Co-Instruction Blog

Spring Initiatives

qvcoin — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:52:41 +0000

We have a number of initiatives planned for the spring, our final semester of formal work as a group. One of our goals is to turnkey the process of inter-visitation to other faculty in our school, while also continuing to visit classrooms on our own. We chose the inter-visitation strategy because it’s an informal method for teachers to think critically about their own pedagogy, and faculty inter-visitation has been successfully utilized before at QVTHS. Second, we plan to write and distribute at least two more newsletters, providing our feedback on how to change the culture of co-teaching at our school. Third, we are working on a list of formal co-instruction suggestions for the school administration, including greater co-teacher planning time, regular teacher-directed workshops, and ongoing use of the “Co-teacher Preference Sheet” (for pairing) at the end of each school year. Finally, we would like to compile a list of conversation-starters and planning questions for co-teaching pairs at the start of the school year. Further initiatives will be posted here.

-E. MacDonald

Newsletter #2

qvcoin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:13:35 +0000

Our second newsletter is now posted online. Click below to view:

December 2011

Workshop #1

qvcoin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:55:20 +0000

Jetaime and I just finished our first Co-Teaching workshop. The 9^th grade school of Exploration and Discovery allowed us to come into their 42 minute Professional period. We started off the workshop with an activity we learned over the summer called “the weather inside”. We all stood in a circle and symbolically identified our feelings concerning co-teaching. Most teachers identified their feelings as “cloudy” or “hazy”, which is what we anticipated since the teacher’s surveys showed that the teachers were mostly unclear of their expectations as co-teachers. After the activity we all sat down and think-pair-shared about what co-teaching is and isn’t. Most teachers felt that it was collaboration and that both teachers have the responsibility for the class. Although the teachers felt this way their actions in their classes were opposite because some teachers are not content area specialists in the course they’ve been assigned to co-teach. Keeping this issue in mind we moved the workshop on to the S.H.A.R.E. worksheet where the teachers wrote about their personal and academic goals for their individual classrooms. The period was coming to an end so we collected these worksheets and asked the teachers to email either myself of Jetaime on topics that they would like to have a workshop on. For the next workshop we plan on having the teachers share their S.H.A.R.E. worksheets with their co-teachers and establish common goals and plans of action for those goals. The A.P. of the 9^th grade school of Exploration and Discovery wrote an email approving of our workshop. Overall this was a positive experience and we look forward to the next one.

- Cynthia

9th Grade SLC Schedule

qvcoin — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:36:25 +0000

One accomplishment that we have had this fall is working with the 9^th grade SLC coordinator and school principal to create a weekly schedule. These regular weekly calendar spreads out all of the school-wide initiatives for Monday through Thursday and allows time for professional development on Fridays. We initiated this formal 9^th grade SLC schedule last week and the teachers within the SLC all followed it. Prior to this schedule, there were regular meetings, but there was no recurring schedule of meeting topics. We plan on holding our workshop on the 16^th of December, during the regularly scheduled professional development time.

-Cynthia

Fall Newsletter #1

qvcoin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:54:36 +0000

Our first newsletter of the fall is now posted online, click below to view:

Newsletter 11-19-11

Multiple Subjects

qvcoin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:47:00 +0000

As a Special Educator, I am co-teaching multiple subjects, including a sixth class. The content areas include math, science, and two sections of World History. In addition, I teach a self-contained Chemistry class. Overall, the experience has been positive. I have had the ability to work with many students of varying levels across the content areas. The relationships between the general educators and myself have been beneficial to my teaching practice. The challenges include not having the time to co-plan with each general educator in each content area. Prep time is not allocated based on having to teach multiple subjects. Therefore, much of the planning is done on the fly and I am scrambling to stay on top of the lessons taught prior to the class periods. Although there have been challenges, the experience has been positive and I look forward to the rest of what the school year has to bring.

