Collaborative Teaching : The Why, the Who, the What and the How

COLLABORATIVE TEACHING:

THE WHY, THE WHO, THE WHAT AND THE HOW VERONICA BOURKE TRICIA MOWAT

MAY 2014

WHO ARE WE?

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO HEAR ABOUT?

OUTLINE: Who are our students? Why teach collaboratively? What are the models of collaborative teaching? How does it work in the real world? A Literacy example: integrating language and content using a planning framework A Math example: a typical week in our co-taught classroom An Inquiry example: looking ahead to next year

The Who

WHO ARE OUR STUDENTS?  It is highly likely that well over 70% of the students in any homeroom class will not be monolingual English speakers.  English may be their third or even fourth language.  Some may have been schooled in English from the very early years and English may have become their preferred language.  Some may have had only one or two years of instruction in English.  Some may be complete beginners.  Some may appear totally orally fluent, and even have acquired an American or British accent but still exhibit varying degrees of weakness in reading and writing.  Some of the second language students may be stronger in all areas than the native English speakers in the class.  Some – either native speakers or L2 students - may have a diagnosed learning disability (10 – 15% on average)  They all come with their own interests and preferred learning styles

A TALE OF THREE STUDENTS Sean -Spanish and Irish nationality -6th year studying in English but new to ISB -Very quiet – enjoys art -24th percentile on MAP reading score at the beginning of the year -2 to 3 years behind in math and writing skills -Sometimes resistant to learning new concepts -Talented with languages – very few mistakes in his English sentence structure

A TALE OF THREE STUDENTS Laura -German nationality -3rd year studying in English -Thoughtful and empathetic -95th percentile on MAP reading score at the beginning of the year -Talented writer -Picks up new concepts very quickly -Often achieves above grade-level on projects -Continues to struggle with spelling, sentence structure etc. in English

A TALE OF THREE STUDENTS Isabella -Italian and American nationality -7th year studying in English -Big personality – loves drama and action -11th percentile on MAP reading score at the beginning of the year -Very capable of learning new concepts with lots of repetition -Struggles with focus and with social skills -Continues to struggle with spelling, sentence structure etc.

A TALE OF THREE STUDENTS Sean

Laura

Isabella

-Spanish and Irish nationality

-German nationality

-Italian and American nationality

-6th year studying in English but new to ISB -Very quiet – enjoys art -24th percentile on MAP reading score at the beginning of the year -2 to 3 years behind in math and writing skills -Sometimes resistant to learning new concepts -Talented with languages – very few mistakes in his English sentence structure

-3rd year studying in English

-7th year studying in -Thoughtful and empathetic English -95th percentile on MAP reading score at the beginning of the year -Talented writer -Picks up new concepts very quickly -Often achieves above grade-level on projects

-Big personality – loves drama and action -11th percentile on MAP reading score at the beginning of the year -Very capable of learning new concepts with lots of repetition

-Continues to struggle with -Struggles with focus and spelling, sentence structure with social skills etc. in English -Continues to struggle with spelling, sentence structure etc.

The Why

4 KEY ELEMENTS OF DIFFERENTIATION Readiness:

Interests:

concrete vs. abstract, linguistic readiness, comfort level, metacognition, social emotional (ability to contribute positively in group tasks)

subject or content interests, hobbies, social (topics, activities with friends)

Learner Profile:

Language Profile:

gender, learning styles, multiple intelligences, dispositions, school smart (how school works)

language(s) spoken with parents, language(s) spoken with siblings, level of English, other languages

WHY COLLABORATIVE TEACHING? Differentiation is much easier when you have two or more teachers designing and delivering learning activities! Collaboration can work with different combinations of practitioners with each teacher bringing an area of strength to the partnership Collaboration offers a range of students increased access to the curriculum ESL students’ learning can’t be put on hold until they have acquired the language Extension is easier to ensure when you have more teachers on deck

10 - 2 10 minutes of input-needs 2 minutes of processing time

PAIRED VERBAL FLUENCY Find a partner.

Nominate who is A and B. 90 seconds: ‘A’ begins by telling ‘B’ everything s/he knows about co-teaching approaches. No interruptions!

60 seconds: ‘B’ tells ‘A’ everything s/he knows about co- teaching approaches. No interruptions, NO REPETITIONS! 45 seconds: Round 3, ‘A’ speaks again.

30 seconds: Round 4, ‘B’ speaks.

