Competency Six

This competency emphasizes using effective practices for planning and designing co-teaching and collaboration with peers. 

Concept Map: Co-Teaching and Collaboration

Reflection: I originally created this concept map on the topics of co-teaching and effective collaboration. I edited the concept map slightly for this portfolio. First, I explained the structure and the important elements required for successful co-teaching. Then I explained the six different methods of co-teaching. I articulated the different roles of each teacher for each method. 

While creating this concept map I had the opportunity to think about what the most important things a teacher needs to think about once they enter into a co-teaching relationship. First, the teachers need to discuss what each teacher's role will be. They need to talk about their philosophy on assessment and determine what each teacher's strengths and weaknesses are in terms of content. However, I think the most important aspect of a successful co-teaching relationship is effective planning. This brings me to my next artifact. 

Co-Teaching Lesson Plan

Reflection: This artifact below is a lesson plan that was created in collaboration with a colleague. We worked together on everything. We worked together to settle on the content and the procedure of the lesson. We both brought ideas to the table and then we compromised to create an effective lesson plan for 9th grade about the multicultural aspects of Alexandria. 

We collaborated on every piece of the lesson, including: the powerpoint, the evidence based practice, the readings, the graphic organizer, and the accommodations and modifications for students with disabilities.  I learned a lot from collaborating on a lesson plan. We worked very well together. We each compromised and listened to other ideas with an open mind. We also both kept our promises and completed the work we agreed by our self-imposed deadlines. 

We each focused on our strengths. My partner's content specialty was ancient civilizations. I was excited to learn more about this topic and expand my horizons. He was able to give me some background information on the content. I was more familiar with the Evidence Based Practice (Jigsaw) so I focused a little more on developing the activity. The artifact below is the written lesson plan on Alexandria. I have also provided downloadable files for both the powerpoint we used for the lesson and the lesson plan.  

Lesson Plan Template

For Special Education Teacher Candidates

Overview

Teacher(s): Chris Kennedy & Jacob Leverett

Subject: Ancient Alexandria

Grade: 9

Lesson Topic/Unit: Ancient Greece / Classical Civilizations

Learning Objectives:

I. By the end of this lesson, students will know:

Alexandria was a center for academics, cultural, architecture, and trade shortly after it was established by Alexander the Great. Students will learn about the artistic, cultural, religious, architectural and economic contributions Alexandria made to the world.

II. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Students will be able to identify 3 academic, cultural, religious, architectural and economic elements that existed in Alexandria by filling out a graphic organizer showing the different contributions of Alexandria to the world.

III. I will know that students have met this objective when:

We will collect their graphic organizers to determine whether they have met the objectives. They must have at least three contributions per section.

IV. Essential question(s) for students to answer

How did Alexandria represent multicultural society?

State Standards:
NYSED Common Core Social Studies Standards:

9.3 CLASSICAL CIVILIZATIONS: EXPANSION, ACHIEVEMENT, DECLINE: Classical civilizations in Eurasia and Mesoamerica employed a variety of methods to expand and maintain control over vast territories. They developed lasting cultural achievements. Both internal and external forces led to the eventual decline of these empires. (Standards: 2, 3, 5; Themes: MOV, TCC, GEO, GOV, CIV)

9.3a Geographic factors encouraged and hindered a state's/empire's expansion and interactions. Ø Students will examine the locations and relative sizes of classical political entities (Greece, Gupta, Han, Maurya, Maya, Qin, Rome) noting the location and size of each in relation to the amount of power each held within a region. Students will investigate how geographic factors encouraged or hindered expansion and interactions within the Greek, Roman, and Mayan civilizations.

9.3b Empires used belief systems, systems of law, forms of government, military forces, and social hierarchies to consolidate and expand power.

Context for Learning/Background Information

Situating the Lesson: This lesson would come after students have learned about Alexander the Great's military conquests, philosophy at the time, and after discussing the arts and other cultural elements of Hellenistic culture. Students will already know that Alexandria essentially became the capital city of Alexander's kingdom. It would be close to the end of the Unit on Ancient Greece but before discussing the fall of Ancient Greece.

Lesson Content: Students will be split into groups to review and pull the main points out of a very brief reading and put those main points on a graphic organizer. There will be five groups, each assigned to become experts on a specific element of Alexandria: Academics, Culture, Trade, The Library, and The Lighthouse. The students will at that time add at least three points to their graphic organizer to share with a mixed group later. The students will then be switched into groups with one person from each group. Each student in the group will share with their group their three points about their expert subject. Then students will move into their jigsaw groups to share what they have learned with their group. Students will then return to their home group, and compare their graphic organizers, ensuring that all students have the same information.

Lesson Rationale/Evidence Based Practice: The primary EBP presented is the jigsaw method. The jigsaw method was created originally as an experiment in schools that had recently been desegregated and had tense atmospheres and inter-racial skirmishes (Aronson, Nov. 2000). Students in jigsaw classrooms showed improved self-esteem, interest in school, and academic improvement (Aronson, Nov. 2000). Jigsaw is a cooperative learning experience. It requires everyone to contribute a piece of the puzzle to produce the final product (Aronson, May/June 2000). Each student is split into a jigsaw group that includes 5-6 students (Aronson, May/June 2000). The students in each of those groups is assigned a separate subject they will be responsible for reading about and then presenting to their group (Aronson, May/June 2000). They will only have access to their own reading. 

