Co-Teaching and Differentiation …where do I fit?

1. Co-Teaching and Differentiation …where do I fit? Dr. Pokey Stanford William Carey University April 12, 2008

3. Inclusion Confusion • Regular Education Initiative • Mainstreaming • Inclusion

4. Continuum of Services • Hospital and Institutional Settings • Residential School • Special Day School • Full-Time Special Classes • General Education Classroom plusResource Room Service • General Education Classroom with Supplementary Instruction or Treatment • General Education Classroom with Consultation • General Education Setting • *Adapted from Exceptional Children, Vol. 28, No. 7, March, 1962, p. 368.

5. Structures of Co-Teaching • Teach and Observe • Station Teaching • Parallel Teaching • Alternative Teaching • Teaming Cook and Friend, 2000

6. Teach and Observe • One teacher leads and another offers assistance and support to individual or small groups. • The supports need to be CLEARLY defined! Cook and Friend, 2000

7. Station Teaching • Students are divided into two heterogeneous groups • Each teacher provides instruction at a station to half of the class • At another time (middle of the day, next week, middle of the class period) students switch stations • Stations CANNOT be hierarchical in nature • Each teacher is presenting a parallel task Cook and Friend, 2000

8. Parallel Teaching • Teachers jointly plan instruction, but the content may be delivered to half the class in small groups • Heterogeneous grouping • Excellent if you are introducing a difficult concept or want to divide students with behavioral issues Cook and Friend, 2000

9. Alternative Teaching • One teacher works with a small group of students with a specific skill need (pre-teach, re-teach, supplement, or enrich) while the other teacher works with the rest of the class • Structure works well when there is planning time to consider how to structure the tasks Cook and Friend, 2000

10. Teaming • Both teachers share planning and instruction of students in a coordinated fashion • Structure can only be utilized if there is planning time, an equal level of comfort with the curriculum, and similar teaching philosophies • Model may not address the needs of students with disabilities Cook and Friend, 2000

11. Whose students are these? • Who is responsible for the students in the classroom? The general education teacher is responsible for all of the students in the class, but how do these responsibilities change when the special education teacher is in the room? Who is responsible for the students with special needs? Under what conditions do these responsibilities change?

12. Who gives grades? How do we grade? • Making joint decisions about how grades will be handled for in- class assignments, tests, and homework will reduce the frictions frequently associated with grading special education students in general education classrooms. Working together, teachers can develop guidelines for grading to use with both students and parents. • Dieker and Barnett (1996) suggest having both teachers check, discuss, and then assign grades for student work. This process allows teachers to become familiar with each other’s standards.

13. Whose classroom management rules do we use? • Rarely is there disagreement between teachers about the more extreme behaviors. The subtle classroom management difficulties that are part of the ongoing routines of running a classroom, however, can cause concerns for teaches. Often, the special education teacher is unsure about when he or she should step in and assist with classroom management. Teachers should discuss their classroom management styles and the roles they expect of each other in maintaining a smoothly running classroom.

14. What space do I get? • When special education teachers spend part of their day instructing in general education classrooms, it is extremely useful to have a designated area for them to keep their materials. A desk and chair that are used only by special education teachers provide them with a "base" from which to work and contribute to their position of authority. • Numerous sources state that both teachers should move into a different classroom rather than one teacher moving into the other’s space.

15. What do we tell the students? • The students should be informed that they have two teachers and that both teachers have the same authority. We think it is a good idea to introduce the special education teacher as a "learning abilities" specialist who will be working with all of the students from time to time. Generally students willingly accept the idea of having two teachers and like it very much.

16. What do we tell the parents? • Parents are part of the process from the beginning and are able to influence the development of the program.

17. How can we get time to co-plan? • Teachers report that planning often comes on their own time. Even when a designated period is established for co- planning, teachers report that this time gets taken away to be used for meetings and other school management activities. Teachers need a minimum of 45 minutes of uninterrupted planning time each week if they are likely to have a successful co- teaching experience. • Designate a day or a half- day every 6- 8 weeks when teachers can meet extensively to plan and discuss the progress of students, as well as changes in their instructional practices. • Asking community volunteers or university students who are majoring in education to direct certain classroom activities.