-L. Elbettah

Fall Workshops

qvcoin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:11:41 +0000

Over the summer, we decided to execute a primary element of our Theory of Change by conducting workshops on the ICT models, and how to use these models in the classroom. Next Friday, November 18^th, Jetaime, Eric and I will be hosting our first workshop. The objective is to have the teachers think about their roles in the co-taught classroom. Teachers will be having a discussion about what co-teaching is and isn’t, focusing on their own personal responsibilities and expectations in teaching their class. We will then guide the conversation to a discussion of how teacher responsibilities and expectations affect student progress. There will be an agenda to guide this meeting, which will last approximately thirty minutes. At the end of the first workshop there will be a survey that asks the teachers to list what aspects of co-teaching they feel should be covered in future workshops. The second workshop will focus more on teaching practice. We will start with an “animal corners” game, so that teachers can analyze the different emotions they have in different settings and how that can affect them in their classrooms. In the second part of the workshop, teachers will complete a worksheet on their teaching practices and beliefs. After completing the worksheet individually, they will share the responses with their co-teaching partner by taking turns reading the responses. They are not to comment on their partner’s responses—it’s meant to be a listening exercise. After reading through their responses, we will ask teachers to jot down any thoughts they have regarding what their partner has said. Then they will regroup and begin to share reactions to the responses. The objective is to compose a set of goals for the students, and outline teaching practices that best support those goals.

-C. Rejalaga

Intervisitation

qvcoin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:24:38 +0000

In mid-December, we will be starting a week of planned classroomvisits to learn more about co-instruction at QVTHS. We chose this “inter-visitation” strategy because it’s an informal method of collecting useful information for the co-instruction project. In addition, informal faculty inter-visitation has been successfully utilized before at QVTHS as a method of improving instruction. Teachers don’t often get the opportunity to fine-tune their practice by watching how others manage, instruct, and inspire; I personally am excited to learn from my colleagues. Initially, the five membersof our teacher team will visit each other; later, we hope to expand thisprocess to other teachers who aren’t directly involved in planning thisproject. Our goals for these observations are to gather best practices, collectanecdotes that we can use in our planning, and provide feedback to each otheron the strengths and weaknesses of our co-teaching pedagogy. Ideally, these observations will directly inform our planning for future workshops.

-E. MacDonald

Looking Back, Thinking Forward

qvcoin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:37:06 +0000

Case Study: Highly Effective Teachers in Co-Instruction

Queens Vocational and Technical High School (QVTHS) is a career and technical education secondary school that serves 1,450 students from New York City. This case study is based on improving the co-instructional environment for both students and teachers; our mission is to create holistic and effective collaborative teaching relationships at the school. We believe that improved co-instruction leads to an improved work climate, more frequent contact with parents, increased teacher job satisfaction and higher levels of student achievement.

Our goal is to produce effective partnerships among teachers, paraprofessionals, and other service providers in various Instructional Support classrooms. If we achieve our mission, then teachers, paraprofessionals, and others will be paired based on their willingness to work together, subject-area consistency, and/or a judgment that their teaching styles will mesh. Once teachers have been matched, they will utilize the co-instruction strategies outlined in the research, and employ effective strategies throughout the year. Ultimately, we expect that more effective teaching relationships will lead to greater fulfillment of Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals, and better outcomes for all students in the class.

Project Background

At QVTHS, over 200 students have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which means that they have an identified disability. The needs of these students are addressed in a variety of settings. Presently, the majority of special education services are delivered to students in a collaborative teaching environment, such as Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT), or via push-in related services.

Becoming highly effective teachers in co-instruction is based on a number of assumptions. One is that an effective co-instructional environment can lead to improved outcomes for both general education and special education students. Based on this premise, the project’s strategy will be to review co-instruction best practices and utilize that research to foster an improved collaborative educational experience.

Other assumptions we have include:

The ICT model is highly effective in instructing students receiving instructional support services and ELLs.
Teachers collaborating effectively increases student outcome. The students are closely monitored and able to ask questions and express concerns on an individual level.
ICT is a more effective way of educating an inclusion class. The individual attention that the teachers provide allows them to better identify the strengths and weaknesses of the IEP and ELL students. ICT increases the ability to initiate and maintain parent outreach for students receiving instructional support services.
ICT is easier for both teachers. The workload (i.e., lesson planning, grading, parent outreach, etc.) can be equally divided and effectively planned.
ICT is a partnership as opposed to separate individual work. Both teachers have equitable responsibilities.
If teachers are given professional development on the ICT model, they will be able to implement learned strategies in the classroom and better instruct their students.

While it is important to understand and document the successes of the current co-instruction paradigm at QVTHS, we also hope to identify specific areas where there are opportunities for improvement. A program has been devised where the change team will collect and summarize co-instruction literature, survey teachers and students, lead professional development, collect data, and serve as role models of this new collaborative culture. The teachers, parents and support staff personnel must also be the primary decision makers in planning and building an effective school-wide program. Beginning with a shared vision, the school staff can build a successful learning environment for all the students.