The What

MODELS OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

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Six groups

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Each group takes one of the collaborative teaching models

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You have 10 minutes to prepare: - A visual representation of the model - An explanation of what types of situation or lesson would lend itself well to the model

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We will ask you to report your ideas to the whole group

MODELS OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

One Teach, One Drift - One lead-teaching - One unobtrusively supporting students who need it Roles should switch Can be overused - and need to watch for teacher status perception

MODELS OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

One Teach, One Observe - It’s very difficult to do an observation of a student / students while simultaneously teaching a lesson What you are looking for should be defined in advance

MODELS OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

Parallel Teaching: • Both teachers teach the lesson simultaneously to two groups of students • Lowers the student teacher ratio

A special eye needs to be kept on flexible grouping use

MODELS OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

Station Teaching (Centers) • 3 stations • 2 taught • 1 independent/ pairs/ cooperative • Teacher teaches same lesson to three small groups

MODELS OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

Alternative Teaching • Used when a typically smaller group needs additional or alternative instruction • Can be whole period or for a portion of the lesson Both for support and enrichment

MODELS OF COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

Team Teaching • Simultaneous teaching of a lesson • Looks more like a conversation than turn-taking Highest, most ambitious form of co-teaching

The How

TO BE EFFECTIVE, COLLABORATIVE TEACHING REQUIRES: Dialogue among all participants An atmosphere of mutual trust and respect Clarity around roles and responsibilities Common understandings about what you want to achieve (shared goals) Planning time A planning framework

COLLABORATION

Collaboration is the norm in highperforming and improving schools but doesn’t happen by chance – it needs to be structured, taught and learned.

Garmston & Wellman, 1999

7 NORMS OF COLLOBARATION

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES It’s important to be explicit at the beginning about who will be responsible for what.

Hand-out: sample roles and responsibilities and template for creating your own.

A PLANNING FRAMEWORK UNIT of STUDY

The unit

ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS

LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS

LANGUAGE STRUCTURES

includes this content

which requires these language functions

which will be modeled using this language

VOCABULARY

RESOURCES

STRATEGIES

PLANNING FRAMEWORK EXAMPLE UNIT of STUDY

Human Rights Persuasive Exposition

The unit

ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS

LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS

LANGUAGE STRUCTURES

VOCABULARY

RESOURCES

Students gain a developing awareness of the persuasive genre.

Retell

Essay structure

Evaluative Language

Modal phrases

Emotive Language

Real-life model: Free the Children

includes this content

Persuade

Sentence Types: - Complex & compound

which requires these language functions

which will be modeled using this language

Exemplars from last year Lessons and practice exercises on L Drive

STRATEGIES

LITERACY UNIT: WRITING A PERSUASIVE EXPOSITION Which co teaching model works best for which stage of the teaching methodology?

Team-teaching is good at the beginning of a unit.

It shows that we are all working towards the same goals.

It’s nice to have mixed-ablity groups for joint construction. It’s also nice to have smaller groups: parallel teaching

It’s helpful to put the kids into groups to break down the writing skills we want to highlight.

That way we can target groups with different readiness: alternative teaching.

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

What has struck you so far as being something you might apply in your own context?

SOME THOUGHTS ON FLEXIBLE GROUPING •High with low?

•Cultural grouping – languages?

•Making purposeful decisions about homogeneous and heterogeneous groupings

•Rules of working together are a must •Establishing a culture of learning together in class •Experience shows what works best has more to do with students knowing how to work well together on similar goals

SAMPLE WEEK: MATHEMATICS Learning Activity

Co-teaching Model

Grouping

Monday

Teacher-Directed Lesson

Team Teach

Whole Class

Tuesday

Problem-Solving Task

Both Teachers Drift

Pairs – Homogenous

by Readiness

Wednesday

HW Feedback

One Teach, One Drift Whole Class

Re-teach / Extension

Alternative Teaching

Readiness Groupings (teacher and/or student choice)

Thursday

Hands-on / Parallel Teaching Conceptual Learning Task

Heterogeneous Groupings

Friday

Quiz

Both Teachers Drift

Whole Class

Re-Teach / Extension

Alternative Teaching

Readiness Groupings

OUR NEXT CHALLENGE At ISB, we will be working in “collaborative teaching clusters” – groups of homeroom, ELD and LS teachers.

HR HR

ELD ELD

HR LS

HR HR

A PLANNING TOOL FOR COLLABORATIVE TEACHING

IN WHAT OTHER CONTEXTS DOES COTEACHING WORK? -

Two subject teachers get together to co-teach a unit

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The teacher-librarian co-teaches a unit with a homeroom teacher

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Three PE teachers combine their classes and co-teach

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An ESL or Learning Support Teacher comes in once a week to co-teach a particular skill set

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A Social Studies teacher and an English teacher combine their classes to co-teach a unit, running centers on writing skills and content

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The guidance counselor and a homeroom teacher join forces to co-teach a series of lessons on social skills

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REFERENCES •Language and Literacy: classroom applications of functional grammar •Learning to Learn in a Second Language: Gibbons, P. •Teaching ESL Students in Mainstream Classrooms: language in learning across the curriculum •The Adaptive School: A Sourcebook for Developing Collaborative Groups by Robert J. Garmston, Bruce M. Wellman •http://jbromenell.wikispaces.com/Collaboration+%26+Coteaching

EXIT CARDS •Something that was new or that was reaffirmed in the session •Three key ideas that I will share with my colleagues •A lingering question