18. Planning • If you don’t co-plan you can’t co-teach

19. Brain Break • What will be my obstacles in co-teaching? • What strengths will I bring to co-teaching? • How will I evaluate my co-teaching relationships?

20. How do I create community in my classroom? • Communities of learners VS Classrooms of kids • Communication with parents • Communication with administrators • Communication with learners • Communication with co-teachers and/or support staff

21. Connection to Community • Meaningful Connections • Respectful dialogue • Tell me about your child letters home • On-going/open communication • From Engaging Children to Engaging Families. • Assumptions about ourselves as teachers • Assumptions about families • Assumptions about children Create “family-based” homework projects Make “family literacy” valid and important in your classroom Share information with other teachers

22. Creative Communicationfor Community • Consistent and efficient communication with parents (newsletters, websites, email, etc.) • Get-to-know activities or socials…open classrooms…open doors • Parent/teacher/learner conferences, everyone on the same team • Name your classroom • Print t-shirts, logos, be a team together

23. A Problem Shared is 1/2ed Joy Shared is doubled Community Means…

24. Think Meta-moment... Stop How can I Create Community ? Write

25. How do I differentiate? • Content • Process • Product • Manipulation of environment/learning style

26. Example • Students may be grouped by interest but also have activities set at different levels of complexity (questioning levels/abstract thinking processes) resulting in varying products from differing learning modalities. • Thus content is being differentiated by interest, the process is being differentiated by readiness and the product is being differentiated by student learning modality preference.

27. Notes: • All differentiation of learning begins with student assessment • Differentiating required a considerable degree of self direction…must focus on developing intrinsic motivation • It is necessary to clarify the concept of fairness (definition of fairness: everyone getting what is needed)

31. Universal Desires for All Children • Autonomy • Relationship with others • Interdependence • Safety and Trust • Self-esteem and belonging • Self-Regulation • Accomplishment and Purpose • The opportunity to be generous, to give and not always receive • Communication • Pleasure and joy

32. Brain-Based Ideas • Students can pay attention to only one thing at a time • Irrelevant or uninteresting information does not stay with students • 15/5 • Brain Breaks are metacognitive activities

33. Brain-friendly classrooms • Hydration of learners • Connections to real-life • Talk has power • Background is critical • Technology may hold some keys

34. Brain Break • Think, Pair, Share

35. How do we define differentiate instruction? • Know your learners!! • Multiple Intelligence strengths • Assessment strengths/areas of need • Metacognative reflections • Adjustable assignments • Curriculum Compacting • Grouping • Centers • Projects and problem-based learning!

36. Instructional Options • Role Playing • Guest Speakers • Cooperative Groups • Artifacts • Independent Work • Multiple Intelligences • Assessment Variations

37. Why Differentiate? • Attending to teacher-student relationships contributes to student energy for learning… • Attending to the learning environment builds a context for learning… • Attending to students’ backgrounds and needs builds bridges that connect learners and important content • Attending to student readiness allows for academic growth… • Attending to student interest enlists student motivation… • Attending to student learning profiles enables efficiency of learning…

38. How can I differentiate? • Find ways to get to know students more intentionally and regularly • Incorporate small-group teaching into daily or weekly teaching routines • Learn to teach to the high end • Offer more ways to explore and express learning • Regularly use informal assessments to monitor student understanding • Teach in multiple ways • Use basic reading strategies throughout the curriculum • Allow working alone or with peers • Use clear rubrics that coach for quality • Cultivate a taste for diversity

39. Self-correcting workbooks End-all for Education Teacher does not take instructional lead Incompatible with high-stakes assessment Only for a special education population Differentiation occurs mainly through leveling Peer tutoring will be overused FULL inclusion FREE!! Islands will provide refuge Myths

40. J The value of choice J The value of learning how to learn J The value of both ritual and variety J The value of variety in assessments J The value of collegiality J The value of open-endedness J The value of multiple learning modes J The value of connection J The value of different teaching styles J The value of student talk Values of Differentiated Instruction

41. The Starfish

42. Thank You