Before presenting their information to their jigsaw group students will meet with the students from other jigsaw groups who were assigned to present on the same topic (Aronson, May/June). While in this group, the students will work as a team of specialists, sharing what they have learned, listening to what others have learned and practicing how to present their information (Aronson, May/June 2000). This portion of the process is useful for students who have learning disabilities that make it more difficult for them to learn or organize their part of their assignment and allows them to benefit from seeing presentation strategies and rehearsing their part of the presentation (Aronson, May/June 2000). Students will then move into their jigsaw group and each student will present on their expert topic (Aronson, May/June 2000). This portion of the process helps students who are different from the rest of the group gain acceptance from the others and self-confidence (Aronson, May/June 2000). Because the other students need the information that the diverse student has they learn to work with each other in a more collaborative way (Aronson, May/June 2000). 

To further increase the benefit of jigsaw, students should return to their expert/home groups to discuss what they have learned from the other students (Fisher and Frey, 2018). Although not originally devised as a literacy method, the jigsaw method is effective On John Hattie's scale it has an effect size of 1.20, which is much higher than the average score of .4 (Fisher and Frey, 2018). The other benefits of jigsaw include 1. It is an efficient way to learn the material 2. It encourages empathy, listening, and engagement by requiring all members of the team to provide an essential piece of the puzzle (Aronson, May/June 2000).

Individualized Instruction

Ashley

IEP Goals: Ashley will be able to work in a team with other students without incident 3 out of 4 times per week. Ashley will be able to write 50% of her assignments in a week with accuracy as to legibility and spelling.

IEP Accommodations: To accommodate Ashley's writing problems, she will be allowed to use a voice recorder. Ashley will be allowed to choose her partner for group work to help her develop better group work skills. We recognize Ashley's interest in mechanics and will accommodate that interest in our lesson plans.

Shelly

IEP Goals: During group activities Shelly will stay on task for 75% of the time. Shelly will complete tasks before drawing 3 out of 4 times. Shelly will accurately answer three out of four questions per worksheet. Shelly will follow directions 3 out of 4 times.

IEP Accommodations: Shelly will be able to use a fidget spinner in class. Shelly will receive additional time for her assignments. Shelly will receive verbal reminders about expectations. Shelly will get a checklist of reminders about her expectations and steps for her daily assignments.

Accommodations for Students from Diverse Cultural &/or Linguistic Backgrounds:At the beginning of class students will, in groups, gather and review the important information they will share with the other experts. ELs will be able to use the written list to share information with the other groups. ELs will also be able to look at the lists created by the other experts by exchanging graphic organizers as needed. By having two ways of learning the information, written and verbal, ELs will be better able to understand the concepts.

Instrinsic Load: This is a complex issue. By placing this activity at the end of the unit this is more of a review and lessens the load on students. We are limiting the content to just aspects of Alexandria and giving them excerpts instead of long readings. By having them work in groups it lessens the stress. Having them get back together into their home groups to review the information learned also lessens the load and ensures that even students who have difficulty with writing have a second chance at gathering the information. Purposefully grouping high performing with low performing students decreases the impact motivation and background knowledge will have on information learned and retained.

Co-Teaching & Collaboration

Co-Teaching: In this section, select the co-teaching format that you will be using in this lesson.
Check one or more. It is possible to use several strategies during a lesson.

☐ One Teach, One Support

☐ Station Teaching

X☐ Team Teaching
☐ Alternative Teaching
☐ Parallel Teaching

What is each teacher's role within the model(s) you selected?

Jacob will handle instructing on some of the background information on Alexandria.

Chris will then explain the Jigsaw activity and Graphic Organizer.

Both teachers will model their own reading of a passage on geography.

Both teachers will model how to share information in their jigsaw group

Both teachers will circulate and help students in their home groups and their jigsaw groups. We will answer questions and support student learning by asking inquiry questions.

Grouping: In this section, describe the way(s) in which students will be assigned to instructional groups. Which teacher will lead/instruct each group?

Home Groups: Students will be placed in heterogeneous groups for the first part of the activity. (theoretically: I do not know the skill levels of my peers in Ancient Greek knowledge).

Jigsaw Groups: A student from each home group will be placed in each expert group with an attempt to create heterogeneous groups.

Assessment of Student Learning

Assessment Procedures: First, teachers will assess how students are summarizing their own information by rotating through the classroom and looking at their written summaries. Teachers will check to see that students have at least three main arguments. Second, teachers will assess how a student shares the information they learned to the other experts. Finally, students will write down what they learned from the other experts and hand in that sheet.

Assessment Type(s): Summative assessment at end of the lesson.

Assessment Criteria: Have at least three major takeaways from each of the other experts.

Feedback: Will add the elements they are missing. As long as they have three from each of the other experts they will have succeeded.

