Working together for the benefit of the students: Collaboration in the classroom from a special educator’s point of view

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As educators, we have chosen the career path in which we are constantly working with other individuals – students, parents, administrators, fellow teachers, among others. Our days are faced with challenges that we may not have faced if we had chosen a different path. Working with so many different types of people and students can be tiresome, but it is a necessity, and sometimes legality when concerning special education.

Throughout my years teaching special education, I have learned a few things about working with the general education teachers that makes the co-teaching process go more smoothly for both parties involved.  

Here are 5 things to consider when you are collaborating with a special educator:

{one} 

Communication is the key to Collaboration.

First things first, if you know you are going to be working with someone for the entire the year, COMMUNICATE with them. Introduce yourself and your classroom. Take the time to grab a cup of coffee or eat lunch with your special education teacher. Go over your usual classroom routine, give him or her a copy of your classroom schedule {& stick to it!}, and discuss your teaching styles together. Find out what type of teaching will work best for both of you and don’t just assume the special educator will be okay with being your “assistant.” There are so many different options when co-teaching, so have fun with it! My favorites are parallel teaching {splitting the class in half and taking my half to my room} or station teaching {smaller groups, both teachers lead a station while the other groups are at independent stations}.

For a good website explaining all the different styles of co-teaching, click here.

This is also a good website that outlines things you and your special educator should do before the students walk in the door on that first day!

{two}

Lead by example.

Treat that person with respect from day one and ensure you student’s view him or her as their other classroom teacher, not your aide.  Introduce him or her to your students at the very beginning of the school year. Again, make sure you keep them informed on your classroom policies and routines so they can ensure students are following these as well. Setting this standard from the first day of school with your students will eliminate a lot of confusion in the long run. Also, try not to always have them do your dirty work while you teach. Share the duties of making copies, grading papers, classroom management and such.

I love this article from Education Week: The Power of Two: Co-Teaching in the Classroom

{three}

Set aside time for planning together.

This one can be super tricky to do because you and your special educator might have different planning periods, but you should try to get together to plan at least one day per week, even if it has to be before or after school starts. During this time, discuss upcoming goals, any tests that might be given, standards you hope to teach, any student concerns, and bounce ideas back and forth about upcoming lesson plans. If you have grade level team planning and the special educator cannot make it, create a simple form or jot down a few basic notes to place in their mailbox so they stay in the loop. A little goes a long way!

Below is the form I provide my general educators when I know I can't make it to a team planning.

Click here to download this free form

{four}

Create and stick to a daily routine.

Try to set a routine schedule for the time they are working in your classroom so they have a set purpose and aren’t just walking around watching you teach. This way, you are utilizing them in the most effective way possible! Inevitably, your schedule will change sometimes because of unforeseen circumstances. When you work with a special educator that is depending on your schedule, try to forewarn them of any changes to the day’s routine schedule so they can plan accordingly. 

{five}

Keep organized.

As a general educator, if you have a student with an IEP in your classroom, you are just as responsible for that student as the special educator is. You are expected to be providing all the accommodations listed in their IEP and making any modifications necessary to your daily lesson plans as well as keeping data for all of these things. Here are a few things I give my general educator’s at the beginning of the year to help them stay organized with data.

Cheat Sheet Rings:  I know that “IEP cheat sheets” have been floating around Pinterest for quite some time and I cannot stress how much this can help during the year. These can be as fancy as you want, but I prefer a simple notecard size with the basic info I need to start off the year. I keep the template saved and just fill in the info as I get it, print on cardstock, and I keep all of them on a metal ring and in my clipboard that goes with me everywhere I go. This way I can add to it as the school year progresses and students come and go.

My cheat sheet ring that I keep in my clipboard

Blank Cheat Sheet

Example of a Completed Cheat Sheet {not a real student}

Accommodation Checklists: It takes one parent to accuse you of not providing a service to a student to ruin your credibility. When you are distributed your student’s IEP’s , create an accommodation checklist for yourself to complete on a daily or weekly basis. Check off and date any service you had to provide on any given day to protect yourself. Below is a snapshot of the table I create for my general educators using Publisher to complete for each student and I have them turn them in to me on a monthly basis. I make copies for them and keep the original in the students file.

Google Docs: If you are familiar with Google Docs, you know about the beauty it beholds when collecting data. You can literally create any type of form you want and have it at your fingertips at all times through the use of an Ipad or a laptop. I have introduced this form of data collection to a lot of my general educators to lighten their load with data collection on not only my students, but all the students in their classroom. For more information on how to use Google Docs to collect data, read my post on it here or click the picture below.

