The general definition of co-teaching involves
two equally-qualified individuals who may or may not have the same area of
expertise jointly delivering instruction to a group of students Co-teaching is
something as upcoming teachers need to learn how to do. Co-teaching is a strategy
that is in many classroom, weather it is with an special education teacher or
another teacher that knows the subject. This strategy is to benefit the
students as well as the head teacher.
There are five co-teaching approaches according to
Jane M. Sileo are
1. One Teach, One Support
2. Team Teaching
3. Parallel Teaching
4. Station Teaching
5. Alternate Teaching
Each of these approaches can but used throughout a
unit in a classroom that host co-teachers. Picking the best approach for your
classroom is the key in your students learning. We will break down each one and
what each one entails.
One Teach, One Support
This approach entail that the "lead"
teacher is teaching the whole class all at once. The other teacher will support
the "lead" teacher by gathering observational data for the teacher or
circulating the classroom providing assistance to the students that need help.
Team Teaching
In this approach the teachers are teaching the
material at the same time in the front of the classroom together. Another name
for this approach is "tag team" or "one brain in two
bodies". This could be in the form of a debate, modeling information, or
role playing. The teachers have to prepare for the class together and make sure
they know where the other teacher is and where they want the lesson to end.
Parallel Teaching
The class will be split into two groups and each
teacher will teach the smaller group the same material. The students could be
seeing the same material but in different ways, depending on the needs of each
student.
Station Teaching
students are divided into three or four different
smaller groups in which they rotate to different station in the classroom. At
each station, there is different material or a different way to view the same
material or concepts. The two teachers will be walking around the classroom
helping students individually or as a group.
Alternative teaching
One teacher is teaching a larger group of the
students, while the other teacher is telling a small group of students. This
small group of students might just need some more re-teaching, pre-teaching, or
enrichment. The key to this approach is that the larger group is not learning
any new concepts/material, so the smaller group will not fall behind.
Each of these approaches have pros and cons, but you
and your co-teacher will have to decide what one will work best with your group
of students and your classroom.
In out project in MTH 329, we have to use one of the following approaches to teach our lesson. My group did a combination of team teach and stations teaching. I will let you know how the lesson goes with the co-teaching.
UPDATE:
My group started off with a simple review activity in which the students wrote on the board the answers to what a fraction looks like in decimal, picture, and percentage form. As the students finished, they looked each others work and wrote a check mark on the board next to the ones they believe were wrong. My co-teachers and I team taught the next section with asking each student to explain their check mark and why they think it is wrong. We then transitioned into the students get into groups and filling out a table that had the chances of different outcomes of a card game. Here, my co-teachers and I walked around the class looking over each students shoulder and stopping to help each student if they needed help. We then came back other and wrote down the answer and discussed the material and how each student came up with that answer (team teaching). The final activity we used station teaching. In each group, we knew what main point we had to hit with each group and how we would hit the points. With the station teaching we were able to develop more one-on-one interactions with the students and see if the students full understood the concept we were getting at with the lesson.