It is our goal to encourage critical reflection among the team members, and eventually throughout the larger school community. We believe that this opportunity to pursue deep and transformative change in the area of co-instruction will personally inspire and excite teachers, related service providers, and other stakeholders across the building.

Numerous studies related to co-teaching have indicated that special education teachers gain insight into the realities of the general education classroom while the general educators learn valuable lessons in planning, accommodating, and instructing students with special needs. Co-teaching can be a very rewarding experience for those involved and beneficial to the students as well. By planning together, being supportive and open to learning from each other, co-teachers can make a profound and positive effect on the students they serve. Through fostering highly effective teachers in co-instruction, we will show that those efforts will result in a more collaborative and effective school environment and, subsequently, a more meaningful educational opportunity for all students.

Successes

In the spring of 2011, all teachers in the building were asked to complete a “Co-Teaching Survey” where they outlined their preferences about co-teaching, and who they would like to work with. Based on feedback we have collected, teachers feel that it is important to have their voices heard about their class and co-teaching assignments. As teacher programs were assigned during the summer months, school administrators took these preferences into account when they planned teaching assignments for co-taught sections. Instructional support teachers were also given programs that generally reflected subject-area consistency (i.e., teaching in one subject as opposed to many). As a direct result of this thoughtful planning, many co-teaching relationships have now continued for consecutive years, which allows for greater trust, collaboration, and pedagogical growth.

Change Team members have also experienced personal growth in their understanding of co-instruction through our work in this project. We believe that we can be agents of change through our own better understanding and implementation of co-instruction.

Challenges

This summer, we attended the IUE institute and were introduced to new methods of digital contact that help us stay in contact in spite of busy, conflicting schedules. We agreed to use Facebook as a means of communication with each other and with the larger community about our Theory of Change. Along with promising to use these digital communications, we set up a schedule of meetings and workshops that would help keep the Theory of Change active. All of these aspirations were great, except that we became overwhelmed with the amount of time it required to use Facebook and Twitter to communicate with one another. We also thought that some coworkers would find it a nuisance to hear about work through their personal social networking accounts. When setting up the schedules for this school year we were too ambitious and unrealistic on when we would begin. Some group members were torn with the schedule in that some thought that it was realistic and others thought that is was not – but we all agreed to a schedule with events as early as the first week of school, and that schedule is now posted on the calendar page of this blog.

The fall is where all of the goals that we established over summer were proven to be unrealistic. We all walked into the building and there were many changes that had occurred. There was a new mentor teacher program and a brand new curriculum for the English department. These two changes were the focus of our school’s administration. In the month of September, it was not possible to set up teacher workshops during professional periods because there were many different conflicting events.

In the spring, we set goals to survey the students in CTT classes about their experiences and preferences in a CTT setting. It was not until the end of the year that these surveys were administered. We were given the results of the survey during the summer, and have not been able to examine the results of the surveys together as a team. The reason for this is that at the end of the school year last year all of the teachers on the change team had individual responsibilities and separate schedules that inhibited time for distributing the surveys and attending meetings.

Our change team has always been challenged by the lack of time to collaborate on our work, and the start of every school year is especially hectic and filled with many changes. Most of the teachers on the team wear many hats within our building, which makes it difficult to find the time to meet and move our change plan forward the way we envisioned. Working around the many different schedules can be difficult when trying to implement change within an organization. We believe that our change plan is a great fit for our school and we believe it will definitely meet a demonstrated need, but our question is about how we are going to get it done at the level that we envisioned.

Questions

With all this being said, we now submit the following questions for further reflection:

How can the change team collaborate on this project without the common time to meet in person?
How can we create firm deadlines for our work, and then hold ourselves to them?
How can we engage more teachers in the building with our work?
How can we build upon our successes?

Continuity

qvcoin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 23:41:36 +0000

New York City teachers have been back at school for over two weeks now, and we’re all settling in for the year! I am fortunate to be paired with two familiar co-teachers; in fact, this will be my third year in a row working with both of them. Having taught together in the past, we’ve already agreed on many of the basics – responsibilities, grading policy, expectations – which makes sharing a classroom so much easier. We’re able to build on the successes of the past few years, learn from missteps, and get even more creative with our instruction. With all the complexities that come with scheduling a large high school, one of our challenges going forward will be to define practical steps to maintain year-to-year continuity in co-teaching pairs. -Eric