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Collaborative Teaching in Elementary Schools
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Collaborative Teaching in Elementary Schools
Making the Co-Teaching Marriage Work!

Edited by:


December 2009 | 296 pages | Corwin

"A comprehensive resource for co-teaching teams and their administrators! It is full of ready-to-use, teacher-friendly forms, checklists, and charts. The co-teaching lesson plan forms are phenomenal! The number of practical ideas included is astounding."
—Michele S. Dalton, School Psychologist
Poudre School District, Ft. Collins, CO

"While the analogy of a marriage is cute, it also works as a metaphor for co-teaching at all levels. The process of getting to know each other, deciding to co-teach, making it work, and possibly having to end the co-teaching relationship all become easier to understand using the metaphors of dating, engagement, and counseling."
—Claire E. Hughes, Associate Professor of Special Education
College of Coastal Georgia

Say "I do!" to greater learning success for students at all levels!

Using the metaphor of marriage, this lighthearted, highly practical, and teacher-friendly resource from the author of Collaborative Teaching in Secondary Schools provides readers with the tools to successfully set up, conduct, and successfully maintain co-teaching partnerships in any learning environment.

Based on the author's extensive experience, this book blends solid educational research and literature with lighthearted humor to help readers nurture co-teaching partnerships through the stages of co-planning, co-instructing, and co-assessing. Divided into four relationship stages, each section offers:

  • Case studies and scenarios of co-teachers in action
  • Field-tested instructional and behavioral strategies with authentic examples
  • Self-assessments to determine teachers' readiness to proceed to the next step in the co-teaching relationship
  • Information on the role of the administrator and how to communicate with parents
  • Numerous reproducibles, helpful Web sites, and a list of teacher resources

Collaborative Teaching in Elementary Schools is an easy-to-access, one-stop guide for schools getting started with co-teaching or looking to refine their existing programs.


 
About the Author
 
Introduction: Why This Book?
 
Part I. The Dating Scene
 
1. Understanding What It Means to Be in a Relationship
Defining the Terms

 
Changing the Mids of the Commitment-Phobic

 
 
2. Dating, Living Together, and Marriage
Recognizing the Continuum of Options

 
Going in With Eyes Wide Open

 
Do's and Don'ts of Co-Teaching

 
 
3. General Educators Are From Jupiter, Special Educators Are From Saturn
Recognizing Different Frames of Reference

 
The Second Time Around: Getting Over Bad Experiences

 
Self-Assessment 1: Are We Ready to Date?

 
 
4. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
To Marry Them or Not to Marry Them: Determining Whether to Use Co-Teaching

 
 
Part II. The Engagement
 
5. Getting to Know Your Partner
Drinking Out of the Carton (and Other Pet Peeves)

 
Ensuring Parity

 
Who'll Do the Laundry? Setting Roles and Responsibilities

 
 
6. Registering for the Wedding
Identifying Our Needs

 
Communicating With Stakeholders

 
 
7. Discussing the Future
Establishing Schoolwide Improvement Goals

 
Establishing Individual Team Improvement Goals

 
Self-Assessment 2: Are We Ready to Get Engaged?

 
 
8. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
Avoiding Arranged Marriages: The Search for Soul Mates

 
 
Part III. The Wedding
 
9. For Better or Worse: Establishing Norms for Behavior and Academics
Physical Issues

 
Classroom Management Issues

 
Instructional and Assessment Issues

 
 
10. For Richer or Poorer: Sharing Space and Materials
Sharing Space

 
Sharing Materials

 
 
11. Planning Quality Time Together: Why, When, and How to Plan
Why Should We Co-Plan?

 
When Shuold We Co-Plan?

 
How Should We Co-Plan?

 
Self-Assessment 3: Are We Ready to Marry?

 
 
12. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
Avoiding Polygamy: Too Many Is SImply Too Many (When Scheduling)

 
 
Part IV. The Marriage
 
13. Working Together to Wrangle the Li'l Rascals
Five Practical Approaches for Co-Instruction

 
Approach 1: One Teach, One Support

 
Approach 2: Parallel Teaching

 
Approach 3: Station Teaching

 
Approach 4: Alternative Teaching

 
Approach 5: Team Teaching

 
 
14. Teaching the Seven Dwarves
Understanding Differentiation

 
Practical Strategies for Differentiation

 
 
15. Are We Successful Yet?
Co-Assessing Us and Them

 
 
16. Playing Nicely With the Other Parents
Co-Teaching's Role With Other School-Improvement Initiatives

 
Reading First

 
Cooperative Learning

 
Twenty-First-Century Technology

 
Universal Design for Learning

 
Response to Intervention

 
Self-Assessment 4: Will We Be Able to Celebrate Our Anniversary?

 
 
17. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
Is It Time for a Divorce?

 
Building an Effective Program: Making More Matches

 
 
Appendix: Keeping the Honeymoon Going
 
References
 
Index

"Based on both up-to-date research and a wealth of practical experience, Murawski's easy-to-use text is a tremendous contribution to the field, as more and more elementary school teachers are entering into a collaborative partnership that demands careful and playful approaches. This text is for anyone who is thinking about being in, or who is already in, the challenging yet potentially rewarding co-teaching relationship. Murawski's keen insights about the day-to-day realities of teachers working together in classrooms are invaluable."

Mimi Rosenberg, Graduate Faculty
Bank Street College of Education

"A comprehensive resource for co-teaching teams and their administrators! It is full of ready-to-use, teacher-friendly forms, checklists, and charts. The co-teaching lesson plan forms are phenomenal! The EZ Reference pages provide detailed information in an organized and meaningful way. The number of practical ideas included is astounding."

Michele S. Dalton, School Psychologist
Poudre School District, Ft. Collins, CO

"I particularly love the analogy of a marriage and relationship that is woven throughout the book. While it is cute, it also works as a metaphor for co-teaching at all levels. The possibly unfamiliar process of getting to know each other, deciding to co-teach, making it work, and possibly having to end the co-teaching relationship all become easier to understand using the metaphors of dating, engagement, and counseling."

Claire E. Hughes, Associate Professor of Special Education
College of Coastal Georgia
Key features

This highly practical and teacher-friendly resource offers a variety of special materials that include:

  • Field-tested strategies with appropriate examples
  • Case studies/scenarios of co-teachers in action
  • Tables indicating how co-teachers can work together
  • Pictures of teachers actively co-teaching to help demonstrate key points, plus pictures of products and strategies suggested for differentiation
  • Reproducibles—extensive handouts and forms—as well as examples of letters and samples of differentiated work
  • A list of helpful Web sites and resources
  • A reference list for locating inexpensive teacher resources in stores and on the Internet (like Teach Timer, Wikki Stix, and more)
  • A glossary of essential terms
  • An annotated bibliography with references of current literature on co-teaching for extended study of primary sources

For instructors

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