I
LOVE teaching! For as long as I can remember, I have
been teaching using an inclusion model. Inclusion
is different from mainstreaming. Mainstreaming
is the practice of gradually moving special needs
students into the regular education settings. They may
be included in art, music, physical education classes, as well as academic
subjects in which they function best. On the other hand, in
inclusive settings, all special education students remain in the regular
classroom for the entire day and are taught by the
regular education teacher with support from a special education teacher.
I LOVE
team
teaching! Team teaching
means that teachers gain partners to share everyday responsibilities. Team members need to agree on the
philosophy and structure of their program, and this continues to evolve over
time. In
inclusive setting they should agree that all students learn differently and
have different needs. They must trust each other as
professionals and commit to fulfilling their separate responsibilities.
Team
teachers in inclusive classrooms must be open to using a variety of teaching
methods and agree on behavior management techniques. This
way teachers are available to help all students, so everyone benefits.
As I said before, I love teaching. I must say that I LOVE team teaching even
more. It affords me the time to work
with 1 or 2 students, and similarly my teacher partner is able to do the same. (I just wish she were with me for a longer
period of time.)
Benefits
of Team Teaching
1.One
teacher delivers the lesson while the other is free to circulate around the
classroom, checking students to be sure that they are on task and understand
what to do.
2.Teachers
can present lessons in areas of their greatest skill and interest.
3.One
teacher is always available to do small group or individual instruction with
students who need to have skills retaught or reinforced. The other teacher continues to teach the rest
of the class.
4.Students
questions can be answered more efficiently, be back in be provided immediately,
and positive reinforcement can be given more frequently.
5.One
teacher can administer an oral test while the other gives the written version.
Behavior Management
Including students who have inappropriate behaviors may be a challenging
task for you as a regular classroom teacher.
As an effective teacher, you must manage the surface behaviors while
designing strategies that focus on discovering the underlying reasons for these
behaviors. You and your team teaching partner can work together to figure out
Why these behaviors are occurring. It is important to help students with work
through their problems. The goal is to teach students self control and help
them make choices that are appropriate. I recommend documenting your behavior
management techniques with anecdotal records so that you will know what is most
effective with your students. It doesn't need to be an entire page, or even a
paragraph. All you need is to keep a log with the date and time an
inappropriate behavior occurred, in 2 or 3 sentences saying what the behavior
was, what you did to deescalate it, and did your strategy work. I keep my records in a spiral notebook –
nothing fancy. J
Behavior Management Strategies
Here are some suggestions for
managing behavior problems. Some of these our strategies that I have used with
my own students over the years, while others are strategies that my colleagues
have used. Choose strategies that are appropriate for use in your classroom and
that you are comfortable with using.
1.Keep
classroom rules as simple as possible. Post the rules in plain view. Be sure
that consequences are easy to enforce and clearly understood. Be fair but
consistent with discipline.
2.Get
students’ attention before giving instruction. Have students repeat your
instructions to be sure they are understood.
3.Keep
a reliable daily routine. Post a written schedule each day and follow it.
Students will feel more comfortable if they are able to predict what will
happen in their environment.
4.Tell
students ahead of time what is going to happen before changing activities .
allow time for them to make the change.
5.Break
each last period into short work statements whenever possible. Permit movement
and noise within acceptable limits.
6.Allow
students to run errands or do active classroom chores.
7.Use
point charts for students to keep track of the academic tasks that they
complete.
8.Seat
students away from distractions such as windows, pencil sharpeners, thanks,
doors the hallways or bathrooms, and talkative
friends. (I realize this is much easier said than done.)
9.Assign
“buddies” or “peer tutors” who can answer questions or provide help if you are
busy with other students.
10.Praise
good behavior frequently. Be specific by pointing out the behaviors that are
appropriate. For example, you could say, “Thank you for raising your hand to
ask a question.”
I cannot say enough about praising
good behavior. It is the cornerstone of my behavior management system. I pass
out tickets during the day for on task behaviors, when students are
participating, for raising their hands, really for any positive behavior that I
want to see become routine. Click on the link below the photo to get a copy of the tickets I use in my classroom for free!
During the
first two to three months of school, the teacher I team teach with and I pass out a minimum of twenty
tickets per day. (It is imperative that if you use this strategy, that BOTH of you are passing out the tickets.) What do they do with
those tickets? I tell them why they are receiving the ticket – they write their
name on the ticket and why they earned it (not in a sentence, just a few
words), and then put it into a basket.
At the end of the day, I pull 3 tickets and those students get to choose
a little prize. (During my explanation
of tickets in the beginning of the year, I teach about probability.) The prizes are all things that I have bought
at the Dollar Store, Target Dollar Spot, or clearance racks. Prizes range from stickers to pencils to
activity books. Super inexpensive, but
highly effective.
During the first month of school I pull three tickets per day. Yes that is three students per day receiving a prize. But I pull away from daily to 2 to 3 times
per week…. Then by November I am pulling tickets once a week. Students still earn tickets, they still have
an opportunity for prizes, but you shouldn’t be passing out as many tickets for
the same things as at the beginning of the year because the appropriate
behaviors have been reinforced so often it is almost second nature for your
students.
Do you team teach in your school? What works for you and your colleagues? Please leave a comment below and share.
Enjoy the rest of your year!
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