Comments on: Our New Co-Teaching Blog

By: MiddleWeb Launches New Co-Teaching Blog | MiddleWeb | Δραστηριότητες μέσα στην τάξη. | Scoop.it

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:06:45 +0000

[...] In Two Teachers in the Room, middle grades special educators Elizabeth Stein & Laurie Wasserman explore the joys & challenges of co-teaching. Both are NBCTs. [...]

By: Laurie Wasserman

Laurie Wasserman — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:26:56 +0000

Nancy,
Common planning time is crucial for co-teaching for sure. We’ll be addressing this in more detail in an upcoming blog post, but in the meantime, but can you do a working lunch with your third colleague? I often meet with my math partner and we talk and chew together, because math is so skill based even with our weekly planning, it’s often not enough. Also, what about e-mailing one another rough plans for the week? Again, not ideal, but at least you won’t walk in without a map of what you two hope to accomplish.
I think when we do plan, especially with subjects like reading and math which are so challenging for kids who learn differently, it’s important to plan our “big ideas” first and work off that. For example, my math partner and I are teaching the standards of converting from fractions to decimals to percents. So, we’ll map out the week day by day, then delve deeper into “how” and “who.” We also discuss accommodations/modifications for kids who require it.
Do you work with other reading teachers? I find our reading teachers are the unsung middle school heroes who have wonderful ideas. I often ask them for advice, lesson ideas, projects, etc.

By: Laurie Wasserman

Laurie Wasserman — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 11:00:48 +0000

Welcome Becky, one of my favorite subjects to co-teach is math. I can share tons of activities that will help your students. Feel free to ask questions about specific lessons/standards that may be challenging for your students. I find most kids on IEPs have a difficult time on math tests and quizzes due to the complexity of all the skills and multi step tasks required of them, so if we can provide projects and activities to reinforce these skills, it can give them an opportunity to demosntrate their knowledge in a variety of ways.

By: lauriewasserman

lauriewasserman — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:56:03 +0000

Janet, I love the reflective piece of your comments. It can make all the difference in helping kids, reteaching lessons, skills, and finding ways of helping all students be successful. You are right about how we learn from one another, and sharing of websites and books can create opportunities for our own version of Professional Development. Your last comment about students benefitting from having two teachers watch them reminds me of
the importance of a second pair of eyes. A few days ago in our math class, I was noticing a young man who thought he knew an answer and had made a mistake. It was a minor one, but to him it was devestating. I talked with him quietly about not beating himself up for a mistake. I wasn’t sure he felt better, and shared with my math partner what had happened, and whispered to my math partner, “Could you give Rick a pep talk at the end of class? Hearing from each of us gave him the shot in the arm he needed to not be so harsh on himself.

By: lauriewasserman

lauriewasserman — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:45:22 +0000

Brenda, your ideas are phenomenal about ourroles and responsibilities as special education teachers and how we can “make it work” as Elizabeth writes. I imagine you are an expert on the moon phases in science and a master of all the great ancient civilizations working in so many Science and Social Studies classes. My favorite statement you wrote about “collaboration and compromise becoming the key” is crucial.

By: lauriewasserman

lauriewasserman — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:39:16 +0000

Welcome Sue, how wonderful to hear from a parent.thank-you so much for sharing our blog with your school district.

By: lauriewasserman

lauriewasserman — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:37:35 +0000

Nick, what a great comment about expanding your own teaching skills and strategies. I think this is one of my favorite parts of being a co-teacher: what I’ve learned from my teaching partners. Last year I had a young man who had Asperger’s Syndrome (on the Autism Spectrum). He would often become stressed and have difficulty in class if he misplaced his notebooks, etc. My science partner, suggested we leave a space for him on her counter for his science notebook so he always knew where it was. It made an enormous difference in decreasing his anxiety. I took her idea and implemented it in his other subjects; a wonderful way to learn from my colleagues about how to help our student.

By: Laurie Wasserman

Laurie Wasserman — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:31:13 +0000

Annette, I too have worked with many different teachers in a short time. It can so daunting for us as colleagues, adjusting to different teaching styles, classroom procedures, and educational philosophies when we are first teaching together, to begin with, and then the teacher leaves and a new one comes in. Imagine how our students feel?! Your suggestion about knowing ahead of time what the agenda/routine/lesson/activity will be, is crucial. If we can familiarize ourselves with even a rough idea, it makes all the difference. I think sharing how we feel too, with our colleagues/teammates is very important. It’s sometimes hard to express this, but can make things so much easier. I had a teammate just yesterday ask if I was doing okay, noticing I was running around into various rooms (our permanent substitute for a teacher who is on maternity leave, had a substitute, and she needed help setting up the room, etc. Our para was at a meeting and I felt challenged trying to get to everyone’s room and help the kids with their writing assignments. Just knowing my teaching partner noticed made all the difference.

By: Elizabeth Stein

Elizabeth Stein — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 01:07:27 +0000

Kathleen,
It sounds like you speak from the general education teacher’s perspective, right? Thanks for sharing your positive experience. What specific strategy or strategies did you find most effective?

By: Elizabeth Stein

Elizabeth Stein — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 00:53:48 +0000

Becky, thanks for joining our discussion! We would love to hear more about how you have developed great relationships with your co-teachers. Please share!