I will be participating in a new class this year, Humanities, with a fellow English teacher. I have positive and negative feelings about this course. This chapter discusses some of the differences and concerns with co-teaching.
In your experiences with co-teaching, do you think it offers substantial benefits to the students that a single teacher cannot? Is it something you are willing to do or is it something you find frustrating?
I just recently co-facilitated a training with four people. In comparison to doing it myself, I have to admit it is more frustrating. However, from the perspective of the students I would assume that it allows for more diversity in teaching styles that better meet their needs. We'll see when the evaluations come back!
ReplyDeleteI have not had an opportunity to co-teach yet. I would make sure that you and the other instructor are on the same page as far as how you want to run the class (if you are going to incorporate running it as a series of conversations, make sure you both plan to do that.)
ReplyDeleteI can see the benefit of having two different ways of thinking about a topic in the same room. I may focus on one or two areas in my class, while other instructors focus on other things as being most important.
I can see where respect for each other will be critical.
Good luck and I hope it goes well for you and your students!
I think a key ingrediant is how the teachers handle it and if they have discussed all the potential problems they might have. I had a co-teaching experience and the senior teacher (not me) struggled with sharing the class. She was not a good communicator so it was difficult to really suss the problems out.
ReplyDeleteI have not team taught but I have friends who have and love it. However, they set the class up together in the beginning and each have a vested interest w/one being the "lead" depending upon he content.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. It seems everyone has the same concerns/sentiments that I am inclined to believe. It does offer great benefits to the students as long as the teachers are on the same page. This is difficult when you don't have similar planning periods or schedules.
ReplyDeleteMy worry is that, while my co-teacher is fabulous, she is a bit overwhelming. Unlike many of us in EDAE 692,she has expressed that she would like to meet for two hours everyday because she does not have other outside demands (school, 2nd job,family, etc). This being the case, if anyone has suggestions on how to schedule time so I don't offend her when she requests extraordinary daily planning, I would appreciate it.
Dawn