Master Geometry while Co-Teaching Journal Article

This article was in the Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, October edition. It was written by Jessica H. Hunt, and she begun the journal article by writing about just a few benefits of co-teaching. Typically, co-teaching occurs with a general education teacher and a special education teacher. It benefits the general education teacher because it typically gives them more confidence when working with students with disabilities, because they see how special education teachers teach them new material. It helps the special education teachers because it gives them a better idea of what the general education curriculum is about. There are five types of co-teaching, they are: one supporting, one teaching, station teaching, alternative teaching, parallel teaching, and team teaching.

The article continued by explaining these five types of co-teaching. One supporting, one teaching is exactly what it sounds like. One teacher is teaching and the other is completing administrative tasks such as checking homework or managing behavior. (Hunt) The general education teacher doesn't always have to being teaching the whole class. Station teaching is when the teachers divide the chapter or content being taught and the students rotate around the classroom. Alternative teaching is where one teacher teaches the a big group and the other teacher teaches a smaller group of students. The smaller group doesn't necessarily have to be a group of students who need extra help. It could be a group of students who have a specific interest. Parallel teaching is when the teachers split the class in half, and teach the same information, but its just in smaller groups. The students join together at the end of the lesson. Team teaching is where one teacher may lead the lesson and the other teacher may model the lesson.

I thought this journal article was very beneficial! The reason behind this is because I am a special education major, and in a few of my classes we have been talking about the pros and cons of co-teaching. To be completely honest, it seems like such a great concept, but in reality it seems very difficult for the concept to work well. I've heard that the special education teacher is just like an aid and helps students who need the extra one-on-one help, and the general education teacher feels uncomfortable because there is constantly another teacher in their classroom. I really liked how this article broke down the job roles of the general education and special education teachers. I don't know where I will get my first job, but I will definitely keep co-teaching in mind, and if I do end up co-teaching with a general education teacher, I will definitely re-read this article because I feel like there were a lot of great points.