File Folders for Tests/Assignments: Most of your students with special needs will have accommodations on how they must take a test and modifications for how the test format must be given. These can be super tricky to keep track of because they are all so different, so to help keep my general ed teacher’s organized, I create a file folder for each student in the class that lists their testing accommodations inside so the teacher can make any changes to the test before the student takes it.

Classroom Teacher Report Sheets: I give these to my teachers so they can give their own input at IEP meetings because it is important and should always be included! :)

Click here to download the Classroom Teacher Report Sheets

As a special educator, I have had the chance to work together with various educators, all with differing teaching styles. Sometimes, general educators have not had to work jointly with the special education teacher, let alone have them in the classroom co-teaching. Some teachers become threatened by the fact that another person is invading their territory, and some welcome another adult into their classroom with open arms. Obviously, the latter is the better, and embracing the opportunity will only open doors for you and your students. Try to look at co-teaching as a blessing, not an inconvenience, and wonderful things can happen in your classroom!

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Hands-on, Hands-Down

As a student, I remember sitting in my desk all day long. The only time we were allowed to get out of our desks was lunch, bathroom break, and recess. Pencils had to be sharpened before school, and there were no interruptions in the classroom. We used paper and pencil and nothing else. Working in groups or with a partner was unheard of because we might get off-task. It was pretty monotonous.

Fast-forward to my fourth grade year. I actually got to complete a hands-on project...at home, not at school, but it was still a hands-on project. My parents and I had the most fun with school work that I had ever had. Ever! My assignment was to build a replica of a volcano. I did this with the help of my parents, and I had a blast. I remember everything about volcanoes because of this assignment. Who knew they could be so fascinating because when we learned about them in class, they seems pretty boring sitting on the page in the textbook.

There has been so many studies about methods of teaching students over the past several years. The one study that I believe is accurate is the one that promotes hands-on learning in the classroom. Students who are afforded opportunities for hands-on learning are required to actively participate and they are "learning by doing." I believe hands-on learning also fosters a sense of independence in a student because the student takes ownership of his/her learning, thus creating the opportunity for the teacher to serve as a facilitator and guide the students.

There are some concepts that simply cannot be taught without some form of hands-on activity. For example, learning to play basketball would not be possible if you could not actively participate in a hands-on way. Sure, you could be taught the rules, procedures, and plays on paper, but you would not have a good grasp how to dribble, pass, shoot, and score without actually going to a basketball court and holding that basketball. This is the same for students. Some students cannot learn without seeing it, feeling it, or doing it.

In my language arts class, we are reading a book about the collapse of the world. Instead of simply asking the students to tell me what they would do if the world suddenly ended and they were left to survive, I had them work in collaborative groups to make a survival guide. The students loved it! Not only did the students love this activity, but I was also given another opportunity to learn more about my students. (I learn more and more everyday!) In their survival guide, they had to develop a list of items they would need to survive, sketch and explain how they would construct their shelter, develop a plan to survive the four seasons, and create a time capsule of ten items with pictures. They did a wonderful job!

Here are some of the pages of their survival guides:

The students still used paper and pencil to complete this activity, but it was completed in collaborative groups, discussed, and I completely served as a facilitator. 

Anytime I plan my lessons, I try to think back to my fourth grade volcano experience. Am I able to plan something hands-on with every lesson? No, but I do try to make those hands-on experiences meaningful for the students and ones that they will remember. I believe the best teaching is that where traditional teaching and hands-on learning work together. 

What are some examples of hands-on learning that work well with concepts you have taught? 

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When Lessons Go Wrong: PLAN B!!!

The week after vacation, as every teacher knows, is crunch time.  We know that the state test is rapidly approaching.  And we know that the pressure is ON.  As veteran teachers, the whole thing is old hat.

It's not old hat to our kids, however!

Usually my fourth graders tend to be well rested after a vacation (a benefit of teaching upper elementary kids; they don't forget about classroom expectations like the little ones).  But on Monday, mine were just not on their game. 

First, I was all excited to do an equivalent fractions activity involving stations and manipulatives and exploring different shapes and amounts of pieces that can equal one whole.  I was going to lead a discussion on patterns we notice and post photos of all their ideas and it was going to be collaborative and hands on and foster real mathematical thinking.

That is not what occurred.  At all. 

Similarly, my plan was to end the day with a fantastic board game I created that help kids practice how heating and cooling results in a solid, liquid, or gas.  I spent my vacation finding cute fonts for the game pieces, typing up directions, and looking forward to more thank yous like I got on 100s day for the fun activity that helped them practice a tricky concept until it was mastered.

