Learned- Alternative Teaching Lesson!

Co-Teaching Assignment 3/Alternative Teaching

Mary Learned 06/05/11 EDU 724 University of New England

Learned-Alternative Teaching Lesson!

Mini-Research on Alternative Teaching: Alternative teaching is a method that is to be used to occasionally and has specific instructional purpose. It is used to benefit students that either show extreme competencies and need enrichment, or for students that may need something retaught (Friend, 2008). In this type of lesson, one teacher mans a larger group, while the other teacher works with a smaller group at the same time.

What is great about this type of teaching is that all students benefit from small group instruction, especially those who have a disability. In an article by Cook and Friend (1995) found in Focus on Exceptional Children, if done appropriately and equally, and each teacher takes turns being the one that directs the small group instruction, they each will hold equal status in the classroom. This is very important to maintain the integrity of the classroom in a co-teaching environment.

There is also another positive factor about this type of teaching. Friend (2008), states Alternative teaching permits teachers to provide those intense, small group sessions within the context of the classroom (p.74). This can work for the gifted group of students, or students who need more individualized attention. Behavior challenges can also be monitored in this type of teaching team.

Teachers can witness success in the smaller group and model appropriate, intense instruction. Cook and Friend (2004), state Co-teachers often report that one of the most noticeable

Learned- Alternative Teaching Lesson!

advantages of sharing a classroom is the sense of support it fosters. Co-teachers report that when they have a spectacular lesson, someone is there to share it, and when they have a particularly challenging day, someone really knows just how difcult it was (p.7). This sense of comradeship supports teachers to keep

pushing forward and maintain a level of professionalism and inquiry on how to best meet the needs of all of their learners, instead of falling into passive ruts.

What needs to be cautioned is that groups do not become static when using alternative teaching. It very easily could happen that the same group of students is getting pulled or that the same teacher is doing the small group instruction. Instruction should vary as well as the purpose of the group when it comes to alternative teaching (Friend, 2008). It will be important to keep record of who was pulled for small group instruction and what was done that day in that group.

Learned-Alternative Teaching Lesson!

References Cook, L. (2004). Co-Teaching: Principles, practices, and pragmatics. New Mexico public


education department quarterly special education meeting (Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 29, 2004). [participant's guide]. Retrieved from www.ped.state.nm.us/seo/library/ qrtrly.0404.coteaching.lcook.pdf

Cook, L. & Friend, M. (1995). Co-teaching: guidelines for creating effective practices. Focus on
Exceptional Children, 28(3), 1-16.

Friend, M. (2008). Co-teach!: A handbook for creating and sustaining effective classroom partnerships in inclusive schools. Greensboro, NC: Marilyn Friend, Inc.

Learned- Alternative Teaching Lesson!

Alternative Teaching Lesson A Day No Pigs Would Die Chapter 5 Context:

Frontload vocabulary before reading Chapter 5 of A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck

Content Objective (Standard) Students will be able to identify and dene list of vocabulary words from Chapter 5 in A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck.

Reading Objective (Standard) Common Core State Standards: L.7.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing exibly from a range of strategies. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a words position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Focus Strategy
NoteShare Notebook and Vocabulary Graphic Organizer.

Learned-Alternative Teaching Lesson!

Groupings:
I will work with Sarah (to help her focus), DB (does little to no homework), ZK (works best when things are visually represented), RB (positive influence on DB), and AI (who becomes overwhelmed and falls behind easily).

Mrs. W (Special Ed teacher) will monitor the remaining group on creating notecards from up to Chapter 4 for vocabulary quiz.

Duration:
This lesson will take one class period. It is a re-teaching lesson of the vocabulary work they did the class beforehand.

Lesson Plan

Pre-Reading
Students had been given a list of words (to hanker, gumption, sump, swale

hole, crawdad, crick, sired, buff and prosperous) that have been organized
in a NoteShare notebook. The notebook is organized by chapter and each word has a recording of the correct pronunciation and the page number that it is on in the book. Students should have located the sentence the word was in and written the correct contextual definition under the sentence.

Learned- Alternative Teaching Lesson!

Learned-Alternative Teaching Lesson!

ACTIVITY:
As a group, we will go over each word individually. One student will read the sentence/paragraph that the word is in and then give the correct definition that they have written down. Then, we will discuss how the word is used, and each student will formulate another sentence that the word can be used in. This will repeat for all 9 words. Students will then draw a diagram/image of their word/sentence to help them remember what it means. They may use their graphic organizers on the quiz when it is time.

WRAP UP:
Students will share their sentences/diagrams with the group and can even take an image shot of them with PhotoBooth to add to their NoteShare notebook.

Learned- Alternative Teaching Lesson!

Reflection on Lesson:

This was one of the hardest lessons for me to implement in the classroom while something else was going on. Even though

students were independently working in the room on their notecards, being monitored by another teacher, the noise level was a bit distracting to the small group that I was working with. Their attention kept being drawn to the larger group.

Stronger parameters with regards to the expectation of the other part of the classroom would have been more effective.

As with all models of co-teaching, reflection on how to improve alternative teaching for next time is very important. The special education teacher that I asked to come in during this lesson and I both agreed that clearer guidelines during the work session for the larger group would have been more beneficial, or maybe choosing another activity altogether.

My fear with this type of instruction is to have the small group miss out on something that the larger group is doing, hence why I chose to allow them to use their graphic organizers on the

Learned-Alternative Teaching Lesson!

10

upcoming quiz.

They were reinforcing what they had previously

done with more detail and preparing themselves for contextual assessment.

The particular group that I worked with truly did benefit from this type of instruction. Sarah and AI did look more confident

and reassured as they completed their organizers and I felt like I was actually seeing DB work!

I totally can understand why the Friend (2008) text recommended that this style of teaching be used occassionally. It would be

hard to keep the momentum of the class moving forward if it was constantly split up like this. not be on the same page anymore. Eventually, the two groups would