Pros and Cons of Team Teaching

1. Pros and Cons of Team Teaching

2. Presenters Pamela Gerstner Associate Dean, General Studies pamela.gerstner@nwtc.edu Shawn Jensen ELL instructor shawn.jensen@nwtc.edu Cindy Theys Associate Dean, Health Sciences cynthia.theys@nwtc.edu Karla Sampselle MA instructor karla.sampselle@nwtc.edu

3. Career Pathways • Combing basic education/soft skills with a trade • Involves • Team teaching • Contextualized curriculum • Creating pathways to facilitate and target high risk students.

4. Driving forces behind Career Pathways 90% of industry is facing a shortage of skilled workers especially in manufacturing and healthcare. • 7.3% National Unemployment Rate • 7.0% Unemployment in Wisconsin • 8% National high school dropout rate • 6.4% in Wisconsin • The average of individuals without a high school diploma or its equivalency for all counties in our local area is 16% of the population age 25 or older. Statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics and the US Bureau of Labor

5. Driving Forces within NWTC District • Healthcare services are projected to grow 19.28% by 2016 • 36% increase in need for Medical Assistants • 10 year projected growth statistics (2010 – 2020) • Nursing assistant 16.6% • Medical Assistant 16.7% • Personal care worker 36.8% (Career Pathways work in progress) • Increasing need for bilingual healthcare workers but only 4% of NWTC active MA students are Hispanic or Asian • Growth in minority/unprepared/underprepared populations within the district • 5.57% ELL • 10.52% Basic Education Statistics retrieved from Department of Workforce Development

6. Goal of Career Pathways • Expand Wisconsin’s skilled work force and help low income workers secure good jobs and careers by increasing the number of adults who earn postsecondary credentials in high demand occupations.

7. Team Teaching: Getting Started • Get to know yourself and your team teacher(s) by exploring teaching beliefs, preferences, styles • Develop a communication plan • Present a united front • Develop an integrated learning plan by incorporating the six models of team teaching

8. Team Teaching Models of Team Teaching • Classic • Cooperative • Integrated • Parallel • Distinctive • Monitoring teacher The course content will primarily drive the model of teaching you will use.

9. Classic Team Teaching • Content instructor presents the new information • Co-instructor assists Welding instructor introduces new welding symbols used in Blueprint Reading. The co-instructor writes the information up on the board and monitors the students to make sure they are following along.

10. Classic Team Teaching Pros Cons Does not make full use of both instructors Can establish a lower level of respect for the assisting instructor • Allows the content instructor to deliver and focus on instruction without interruption

11. Cooperative Teaching • Instructors teach new materials at the same time • Instructors model the learning plan by having a prepared or spontaneous discussion about the topic in front of the students • Used primarily for group work Both instructors engage in conversation about the importance of being to work on time. Each instructor contributes their own personal experiences to the discussion.

12. Cooperative Teaching Pros Cons Requires a level of comfort between instructors that cannot be faked Requires coordination and planning that may be time-consuming • Models a respectful working relationship between adults • Allows both instructors to provide their prospective on the topic • Promotes respect for both instructors

13. Integrated Team Teaching • One instructor teaches the content • Co-instructor provides follow up activities Welding instructor teaches about welding safety. The BE/ELL instructor works with the students to create a poster to present to the class. Students are able to reinforce their welding safety instruction while improving their speaking skills at the same time.

14. Integrated Team Teaching Pros Cons Requires coordination between instructors that may be time consuming • Each instructor showcases their specialty • Students improve remedial skills and practice new skills simultaneously • Instructors try new activities they may not have tried before

15. Parallel Instruction • The class is divided into two groups and each instructor teaches the same content to each group of students. The class is given a scenario concerning work ethics: “Your supervisor requests that you dispose of a toxic substance after work in a landfill. He explains that the company does not have a permit to dispose of this substance.” One group focuses on what will happen if they follow the supervisor’s request and the other group on what will happen if they do not follow the request. The groups then come together to discuss the ethical responsibilities and consequences of each option.

16. Parallel Instruction Pros Cons Requires collaborative planning Requires good timing Each instructor must be equally strong in the lesson being taught • Provides for smaller groups and more individual attention • Allows for greater control of behavioral problems or problems between students

17. Distinctive Class Split • Divide the class up by levels of learning and provide instruction as needed • Divide class up and match stronger students up with students that need more assistance Divide the students into strong learners and learners who need more assistance. One instructor works with the strong learners to teach more advanced skills while the other instructor reviews and reinforces concepts to students who need more assistance.

18. Distinctive Class Split Pros Cons May reduce a student’s exposure to ABE/ELL curriculum May “label” students by continually grouping them together Reduces the value of inclusion by separating students based on needs. • Provides differentiation opportunities • Provides remediation or enrichment for students who need it • Smaller groups provide more individual attention

19. Monitoring Teacher • Content expert teaches all course content • ABE/ELL instructor monitors the students’ understanding and comprehension of material and key vocabulary.

20. Monitoring Teacher Pros Cons Doesn’t fully utilize each instructor’s specialty Can create behavior/authority problems for the observing instructor if done regularly Can create animosity between instructors if teaching model used is not a mutual decision • Minimal coordination required when planning • Allows for delivery of quality instruction without interruptions • May conceal weaknesses if co-instructor is not as strong on the particular subject being taught

21. Contextualized Curriculum • Course content is not “watered down” • Preparation time is essential • Teaching the course more than once helps to contextualize the curriculum

22. Challenges of Career Pathways/Team Teaching • Expense • Prep Time • Finding where each instructor “fits” • Contextualizing the curriculum • Rapport between co-teachers • Flexibility

23. Challenges of Career Pathways/Team Teaching • Barriers for high risk students • No GED, unable to obtain employment • Scheduling • Administration buy in

24. Success of the Program • Increase in confidence levels in the students • Increase in reading skills • Portions of the 509 HSED are completed • Life long learning skills • Graduation • Jobs • Instant referral process

25. NWTC’s Career Pathways Success Statistics • Citizenship (1) • GED/HSED (14) • Completed GED (4) • Actively working on GED (2) • Actively working on HSED (welders) (8) • Medical Assistant (48) • Healthcare Customer Service Representative Certificate (Phase 1) (32) (8, Dec Grad) • MA Technical Diploma (9, December Graduation) • Welding Certificate 1 (20) • Office Professional Certificate (10) • Nursing Assistant (25) • Certified Nursing Assistants (20) • Haven’t taken exam yet (5)

26. MAs at the Heart Walk

27. Welder’s Graduation

28. MA/HCSR Graduation

29. Golden Rules of Team Teaching • Thou shall plan everything with they neighbor. • Thou shall attend thy neighbor’s lecture. • Thou shall refer to they neighbor’s ideas. • Thou shall model debate with thy neighbor. • Thou shall have something to say even thou art not in charge. • Thou shall apply common grading standards. • Thou shall attend all staff meetings. • Thou shall ask open questions. • Thou shall let students speak. • Thou shall be willing to be surprised. Leavitt, Melissa C. (2006). Team teaching: benefits and challenges. Speaking of teaching, 16 (1). Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/dept/CTL/Newsletter/teamteaching.pdf