Again...nope.  Most of the class was so off task that I called off the game.  I let the kids who had done focused work help me with some coloring/cutting prep, and let it for the next day.

It just confirms the fact that no matter how carefully you plan a lesson, no matter how fun you make it, and no matter how many classes it's worked for in the past, not every lesson works for every group of children.  Otherwise there would be a single curriculum that everyone uses.

So here's how I turned a day 1 disaster into a day 2 triumph!

The first problem was that the kids bicker, a lot.  Despite Morning Meeting and Responsive Classroom, and student generated rules and setting expectations for group work and reminders 5 minutes prior to starting, they still bicker. 

The second problem was that despite modeling each station, posting the model and directions on the board, and answering questions/the same question 10 times, lots of kids just did not understand concept and/or, more likely, the directions. 

So what I decided was to give them an extra day of break...from each other.  I love collaborative learning and I do lots of it.  Which is strange, because I'm an introvert.  Or maybe it's BECAUSE I'm an introvert, and it doesn't come naturally to me, so I want very much to impart the strategies I've learned in order to help other introverts in my class.  But when it's not working, there's no sense beating a dead horse.  When the concept is too hard AND they have to focus on collaborating well, it's too much for them to handle; one of those things has got to give, and today it was the collaboration.

So Tuesday I came in with...a worksheet.  I know, I know, what a horrible teacher I am.  Antiquated methods and all that.  But you know what?  They did it.  They did focused work for the period, they noticed patterns, and they enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere that coloring patterns tends to evoke. 

Once they finished the worksheet, I pulled out the manipulatives once again with a different, higher level skill to work on.  But by starting out with a coloring worksheet(you can get it free from my TPT store) with the exact same skill that didn't come to them when they were collaborating with a hands on activity, suddenly they could do it.     

I continued the theme in the afternoon.  I didn't let them play the science game in their groups.  Instead I told them they were going to "play with me."  I chose only 4 kids to get a game board, and I got one too.  I situated them so that kids could look on with those that got to play.  And then we each took turns, drew cards, read them aloud, talked about our move, practiced the good sportsmanship I was modeling, and applauded the first person who got to the finish line. 

I'd never tried a board game this way.

I liked it!

I'm absolutely using this strategy at the beginning of the year, and whenever a class has a case of the "bickers."  It really helped, and actually, the nearby kids weren't too bored.  They started saying "us," instead of "her" (the person near them playing).  They formed informal teams.  That created a much nicer atmosphere than having 5 separate groups with every man for himself, and bickering.  

Sometimes you just know:  It's time for plan B!

Amber Thomas's Classroom Favorites at TpT

My other blog:  Shut the Door and Teach

Image credit:  www.mycutegraphics.com

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Calling Guest Posters!

When Jennifer Findley posted on Teachers Pay Teachers about the creation of a collaborative blog dedicated to sharing upper elementary resources, the response was overwhelming.  It was an idea that was long overdue! 

Each one of us, the 14 collaborators here on All Things Upper Elementary, is touched by the support you, our followers have given us as we have started sharing some of our favorite educational tips and resources in our first month of posting.

Now that you've gotten to know each of us a little better, it feels like the perfect time to take our collaboration to the next level.  We want YOU!  What is yourfavorite teaching tip or resource? 

If you have something you'd like to share with our growing audience of nearly 250 upper elementary teachers, please fill out the Guest Contributor Form (see "Want to Guest Post?" in the tabs above).  Your contact information will be kept private. 

After we take a peek at your TPT store and blog, you can expect an Email from one of us.  Once you are selected, we'll give you a date and tips on how to make your post great.  At that point you can decide if the date works for you, and if so, we'll help you through the process. 

Once your post goes live, you will not only have the satisfaction of knowing you shared your ideas with educators around the internet; you will also receive a very snazzy All Things Upper Elementary Guest Poster badge for your blog. 

So if you love blogging and you're looking for an opportunity to network, fill out the form above.

Thanks for reading,

P.S., Stay tuned tomorrow for our first guest contributor's post!  Many of you will recognize this teacher from the TPT forums, and the post contains a great online resource that many of your kiddos would enjoy!

P.P.S., If you've already filled out the Guest Contributor Form prior to 2/10/13, you should have already received an Email confirmation from me this week.  If you didn't receive an Email, please resubmit if you are still interested, and include your Email address so that I can contact you.  Thanks!

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