Co-teaching is included as an artifact because there is a great chance that I and many of us will be co-teaching in the future. As the class handout states, "Co-teaching is defined as two teachers working together with groups of students and sharing planning, organization, delivery & assessment of instruction and physical space." This does not mean that one teacher teaches, while another teacher makes sure all the materials are ready for class, or two teachers in a class to teach two different subjects. To effectively co-teach, you must have the right attitude and mind set to do so. Co-teaching can "increase the opportunities for placements," which is really important because we want all students to have as many opportunities as possible for a successful and beneficial educational experience. Co-teaching is beneficial for all students, and if done correctly, it gives students more resources for help. Barbara Laster does a great job at discussing potential conflicts with co-teaching, as well as the several benefits, which definitely outweigh the negatives.
This artifact, which is a poster that I would hang in my classroom, actually describes and models what co-teaching is and what it looks like. It first gives students the definition of co-teaching, followed by the six different ways of co-teaching, and I would highlight the main or most important four ways of co-teaching. These include: one teach, one support, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching. All four of these methods have advantages and disadvantages. Team teaching usually works the best and has the least amount of disadvantages. It is important for students to be comfortable talking to both teachers over one or the other. Keeping a strong consistency between teachers is really important so students do not take advantage of either of the them.
From this I learned that co-teaching is done in several different ways and can be done well or not so well. There are both advantages and disadvantages to all kinds of co-teaching methods. Being open and honest with students is one way to make co-teaching successful. Along with the poster, students would know specifically the roles that each teacher would be doing, and how they would be playing these roles. This could be written down. Both teachers have to agree about rules and expectations so the classroom runs consistently and that all students are held accountable. If one teacher allows students to break certain rules, then, co-teaching will not be affective. The BIG and most important rule of co-teaching is working together as a team and collaborating on everything. There is not one teacher that is more important than the other. One teacher may know the content better, but the other teacher may be better as restoring order and breaking down big essential questions. If teachers are working together, always keeping the students in mind, than it will be successful. There may be conflicts the teachers have to face, or they may come to disagreements over somethings, however they must work together to over come them and give students the best education as possible. We want our students to succeed and enjoy their educational process. If we want students to work together, the teachers also must work together. Not to mention, seeing teachers working really well and successfully together is a great way to model team work and collaboration.
This artifact, which is a poster that I would hang in my classroom, actually describes and models what co-teaching is and what it looks like. It first gives students the definition of co-teaching, followed by the six different ways of co-teaching, and I would highlight the main or most important four ways of co-teaching. These include: one teach, one support, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and team teaching. All four of these methods have advantages and disadvantages. Team teaching usually works the best and has the least amount of disadvantages. It is important for students to be comfortable talking to both teachers over one or the other. Keeping a strong consistency between teachers is really important so students do not take advantage of either of the them.
From this I learned that co-teaching is done in several different ways and can be done well or not so well. There are both advantages and disadvantages to all kinds of co-teaching methods. Being open and honest with students is one way to make co-teaching successful. Along with the poster, students would know specifically the roles that each teacher would be doing, and how they would be playing these roles. This could be written down. Both teachers have to agree about rules and expectations so the classroom runs consistently and that all students are held accountable. If one teacher allows students to break certain rules, then, co-teaching will not be affective. The BIG and most important rule of co-teaching is working together as a team and collaborating on everything. There is not one teacher that is more important than the other. One teacher may know the content better, but the other teacher may be better as restoring order and breaking down big essential questions. If teachers are working together, always keeping the students in mind, than it will be successful. There may be conflicts the teachers have to face, or they may come to disagreements over somethings, however they must work together to over come them and give students the best education as possible. We want our students to succeed and enjoy their educational process. If we want students to work together, the teachers also must work together. Not to mention, seeing teachers working really well and successfully together is a great way to model team work and collaboration.