ELEMENTS OF MEETING EFFECTIVENESS
5. SUMMARISE AND RECORD
• Designate and use someone as a Recorder
• Make sure the Recorder understands what to record and how to record it
• Document decisions and actions as soon as they are made
• Prepare and distribute approved meeting minutes after the meeting
Appendix 4.2
Recipe for Success
Discussion Points
Questions to Ask Yourselves Comments Philosophy
and beliefs about the learning and teaching of English
What are your basic beliefs about learning and teaching English? It is important to understand each others’ teaching philosophy along with the personal and cultural factors that have shaped it and that affect how it is applied.
Co-teaching relationship
What strengths and abilities do you both bring to the relationship and how can you improve each others’ skills?
How will we make sure that students and others (i.e. teachers, principals, parents) understand the nature of the co-teaching relationship?
How will we introduce ourselves to the class?
What will be our roles?
What roles will we take during the lessons?
How will we deal with professional differences?
Co-planning How will we arrange co-planning time?
How will we share responsibility for: developing goals, objectives, learning and teaching materials, preparation of resources, English content instruction, learning strategies and skill instruction?
How will we share other responsibilities such as contacting parents, organizing extra curricular activities?
Make sure the co-planning time is structured, regular and timetabled. Effective co-planning and co-teaching will be more successful between teachers of one or two levels.
Classroom instruction
What are the instructional methods currently used by the co-teachers? (i.e. large group, small group, cooperative learning, student centred, lecture)
How can we build on or change these methods to accommodate all learners and also enhance English learning and teaching?
What modifications will we use to ensure success for students with disabilities and learning problems?
Classroom routines
What are the daily instructional and organisational routines currently used by the co-teachers? (i.e. attendance, seating, homework, testing, toilet use)
What routines will we use in the co-teaching classroom?
It is important that the routines are consistently communicated to the students.
Recipe for Success
Discussion Points
Questions to Ask Yourselves Comments Classroom
management
What is acceptable and unacceptable student behaviour (class rules)?
How will we handle classroom management and discipline?
What rewards and consequences will we use?
What will be the warning procedure?
What noise levels and amount of movement are we comfortable with?
What system of visual and verbal signals will we use?
Maintaining eye contact is critical. You will often need to signal to each other about a change to an activity or about a situation happening near.
Also keep an eye on the clock!.
Try to complement where the other teacher is in the
classroom and circulate!
Maximise the advantage of having two teachers in the classroom. Try ‘echoing’.
Student assessment
How will we evaluate and monitor student achievement and progress? Develop assessment tasks together. Share the correcting workload. Use peer
assessment. Mark work in the classroom as you go.
Feedback / Evaluation
How will we give each other constructive feedback? How will we make sure that both positive and negative feedback is shared?
Consider each other’s
preferred way. It could be part of a planning meeting
agenda.
Personal preferences
What aspects of teaching and classroom life do we feel strongly about?
What are our personal preferences that each of us need to know about it?
Not considering each others personal preferences could put relationships in jeopardy.
Strategies
Roles of teachers
Teachers take equal significant roles
Teachers are comfortable in their agreed roles Teachers totally immersed in their co-teaching
Lesson sequence
Lesson is continuous with no obvious breaks in delivery
Teacher behaviour
Teachers check to see if students are on task Teachers reinforce or clarify a point
Teacher disciplines student if necessary Teachers use humour
Team work
Teachers take turns to model instructions or tasks
Teachers question and talk to each other/ solve problems/ make decisions Teachers use English to model collaborative behaviour
Teachers are mutually respectful and supportive of each other
* For every approach there needs to be shared responsibility and accountability for planning.
Co-teacher ‘A’ Role Co-teacher ‘B’ Role Advantages Disadvantages
One Teaching, One Observing
Teacher demonstrating or taking on main role; Teachers should exchange roles periodically.
Teacher observing, analyzing, preparing feedback or information for a later discussion; Teachers should exchange roles periodically.
Observing teacher may benefit from observing different teaching and learning styles or the opportunity to see clearly what is happening with students. It may be an advantage to teachers new to co-teaching.
The observing teacher could be relegated to the role of the assistant.
One Teaching, One Supporting or
Circulating
Teacher takes on main role of managing the classroom and leading instruction.
Teacher takes a passive role, supporting, assisting students in need, monitoring group or centre activities – a teacher’s assistant could take this role.
Provides the extra attention that some students require and helps with classroom or behaviour
management.
This approach can be mistaken for team teaching but the roles of the teachers in this approach are not equal. There is a danger that that the supporting teacher’s credibility can be undermined. It can become distracting for students to have two teachers and could encourage them to become dependent learners.
Station or Centre teaching
Teacher develops, monitors or manages stations or centres.
Students rotate from one station or centre to another.
Teacher develops, monitors or manages stations or centres.
Students rotate from one station or centre to another.
Students benefit from having additional instruction and/or assistance. On-task behaviour and task completion can be better managed.
Can encourage a greater noise level and amount of movement around the classroom.
Parallel/Split
Teaching Class split into two. Teacher teaches same content or skills to one of the groups.
Class split into two. Teacher teaches same content or skills to one of the groups.
Having a smaller number to work with will enhance on-task and social behaviour and allow for more individualized instruction and assistance.
Noise and distraction can be an issue as well as the differences in teacher instruction between groups.
Alternative/
One large group, one small group teaching
Teacher teaches the large group. Works with an identified small group of students for remedial, enrichment or other targeted instruction, or works with individuals.
Students can have time to ‘catch up’
without slowing down students who have reached mastery.
Students can be stigmatised by being grouped for remedial instruction.
Team teaching
Teacher shares instruction and the organization of
coordinated activities. Requires mutual trust and commitment between teachers.
Teacher shares instruction and the organization of coordinated activities.
Requires mutual trust and commitment between teachers.
The lessons benefit from the pooling of each teacher’s strength’s and knowledge. Students benefit from having a lower student to teacher ratio. It can result in a synergy that enhances student learning and increased teacher confidence and creativity.
Can be daunting for inexperienced teachers. Co-planning and presentation can be difficult to organize and teachers may find it uncomfortable.
Environment Teachers Labelling • Shelves
• Doors
• Windows
• Boards
• Stationary
• Students’ desks
• Teacher’s desk
• Chairs
• Areas Wall Charts • Group chart
• Alphabet chart
• Word banks – related to the content of the book, e.g. high frequency
• Routine and instruction
• Birthday chart
• Task chart
• Weather chart
• Number and colour charts
• Poetry and songs charts
• Calendar
• Timetable
• Theme chart
Library Corner • Children magazines
• Fiction, non-fiction
• Thematic display
• Picture dictionaries
• Activity cards
• Listening post – recorder and tapes
• Chart with library pockets or fabric pockets to create a word bank
• Comfortable seating
Storage • Stored items accessible for the height of the students
• Resources in labelled containers
• Sets of books boxed, labelled and colour-coded
• Class records labelled and filed alphabetically
• Colour cards, paints, glue, scissors, felt-tip pens, cello tape
• Magazines (for cutting up)
• Computer with interactive CDs and connection to the internet
• Board games, card games, word games