Collaboration : Best Practices for Today’s Teacher

1. Collaboration: Best Practices for Today’s Teacher Dr. Deanna Keith dlkeith@liberty.edu Miranda Arnold mlarnold@liberty.edu Liberty University November, 2011 Presented at the 2011 KDP Centennial Convocation.

2. Before we begin….. • Take a few minutes to construct a table of the benefits and barriers to increasing collaboration within your school or classroom.

3. Consultation, Collaboration, and Co-Teaching . . . Shades of Meaning consulting co-teaching consult teamwork client consultant target collaborate co-educator consultee network

4. Key Elements in Successful Collaboration Preparation Role Delineation Framework Evaluation and Support

5. Defining Characteristics for Collaboration

7. Benefits from Collaborative School Consultation Support and assistance for students in inclusive classrooms. Helps to minimize stigmatizing effects of labels. Becomes a supportive tool teachers value and use. Administration benefit when classroom teachers are able to work with a wide range of student needs. Often overlooked benefit is the maintenance of continuity in learning programs across grade levels. Natural system for nurturing staff interactions. Collaborative consultants are catalysts for professional development. Parents and caregivers of exceptional students respond positively when they see educators functioning as team for the student.

8. A Sample of Potential Hurdles Consulting teachers are likely to experience at least a few of the following hurdles: • Loss of touch with students when not providing direct service to them • Being regarded as a teacher’s aid • Territoriality • Running into veils of professional politeness • Unrealistic expectations • Too many “hats” to wear in the role • Resistance of colleagues toward change of any kind

9. Building Co-Teaching Relationships Should Discuss Belief Systems to Develop a Healthy and Balanced Co-Teaching Relationship

10. Co-Teaching Responsibilities EXPERTISE IEP’s closure giving directions planning paperwork grading CO-TEACHERS assessment instruction discipline remediation parental contact setting up classroom taking roll anticipatory set

11. Co-Planning is the Key to Success for Co-Teaching Planning Co-Teaching

12. Co-Planning is the Key to Success for Co-Teaching • Remove distractions • Eliminate excuses • Delineate roles and responsibilities • Develop long and short range plans • Change in mid-stream if necessary

13. Paperwork • Discuss who will correct what • Discuss where corrected work will be placed • Determine who will record grades • Discuss how to deal with make-up work • Discuss and monitor IEP’s on an on-going basis

14. Evaluation • Student • discuss grading policies and procedures • discuss homework policies and procedures • Co-teachers • reinforce each other’s efforts, be positive • evaluate your efforts on an ongoing basis • collect student data to determine program effectiveness

15. Parental Contact • Discuss when and how to share co-teaching with parents • Determine who will contact parents about concerns

16. Effective Planning Session • Brainstorming • Researching • Developing the written lesson plan and unit plan • Sequencing the lesson • dialogue • signaling • delineate roles and responsibilities

17. On the 1st Day of School • Both teachers’ names should be on the door. • Both teachers’ names should be on the student schedules. • Both teachers should be introduced as “your teachers”. Use “ours” not “mine”. • Both teachers should sign policy sheet that goes home to parents.

18. Assertive Discipline • Develop classroom rules, policies and consequences TOGETHER! • Present rules and consequences the 1st day of school TOGETHER! • Both teachers are considered enforcers.

19. Selecting the Best Co-Teaching Approach

20. Ten-Step Process for Collaborative Problem Solving Prepare for consultation. Initiate the consultation. Collect and organize relevant information. Isolate the problem. Identify concerns and realities about the problem. Generate solutions. Formulate a plan. Evaluate progress and process. Follow through and follow up on the consultation. Repeat or continue consultation as appropriate.

21. Collaboration is like MAGIC when it works!

22. References Brownell & Walther-Thomas. (2002). An interview with Dr. Marilyn Friend. Intervention in School and Clinic, 37 (4), 223-228 Friend & Cook. (2007). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals (5th ed.) Allyn & Bacon. McLesky & Waldron. (2002). Inclusion and school change: Teacher perceptions regarding curricular and instructional adaptations. Teacher Education and Special Education, 25, 41-54