Materials & Resources

Teacher Materials (I need): Powerpoint with background information, explanation of the activity, and charts explaining which students will be in which groups. The short readings for each of the home groups to read. The graphic organizer for students to use during the activity. Checklist for Shelly with directions.

Student Materials (They need): They will need utensils and the graphic organizer, which we will provide to them.

Behavior Management

Incorporate the information from the distributed Case Studies.

General Concerns: Classroom Rules are in place.

Specific Concerns:

Ashley: We will need to remind her about the rules of working as a team. To help with classroom management and with helping her reach her IEP goals she will be able to choose her partner. If she resists we assign someone who we know she likes, despite her protests.

Shelly: We will give her a physical list of expectations on her checklist for the day and also give her verbal reminders of expectations. We will use proximity to ensure she is on task and comfortable.

Feedback: As needed, privately, after the lesson.When students are acting appropriately we can give them a "buck" that can be used to buy something from our class store.

Preparing Students for Instructional Content

Estimated time: Remember you have a total of 15 minutes for this mini lesson.

Review of prerequisite skills: We are assuming students can read and have been taught in a previous lesson how to pull the main points out of a short reading. We are assuming they have already used a graphic organizer as the primary skill we are teaching is the jigsaw element. The graphic organizer is a tool rather than the EBP that we are highlighting.

Student-Friendly Objective: Today we will do an activity where you will learn about the different parts of Alexandria, the center of Alexander's empire. You will learn about a part of the city and share what you have learned with others. You will be gather everyone's expertise on a graphic organizer that you will hand in today. Do your best to pick out three elements from your reading to share with your home group and share at least each 3 of those home group findings with your jigsaw group. Make sure to take notes on your graphic organizer along the way.

Essential Vocabulary

Estimated time:

Reviewing vocabulary: In this section, identify any vocabulary that must be reviewed or re-taught. You can just list the vocabulary and assume this step has been completed.

• Philosopher
• Circumference
• Dynasty
• Deity
• Papyrus/Papyri
• Maritime
• Scrolls
• Delta
• Port
• Secular
• Obelisk
• Hellenism

Pre-teaching vocabulary: In this section, identify any vocabulary you need to introduce or pre-teach ahead of the main lesson. 

• Ptolemy
• Euclid

Instruction

Estimated time: The majority of your lesson should be here, make sure the EBP is evident. (THE ORDER OF THE LESSON IS NUMBERED)

Direct Instruction (I DO): In this section, describe the direct instruction that will be provided. How will you model/demonstrate ideas? How will you use "think aloud" and cognitive modeling?

1. Jacob will provide some content background information.

2. We as teachers will model working in a group by using a reading to pick out and share three main points from three sample sentence. (30 seconds).

4. We will then model how they are going to share that information with the other experts by each being experts on separate topics. (30 seconds)

9. After they share with the jigsaw groups they will return to their home groups. We will explain how the students will make sure everyone has the same information in their graphic organizers. (30 seconds)

Guided Practice (WE DO): In this section, describe the practice that students will be provided with. Include how you will determine that students are ready to independently practice.

3. After the teachers pick out the main point we will have the students follow through and write the same bullet points in a section of the graphic organizer.

5. Students will work together in home groups on one reading. Each home group will have a separate reading. (jigsaw)

6. In their home groups they will list 3-4 main points they will share with their jigsaw group. Teachers will walk around and guide students while they perform this activity. They will be ready to move on to the next part of the activity once they have those listed.

Independent Practice (YOU DO): In this section, describe the independent practice students will complete.

Generally: The students will become experts on their topic and share the main points with the other students (jigsaw).

7. They will switch to a jigsaw group that includes experts from each of the home groups. (jigsaw). (approx. 5 minutes).

8. When students are in their jigsaw groups they will jot notes about what they learned from each person (approx. 4 minutes).

10. Students will ensure everyone in their home group has the same information in their graphic organizer.

Closure

Lesson Review: Students learned about the different aspects of Alexandria. They learned how it felt to share expertise. Final group questions would include: list an aspect of Alexandria you learned from another expert.

Forward Look: You will have an opportunity to use this information in the future on an assessment.

Homework: Write a paragraph in your journal about how this activity made you feel? How did it feel to be an expert on your topic (i.e. art in Alexandria)?

Extraneous Load: By splitting up the reading amongst the whole class and allowing students to become an expert on one portion of the topic they will not have to read as much and can focus on honing skills in finding main points in a brief reading. They will then be able to learn about the content verbally from their peers and will have a graphic organizer to record their thoughts. By having them return back to their home group they will be able to make sure they have covered all their bases without needing to read the other groups readings.

References, Notes & Other Information

In this section, list any references for lesson plans, resources, or other ideas you used that are not primarily yours. This is also where you will list the APA citations for the articles that were referenced.

Aronson, E. (May/June 2000). Nobody Left to Hate. Psychology Today, 17-21.

Aronson, E. (Nov. 2000). The Jigsaw Strategy. Psychology Review, 2-7.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (Nov. 2018). Let's Get Jigsaw Right. Educational Leadership, 82-84.