Lauren Miller

Interviewee: Sue Hunter

Grade: 5
School: East Petersburg Elementary
District: Hempfield
Date of Interview: 11/1/15
Interview:
1. How do you and your co-teacher differentiate instruction to most
effectively reach all the students?
The person with whom I co-teach is one of our Learning Support
teachers. She co-teaches a math section in which all of her "IEP" students
are present. The differentiation happens by default. We set up a weekly
teaching schedule...she teaches one week, I circulate and monitor. Then
we switch roles the next week.
2. Did you receive any training/support in regards to co-teaching?
I can only speak for myself...I have never received training for coteaching. The support part comes in the fact that it is suggested that we
do co-teach, and the idea is supported.
3. What do you think needs to happen in order for co-teachers to
work together effectively?
Co-teachers need to be compatible, and have a similar philosophy
about teaching and the kids. Also, both teachers need to do their fair
share...planning, grading...etc.
4. What do you think is the most effective model for co-teaching?
Honestly, I'm not aware of different models. We kind of do our own
thing.
5. What would you determine as the pros and cons of co-teaching?
Pros: Having another competent adult in the room, especially for a
class with many and various needs; Having that same person to bounce
ideas off of; A person with whom to commiserate; Students exposed to
two different teachers for the same subject, and them having the
opportunity to see two adults communicate and work well together.

Cons: Do not always have ample planning time; At times, my coteacher is pulled to do other teaching duties, i.e. meetings, coverage for
other teachers
6. What are your overall thoughts and opinion on co-teaching?
My overall thoughts and opinions of co-teaching: I love the teacher
with whom I teach. We get along well, share similar thoughts and
philosophies; neither of us tries to "one-up" the other. I feel it is very
balanced. With that said, we just do our own thing, keeping with the
district curriculum and standards, of course.
Honestly, I don't know how it would work if it were another person. I
would make it work, of course. It does have to be a type of partnership,
however. The kids have to feel a seamless meshing of teaching styles.
Bottom line...it's about the students. Co-teachers must make it work for
them.

Reflection:
When I interviewed Mrs. Hunter, I found out that her co-teacher only
comes in for one subject (math). Her co teacher is a special education
teacher who is currently a learning support teacher. Rather than just pulling
out her students and taking them to her room for math, she was asked to coteach with Mrs. Hunter. This allowed inclusion to take place and is also very
helpful to the students because it will help them to feel more like they are a
part of the class and then the other students are less aware of who the
learning support teacher came to help.
Based on the information that Mrs. Hunter told me, I was able to infer
that her co-teaching model is One Teaching and One Drifting. This was
evident when she mentioned, she teaches one week, I circulate and
monitor, which matches the definition in the text for One Teach, One Drift. I
think that this is an effective model for the two teachers because all students
will be receiving the same instruction from the main teacher that week and
then the other teacher will be able to walk around and assist any student in
need. This is especially effective for the students with the IEPs because
there is an additional teacher to make sure that they are following what is
going on and retaining the information. They can also give the student
individual instruction throughout the main lesson if need be. Instruction is
effectively differentiated with this model because each week the teachers
take turn instructing which allows the student to benefit from different
teaching styles and different types of instruction. As I read in the text, it
talked about how co-teaching is beneficial in that the students do not have to

miss instruction in the general education setting and will not be feeling like
they are missing out. The text also mentions that co-teaching also helps to
eliminate other types of miscommunication among the teachers and even
students.
When I asked Mrs. Hunter about co-teaching training, she mentioned
that she has never had any which really surprised me. It sounds like they
have been doing a really nice job for not having any formal training. At the
time I did not get to ask her about her co-teacher and if she had any training
but Im thinking that she probably has. Since inclusion is becoming a bigger
part of classrooms as well as co-teaching, Im thinking that she is probably
co-teaching in other classrooms as well since she is only in Mrs. Hunters
room for one subject. I am thinking that she probably received instruction
about it at some point in time, sought out tips from other teachers or maybe
did some research on her own. As Mrs. Hunter explained, the teachers are
encouraged to co-teach and almost expected to do it since they are paired
into the same room. I was especially impressed that she was not aware of
models of co-teaching because what she explained matched the one
teaching one drifting model.
When I asked Mrs. Hunter about what it takes for two teachers to work
together effectively, her thoughts were very similar to and reflected those
which were expressed in the book. The book also mentions that co-teaching
takes time if you want to do it effectively as a team and also make sure that
it is most effective for your students. Like the book said and Mrs. Hunter
mentioned as well, it is vital for teachers to share philosophies of education
or at least be able to collaborate in a way that allows them to work together
well. One of the main things with co-teaching is that teachers need to
communicate well and collaborate well. The book also talks about how
teachers need to share responsibility for the students. Mrs. Hunter also
talked about how teachers need to divide up the responsibilities of the
classroom and evenly care for the children.
Mrs. Hunter shared her pros for co-teaching and I thought that they
were all valid points and also aligned with the text book. A similar point that
was presented by the book and Mrs. Hunter was that it is especially helpful
to have an additional adult present in the classroom to help with preparing,
instruction, tasks and just caring for the students overall. Co-Teaching can be
a really great opportunity in classrooms because different teaching styles
may resonate with some students better than others, so the students will
have opportunities to learn from two teachers and potentially two different
styles rather than just one. Co-Teaching allows the for teachers to collaborate
and find ways to more effectively reach the students and can allow for them
to become more creative with how to instruct their lessons.

A con that both the book and Mrs. Hunter mentioned was that the
planning time can be restricted and they may not have as much time to plan
as they hoped. She also mentioned that her co-teacher is often pulled out to
help in other areas or cover other rooms. I can definitely see how that would
be a con especially if she was pulled during a time that she was supposed to
teach the lesson. It would also be a con because that means that the
students who need additional help or are supposed to receive services from
that teacher are not having their needs be met. It also made me wonder how
often the co-teacher is pulled from the room and if that conflicts with what
their IEP states for their needed services.
As I listened to what Mrs. Hunters overall thoughts were about coteaching, I really felt like it aligned with the text book. Both talked about how
teachers need to have good communication as well as share similar ideas
and philosophies. I was really glad that I was able to talk with Mrs. Hunter
and hear about her experience with co-teaching because it is definitely a
positive experience for her and was a helpful situation for me to learn from.
Mrs. Hunter had great insight that was really helpful. I also really appreciated
her insight especially since it aligned with what I have been learning and
what is presented in the text, even though she had never had any formal
instruction or trainings about it. I really appreciated the knowledge that she
shared with me and also how her main focus with co-teaching came back to
focusing on the students and what is best for them.