Over the past two years, especially this year during my long-term subbing position I learned how valuable and important it is to collaborate across grade levels, within a grade level (if possible) and work together as a team. During my internship year I didn't get to see much of this because it seemed like every teacher had a different philosophy about teaching. It felt like everyone was placed in an inner tube with a paddle and were all trying to go a different direction, so in the end there was no movement/growth. I learned how important it is to 'row in the same direction' and make sure that all teachers are on the same page, so that it is easier for students to transfer from one grade into the next.
Two topics/ideas I wanted to get more information on are Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and Team/Co-teaching. PLC's I think involves the people in your grade level, your school, your district and even the globe. Because of social media and the internet teachers can talk to people from different countries and share ideas with each other! I have found there are three important features on a PLC
Professional Learning Communities (PLC)
1. Ensuring that students learn
2. A culture of collaboration
3. Focus on results
PLC's have a shared mission/goal/vision that focuses on students learning and their growth. These communities also make sure that everyone is 'rowing in the same direction' through collaboration. One example that comes to my head is when schools use the same type of vocabulary across grade levels so that students are already familiar with particular terms and styles. When students hear about the writing process in kindergarten and are already using words such as revision, pre-writing etc. it will be an easier and smoother transition into the next grade if everyone uses the same kind of language. Plus, teachers will not have to reteach those words every single year in depth. They will be able to review them, refresh the memory of their students and get into the meat of their learning.
Another topic that I have looked a lot into is team-teaching/ co-teaching. Now, different schools and districts use these terms in different ways. Some people believe team teaching can be defined as when a grade level that has multiple teachers focus on a certain subject and teach it to all the grade levels. For example, in many of the schools I have subbed in teachers will split up science and social studies, where one first grade teacher will teach all the first graders in social studies, while the other teacher will teach all the first graders on science. One teacher does not teach all of them at the same time, but takes one class. I hope this makes sense to you!
But the co-teaching definition I want to focus on is when a Title I teacher or a special ed teacher comes into the classroom and is teaching WITH the lead teacher. This was a question I have been asked on 2 separate teacher interviews so far and I didn't even know this existed when I was first asked the question, so I knew I had to look into this topic. First off what I have learned based on my research is that teachers need to have a good line of communication, have a shared vision for the class they are teaching and are open and honest with each other. With co-teaching it is important to talk about what each person's strengths and weaknesses are and not be afraid to talk about things they are noticing in the classroom. Based on my research, I have learned that there are (for the most part) 5 different types of co-teaching techniques. There are strengths and weaknesses to all of them and the style you teach in will be determined by the needs of your students.
1. Complementary Teaching
The support teacher assists while the lead teacher does the formal teaching. While the lead teacher is doing the formal teaching the support teacher teaches different components of the lesson with a small group or individual students. The support teacher is basically walking around and helping any struggling students as a tutor/assistant.
2. Station Teaching
The two teachers create and organize their own stations and teach the stations that they design. Students will go to each station over the course of one or two days depending on the length of the stations. In this case the teachers only worry about their stations.
3. Parallel Teaching
The two teachers collaborate on planning the lessons and they divide the classroom into two groups. Each teacher delivers the same lesson and facilitates their group. This style helps if you have two distinct groups of students (high vs low like the word study groups during my student teaching) or if you have a large number of students and you want each student to be able to participate in a discussion type lesson.
4. Alternative Teaching
Teachers work together to decide lessons/activities to best fit the needs of their students. The lead teacher does the formal teaching while the support teacher implements supplemental activities before or after the formal lesson with small groups or individual students.
5. Shared Teaching
Teachers work together to decide lessons/activities to best fit the needs of their students. Teachers teach simultaneously, which means they feed off of each other and both conduct the formal teaching.
This is a link to the chart that I got most of my information. It was VERY helpful! http://trailblazers.wikispaces.com/file/view/co_Teaching_Models-W.pdf
As I said before, I don't think there is one teaching style that is the best. I believe that it depends on your classroom environment, the relationship you have with your co-teacher and most importantly the needs of your students. I would definitely be willing to try this in my own classroom because it would be great to bounce ideas off of someone else, especially one that has a lot of experience working with a diverse group of students. This is becoming more common in schools and I feel a bit more knowledgeable about the topic. My mentor teacher and I used some of these teaching styles when we were both in the classroom teaching because if you have two teachers you need to take advantage of the extra brain and set of hands!
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