Co-Teaching Discussion

Co-teaching today exists in most public schools and continues to improve and adapt in both its
approaches and strategies. General educators and special education teachers are now working
together in the classroom to meet the needs of all students in the classroom. An important aspect
of co-teaching is that both teachers engaged in delivering instructional material effectively.
(Sambornie and deBettencourt, 2009). Important aspects of co-teaching include both teachers
having substantial and effective knowledge of the content and material to be instructed as well as
have a sufficient understanding of all the students needs, and not just those students on IEPs.
As addressed in Teaching Students with Mild and High-Incidence Disabilities at the Secondary
Level, three important stages of effective co-teaching that I agree are necessary are: beginning,
compromising and collaboration. The important aspect of the beginning stage is communication.
As with most partnerships in life, communication is the key element to success. Both teachers
must communicate, ideally before the start of the school year, to define and explain their
expectations. Early and often (at least weekly meetings) communications can be effective in
creating lesson plans, behavioral plans, assessment strategies and predicting or adjusting to
possible interruptions and changes.
Compromising is another key element in the success of co-teaching that is often used more easily
with teachers that have worked together for a while. They begin to know and understand each
others strengths and goals and can easily compromise on a tactic or approach that needs to be
tweaked because they understanding the direction the other teacher intends to go to.
Collaboration is a process of participation through which people, groups, and organizations work
together to achieve desired results. (Sambornie and deBettencourt, 2009). Working together
constructively and amicably is also essential to the delivery of instruction. Collaboration can
occur with communication and compromise in order to improvement instruction and interaction
with the students.
The three Cs, communication, compromise and collaboration are therefore, my first three pieces
of advice for any co-teaching situation. My next piece of advice would definitely include the
need for respect. Each teacher must respect each others backgrounds, experience, knowledge of
a particular content and/or student and application of instruction. Trust is built with respect and
we are all entrusted to educate each and every student. The best material that we can provide to
all students stems with respect of each other and respect for the students. Our display of respect
will resonate to respect in the entire classroom. Once we achieve respect and understanding, we
can be successful.
My last piece of advice is to have the ability to adapt and change. No material, even in a history,
lesson, should be constant and never changing. The presentation of material can and should be
fluid. As technology and the environment of our students lives continue to change, so should
our methods of instructions and presentation to meet the interests and changes of the students.
Further, students themselves have changed and it should be clear by now that not all students are
cookie cutter students. Co-teaching is an innovated way to reach the individual and accentuate
their strengths, not try to mold them into the perfect one-dimensional student.

Question 2 IEP 2
Maureen s IEP indicates that she is challenged in areas relating to comprehension and writing
but has strong assets in many other areas, to include athleticism, musical talent, is independent
and has strong positive future goals.
Textbook Adaptation to simplify reading assignments through color coding or highlighting key
points in textbooks may assist with Maureens comprehension. Further, links to the textbooks
that provide an audible translation of the material should be provided to Maureen and her parents
so she can read/listen to the homework assignments involving reading chapters in the textbook.
She should also be provided either a tape recorder or an electronic tablet device (Ipad) to use to
take notes during class. This will assist with spell and grammar check and allow her to better
keep up with lectures in class.
The concept of multiple intelligence provides an alternative way to consider the abilities and
special talents of each student (ascd.org). Since Maureen has an aptitude in both sports and
music, instructional methods and options, specifically for assignments and projects, with a
connection to these areas should be considered as an approach for Maureen.
Further, she should be provided with a list of project options before they are presented in class so
she has time to comprehend and consider her options before choosing. Additionally, she should
be afforded extra time to complete in class assignments along with highlighters. Key reminders
on a whiteboard as to how to determine what a question is asking will help her stay on track with
the task. Lastly, since Maureen is goal driven, emphasis should be on her progress as a route to
her success.
Christine
Sabornie, E. & deBettencourt, L. (2009). Teaching students with mild and high-incidence
disabilities at the secondary level (3rd ed., pp. 68-69). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill/Pearson.
Vaughn,S.,Schuman,J.,&Forgan,J.(2015).InstructingStudentsWithHighIncidenceDisabilitiesintheGeneral
EducationClassroom.ASCD.RetrievedOctober21,2015.