Amy D Diamond

Characteristics, Methods, & Assessment: Intro to Struggling Students with High Incidence Disabilities
Co Teaching Lesson Plans

Reflection

Assignment Purpose

The purpose of the co teaching lesson plan assignment was to design a lesson plan

specifically tailored to address a selected student and subject while utilizing co teaching

methods. By going through the process of designing the lesson and explicitly addressing various

aspects throughout, it allowed the educator to analyze the effectiveness of selected strategies and

determine ways that the lesson can be enhanced through a variety of methods. Also, by

designing the lesson first, the process allows educators to anticipate and address issues. This is

especially effective for co teachers because it offers the opportunity to garner the most effective

methodology through reflection and application. By addressing specific roles within the lesson,

it can also ensure that educators are covering all aspects of the lesson and addressing addressing

anticipated needs.

Assignment Requirements

In the co teaching lesson plan assignment, the first step was to identify your students. We

were provided several case study students to select from. After selecting the student, we selected

a subject area and focus for the lesson. Next, we designed a lesson utilizing a co teaching model.

Finally, we were to describe the lesson in detail, including language used by the instructors, each

instructor's role during the lesson and explanations of why the particular model was selected and

how it was implemented.

For my first lesson, I selected station teaching as the co teaching model to utilize for a

math lesson on graphing points on a quadrant. I selected a station model because it allowed for

multiple representations of a concept and provided an opportunity for modeling, joint and

independent practice that allowed teachers to assess student knowledge throughout the lesson.
Amy D Diamond
Characteristics, Methods, & Assessment: Intro to Struggling Students with High Incidence Disabilities
Co Teaching Lesson Plans

This model allowed for explicit instruction for the selected student and increased monitoring to

ensure she acquired and applied the skills accurately.

In my second lesson, I selected parallel teaching as the co teaching model as a method of

differentiation. The subject area was reading. By utilizing parallel teaching, the teachers used

the same subject matter, a poem, but focused on different attributes within each group. One

group focused on drawing inferences and examining elements of the poem and finding other

poems with similar elements and inferences. The second group focused on fluency by repeated

readings through various mediums, including digital, audio and guided. The second group also

used selections of the poem to practice and read to others.

Revision and Application

In my first lesson, I reference utilizing a NearPod lesson for one of my stations. As part

of the submission, I think I would like to actually have a specific NearPod lesson to utilize or

design one myself. I have had increased exposure to similar formats since submitting this lesson

and I think it would have been more helpful to have a specific lesson referenced. In addition, I

think it would have been helpful because the teacher with the following station could utilize the

information from the lesson to address specific areas with each student making the lesson more

effective. When drafting this lesson, I also did not consider the flow of instruction when

implementing the stations. Station 3 is contingent upon students being able to accurately

implement the formula, so it would have to follow 1 & 2. I think a more effective model would

be to do the NearPod lesson as a large group, then break into 2 separate groups based on needs

from the lesson. Simultaneously, providing station 3 as an independent station for students to

move to from 1 or 2, as they finish with instruction. I believe this would provide for more
Amy D Diamond
Characteristics, Methods, & Assessment: Intro to Struggling Students with High Incidence Disabilities
Co Teaching Lesson Plans

effective instruction for an objective that involves very specific steps and criterion. I did not feel

the second lesson needed revision other than adding specific teacher language.

It was ironic that this class addressed co teaching methodology just as I had begun co

teaching for the first time. I was able to reflect and analyze my current implementations and

discuss with my co teacher methods for increasing the effectiveness of our current strategies.

Many of the articles and websites that were referenced during the module on co teaching helped

me to refine my role as the special education teacher in our partnership. They also provided

models for my co teacher and I to compare our methods and relationship with.