love education, so give us what we love. Give us a thorough education in co-teaching before you ask us to co-teach, and we might just surprise you by our willingness and even desire to be a part of this awesome experience!

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According to Marilyn Friend, co-teaching is like a marriage. To make it work, the general education teacher and intervention specialist must be committed to the job they do and committed to doing it together. They must be as united in their efforts to be successful in the classroom as a couple is united in their efforts to be successful in their marriage. But the question is: how does that happen in situations where the two parties involved do not have a good working relationship?

I have been extremely fortunate in that I am not only friends with the intervention specialist I work with, but we agree philosophically about how to educate children and love the job we do. So our relationship is a marriage now, but that took time to achieve. It was not an immediate thing but grew over time as we learned how to best work together to accomplish our goals. And, as a result, I feel that we have been successful, even if we haven’t always followed the co-teaching model.

But what happens to those teams who have to work together when they have no relationship at all or, worse yet, do not get along? It is a challenge to share a classroom and your space with someone. How does that work if there is no comfort level or even tension between the two sharing that space? I suppose this is when we must be bigger than our petty differences and do what is best for our students. We are always going to be placed in situations in our work place where we don’t get along with a co-worker, but usually this is easily rectified by using the simple technique of avoidance. That is not an option when you are co-teaching. It is hard to avoid someone who will be in your room most of the day, and needs your total cooperation.

I wish I had answers and could tell you how to accomplish this minor miracle, but I don’t. I do know that Marilyn Friend is right though. It must be done. So, have at it! You can do this because you need to for the sake of your students. And, who knows, in the process you just might find you have more that links you together than the things that pull you apart. Good luck!

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In previous blogs, I have told you that I have been co-teaching for a year and a half but have never had the opportunity to be trained by Marilyn Friend, the co-teaching guru. Well, that changed recently when I had the privilege of attending a two-day class with her which was both informative and exciting.

Okay, true confession! We thought we were co-teaching, but we most definitely were not! Oh, there were brief periods of time when we came close, but after taking this course, we realize that we have a long way to go.

One of the biggest mistakes we unwittingly have made is not blending our classroom in such a way that there is no “my kids, your kids”. Our grouping has most frequently been the traditional pulling of SPED students to work on skill building and reinforcement. Only occasionally has our grouping been heterogeneous. We thought we were providing instruction in a way that would be most helpful to these students, but the research proving otherwise is quite compelling, so this is a mistake we will work diligently to rectify.

We are also reevaluating the approaches we use in delivering instruction. We learned about the various co-teaching approaches: one teach, one observe; station teaching; parallel teaching; alternative teaching; teaming; and one teach, one assist. We were asked to evaluate which techniques we use and to what extent. Again, I must confess, we have missed the mark. Our approach has been pretty traditional, relying primarily on the general education teacher to do the teaching with the intervention specialist assisting. Occasionally we did some parallel teaching, but not often. We are working now to balance our instruction and intervention allowing for a better balance between our team members. And we are also collaborating as a team to utilize a variety of teaching approaches increasing our opportunities to gather important data to determine the effectiveness of our instruction and to provide proof of student progress.

My only regret is that we didn’t have the opportunity to take this course before our first year of co-teaching. I regret the lost opportunity to do so much more with last year’s students and look forward to working more productively for the remainder of this year. And if given the chance to co-teach again next year, which is my hope, we will set the right tone from the start, and I have no doubt that it will be a better experience for all those involved. That’s one of the joys of teaching; it is never stagnant. It is always changing as we strive to deliver effective instruction to optimize the opportunity to turn out successful learners. And that’s just what we plan to do.

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This is a shout out to all of you who are involved in a co-teaching classroom. This is my second year working in a co-teaching classroom, and I must confess that we were virtually untrained when we entered into this partnership, and remain pretty much untrained today. We have gleaned some information on our own and are working through this experience using a combination of trial and error and best practices. But we could really use the expertise of other teachers who have had experience in co-teaching. If you could answer any of the following questions, it would be very helpful for us as we try to fine-tune our strategies:

* Is your classroom heterogeneous in nature? Do you have a good balance of gifted, regular education, and SPED students?
* How do you avoid having your classroom misused for the placement of countless at-risk students who might do better in a classroom with two teachers?
* Who does the planning? Is it a team effort, is it done by the regular education teacher with input from the SPED teacher, or is it a combination of several approaches that change periodically?
* How is instruction shared between the two teachers? Are there any techniques you have found particularly successful?
* How is intervention done? Does grouping change regularly with both the SPED and regular education teacher taking equal responsibility of all children?
* Who does the grading? Is your regular education teacher in charge of their students and the SPED teacher in charge of theirs? Or is this a shared responsibility with no real delineation between the two groups of students?
* Since the regular education teacher has not been trained in special education, how does your SPED teacher help the regular education teacher to adequately meet the needs of IEP students?
* How much pull-out do you do? How does the SPED teacher find time to meet the IEP goals as well as the regular classroom goals?
* In what areas have you been successful, and in which areas do you feel you need to make improvements?
* What overall advice would you give that would encourage us to continue in a co-teaching classroom?

When I need help with teaching issues, I am going to go to the experts. And that’s you. So thank you in advance for your expert advice. I suspect that I am not the only one who has questions about this approach to working with the SPED population, so I am sure you will be helping others out here, too.

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For the second year in a row, I have been working in a co-teaching classroom, and, while I love the premise behind this innovative approach to teaching SPED children, I contest that something may be getting lost in translation. Is the purpose to improve the motivation and job performance of the SPED student, or is it to overload these classrooms to such an extent that success is difficult, if not downright unattainable?

I team teach with another colleague, and both of our classes have a 25% SPED population. Now, that alone is a significant challenge, but there seems to be a misconception that our classrooms should be used for those other at-risk students who might benefit from small group and one-on-one instruction, too. Unfortunately, as a result, our classrooms are so overloaded with students who did not pass last year’s OAT tests for math and reading that we feel that we have been set up for failure. How do we provide services to our IEP students, even with an intervention specialist or paraprofessional in our room, when so many of our regular education students require the same degree of intervention and additional instruction as our SPED students? Making matters even worse is the fact that between the two of us, we do not have even one gifted child. Zero, zip, nadda! Does this sound like a formula for success?

I think the premise behind co-teaching is awesome. I saw its benefits last year when we had a more heterogeneous grouping of children, and we were very successful. And that is the key: there needs to be a range of students from gifted to SPED students to make this teaching strategy work. That means that teachers need to alter their view of the co-teaching classroom. They cannot make promises to parents of every struggling regular education student that they will place them in the co-teaching classroom where their needs will more adequately be met. Because, frankly, when the number of students who require extra services far exceeds those who do not, everyone in that classroom suffers, including the teachers who can never do enough to keep up with the wide variety of demands in their classroom.

If co-teaching is worth doing, and I believe it is, it’s worth doing right!

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