Married...

Oddly, a lot of talk about co-teaching uses the marriage metaphor.  But, since it's out there, I will go with it for this reflection.

The principal scheduled co-teach check in meetings for all the co-teaching partners in our building.  We met with him and our partner to discuss the ups and downs and for him to ask if we needed anything to move forward.  Like a couple's therapy session.

I hope you're humming "Love and marriage..." like I am.

This is the first year any of us have been involved in co-teaching so what we really need is more training, more outside consulting and more time for co-planning.  But, through the first quarter, it has become apparent that those things are not really happening.  Like a hesitant young couple, afraid to admit that anything is wrong, we both said, "No, we don't need anything."  

But, actually, Mr. B and I are doing pretty well with our co-teaching gig. I think the biggest key has been open communication.  We figure out together how to pace lessons, accommodate for struggling learners (not just the kids with Special Ed needs) and which parts of a lesson we'll each teach.  Open communication:  good for co-teaching, good for marriage.

At that meeting with our principal, he looked at a list of co-teaching models (similar to those I posted yesterday) with us and asked which we were doing.  Well, we've been using a mix of approaches.  Our default model is One-Teach / One-Assist (also known as Support Teaching). In this model it's typically Mr. B delivering instruction, with whatever accommodations, scaffolding or supports we pre-planned, and I swoop around the room offering assistance as needed.  We've made our seating chart so the kids with Special Ed needs are easily accessible, so I focus on them, but assist every student.  

We've also used Parallel Teaching where we each deliver the same instruction to smaller groups of students.   Alternative Teaching involves teaching different material to different groups.  We've used this, also, delivering specific content to different sections of the class who then "teach" it to the other part of the class.  Alternative Teaching will also start to come into play more as I "pull out" the Special Ed students for mini lessons focused on writing fundamentals or reading comprehension, per their IEP needs.  

One model we haven't used yet but really want to is the Station Teaching. Small groups rotate between independent work, a Mr. B station and my station.  This could be a way to slip in the Alternative Teaching in a more inclusive way.   As we met with the principal, we talked about all these approaches, based on what we think will best serve our students.  As a married couple, we realize that variety is the spice of life, I guess.  

I don't actually think of my relationship with my co-teacher as a marriage.  It's been a really cool, professional partnership that I think will only improve with time.

Co-Teaching Models

I realize I haven't explained the various models for co-teaching, although I think one of my previous posts linked to some information.  Here's an infographic from an Ohio educational support agency (lots of other co-teach info to explore there, too!):  

The obese ovals are teachers, the little blue dots are obedient children docilely sitting at desks.

Teams can decide on a guiding model that will serve their class most often or might decide on a lesson-by-lesson basis what would work.  Or, some mix of models or alternatives might emerge through planning or serendipity.  There are other models out there, but these represent the most common approaches.

A Look at the New Space

A few weeks ago, my administrators surprised me by giving me my "own" room for 1 class period and 1 planning period during the day.  The rest of the day I was occupying someone else's classroom to teach my own class or co-teaching in the LA/SS room.

There have been 3 rounds of student changes since I last posted!  More students with Special Ed needs have entered our co-teach class (more on that later), there's a huge shift with English Language Learners about to happen and my Special Ed math class had risen to a roster of 23. That's too many students!!  So, we split up the math class. I now have 13 students and we're in MY room!  So, now I'm in one spot all day except for the 2 periods of co-teach which feels just right!  

Here's a look at the room (photos taken before the math switch happened, so it's mostly Language Arts.

I had the idea to feature different authors over the summer, during my "pinning and dreaming" phase.
Glad I got to put it into effect!

My books were stored in boxes, just waiting for a room of their (my) own!

Student-written expectations, a graduation cap & my Arches poster.

Bob watches over us.  (This is what happens when you move into the former science lab / storage room.)

Print on Sticky Notes

My co-teacher & I are working on narrative writing.  The students are writing short stories set during feudalism with 2 characters  & dialogue.  Among other things, we're working on using more interesting words than "said" and "asked" throughout the whole story.  To aid in this, I made sticky notes with synonyms for each word.  

Sticky notes?!

Yep, I found Post It Note / Sticky Note Template for free on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Go there, down load it and print away!!

