Reading Reflection #13

Prompt

Identify what co-teaching approaches were modeled this week.

Co-Teaching

On February 15, 2012 I attended a seminar on co-teaching at High Tech High School in San Marcos, CA.  The seminar was hosted by Dr. Jacqueline Thousand and attended by teacher candidates from CSUSM and the cooperating teachers of those candidates.  During the seminar Dr. Thousand discussed the four approaches to co-teaching.  These approaches are supportive, parallel, complementary and team co-teaching.  Each approach has different benefits and cautions.

• Supportive: The supportive co-teaching approach is defined by the presence of a lead teacher and one or more supporting teachers.  During a lesson the lead teacher gives instructions, provides general classroom management and dictates the class.  The supporting teacher or teachers spend the lesson giving one-on-one assistance with students.  This approach is the most common as it requires the least amount of planning and is often an opportunity for the supportive teacher to learn the procedures and students.  The major drawback to this approach is that only one teacher appears "powerful."  If the supportive teacher remains as the minor authority in the class for too long the students will not see him or her as the "real teacher."
• Parallel: The parallel co-teaching approach is defined by two or more instructors working with different groups of students or sections of the class.  During the course of the lesson the co-teachers rotate around to different groups providing instructions.  The major drawbacks for a parallel approach are the fact that the co-teachers are engaged with only part of the class and their is the potential for over monitoring.
• Complementary: The complementary co-teaching approach is defined by a co-teacher(s) who enhances the instruction of the other co-teacher(s).  Often times the complementing teacher will paraphrase the other instructor.  This approach is beneficial because it gives both co-teachers the authoritarian role and allows the teacher candidate to be at the front of the classroom.
• Team Co-Teaching: The team co-teaching approach is extremely similar to a traditional classroom except instead of one teacher there are two or more co-teachers.  The approach is defined by two or more co-teachers who work together to plan, teach, assess and assume the responsibility of all the students.  Co-teachers understand each others expertise and use that expertise in the classroom to enhance learning.  Team co-teaching is the ideal approach for co-teaching because it allows the teacher candidate to be involved the most in the classroom.