Co-Teaching Blog: Video

Blog 1 Module 1: PLCs and Co-teaching, I chose a video regarding different tips for Co-teaching.

Video Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pnxst7dkLk

Date: October 14, 2011

Two Baltimore-area school teachers explore what it's like to share a classroom every day. Read the related story: http://www.edweek.org/tsb/articles/20

Source: E. (2011, October 14). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pnxst7dkLk

After watching this video, I gained more information on the benefits on co-teaching. This video is in a classroom with two teachers in Baltimore. There was the classroom teacher and a teacher for the special-education students but the students in the elementary classroom did not know the difference between the two teachers. Both teachers talk about how co-teaching is beneficial to their students and to each other. Both teachers are always interacting with the lesson and whatever they are doing with the students. Co-teaching allows the students to have two instructors to ask for help if they need some. I have noticed that in my clinical classroom i am in, when i am teaching along with the other teacher, the students benefit from it more because they have other individuals to answer their questions, ask for help, and grow in whatever subject they are learning for the day. She says t the beginning of the video, "she respects me as an educator, I'm not just an educator to service students with IEP's." Dawn Peake, the other teacher, says "I think of her as my right hand, and myself being her right hand, and us both helping each other through lessons so that we get to all of the students." The teachers later talk about how a major key to co-teaching is to be making sure that all students questions are answered as quickly as possible, and co-teaching helps this happen. I think that with two teachers in the room, it does give students a lot more help and assistance they need in the classroom. Co-teaching also gives two different opinions and different options to the children's question. Co-teaching is a good model to show students how to work together. The video talks about this and shares the importance of showing students that it is okay to disagree about a subject, and co-teaching shows students how to work out problems that you might not always have the same outlook on this. Role models are teachers in the child's eyes, and having this relationship in the classroom with both of the teachers show this relationship of working through things and working together. This video helped see how co-teaching helps teachers in the classroom, and that it is okay to disagree on somethings. They both described co-teaching as a marriage. That you get along and agree on everything sometimes, but other times there will be some disagreements that you have to work through. I think with two teachers in the room, it is more likely for teachers to point out kids that are struggling and gives the teachers more time to work with the students that need more help because it is very hard for a teacher to make sure all 25+ students are on the same track. I think co-teaching is a great idea and should be in as many classrooms as it can be. I also think that making sure the teachers have things in common and differences helps so that the lessons are not the same and both teachers can bring different ideas to the students and the other teachers! Overall, from watching these videos on co-teaching, i see more and more how effective and important this is in the classrooms today.