Reading Comprehension Progress Monitoring

A big part of being a Special Educator is identifying specific areas for student growth, designating annual goals for those growth areas and then monitoring student progress throughout the year.  

One of the big challenges for me as I start this year is figuring out how to monitor student's progress in a way that doesn't take them away from the regular educational progress in the classroom. In a typical Special Education-only setting, we would do weekly monitoring with quick assessments. I haven't figured out a great way to do this without interrupting their time in the Gen Ed classroom or really calling "them" (the Special Ed students) out as different.  All along, I've been delivering additional  or supplemental instruction to small groups but this hasn't been only for Special Ed students.  

My co-teacher and I decided that we would just monitor all the students.  We have a large percentage of students (about 50%) who didn't pass their grade level reading assessment at the start of the year.  This means we are providing additional reading comprehension instruction to the whole class and would like to see more students passing at the end of the year.  (Reading fluency instruction has been harder to deliver and is an area I need to develop and QUICKLY!)

So, Friday, I instructed the students in 2 test-taking / reading comprehension strategies and gave them all a below-grade level reading passage with multiple choice questions.   I told them we'd be working on these weekly as "test prep" (similarly, we do weekly analogy practice).   The steps they were to follow were:  1) Read the questions.  2) Read the passage.  3) Eliminate any wrong answers.  4) Choose the best answer.  Pretty basic stuff, but we're just getting started.

These 7th graders have done some pretty high-level reading already this year ~ and have The Odyssey in store for later in the year!  So, I was expecting someone to say, "This is so easy!" But no one did, thank you, kids! I think the results will yield good information for many students.  

As the year progresses, I plan to provide additional strategy instruction that we can use in other reading settings, not just "test prep." Also, I will eventually level the passages based on how students are doing.  

Success story:  One non-Special Ed student rushed through and was the first one done.  I checked in with him and asked if he'd followed the steps I'd showed them.  Nope.  I reviewed the steps with him and gave him a fresh sheet.  His was the only assessment I scored on the spot.  After he finished his 2nd try I let him know his results:  1st try:  0% correct.  2nd try:  86%. Wow, what a difference actually reading the passage makes!  I hope that sticks with him!!

Personal Goal Check

I started this blog with several goals in mind.  I am checking in to let you know how I'm doing.

1)  Reflective writing more often, perhaps every day?  Well, daily reflective writing hasn't happened for me.  I haven't journalled daily (school-wise or other-wise) but I did just update my hiking journal from August through today!  When I started this blog,  I really hoped I'd be able to scratch out some kind of entry each day but I haven't done that either. 

2)  Steer my practice based on reflection.   While I haven't written every day, what I HAVE done is talk openly with my co-teacher Mr. B about our plans and my concerns.  I think the accountability of my (imaginary) legions of readers has helped me be more active in taking steps to make improvements as soon as I notice a problem or need something to change. 

3)  Share the ups & downs of co-teaching.  I hope this has been successful so far. One thing I've learned already through this process is that every co-teaching story is different. Whether mine sounds similar or totally foreign, I hope my thoughts and stories are helpful to someone else.

4)  Connect with fellow educators.  My (imaginary) legions of readers keep mostly to themselves but I realize that knowing I am writing for the public has, I think, encouraged me to be more open with my fellow teachers in my new district.  I love meeting new teachers and sharing ideas!  A few weeks ago, I asked my principal to connect me with an experienced co-teacher at another school.  Meeting with her was quite helpful ~ in part because she acknowledged that her school's first year with co-teaching was rocky! Whether it's thanks to the blog or just thanks to a new school year starting, I'm feeling more confident than ever before in communicating with colleagues.

Subs II

I wrote previously about some ego-bruising I suffered while my co-teacher was absent and a substitute teacher was in for him.  Mr. B and I had pre-planned that I would just run the lesson and the sub would back me up, as needed. The students had questions and comments about my position being as a sub or secondary teacher which I tried to address.

This week, Mr. B and I each had to be out one day.  Thursday I went on a field trip & although sub coverage could have been provided, we declined it, so he ran the show solo.  Friday, he had a conference and we again didn't request a sub, so I taught the class on my own.  

This went SO much better than the last time!  Actually, it went so well, there's really nothing to say.  We learned about knights & peasants in feudal society.  They did a little reading comprehension "test prep" passage and all was well. Happy day.