Teacher+Conference


 * Mr. Smith, meeting facilitator**
 * __Building Administrator, Mr. Smith (Rommie)__** **:** Good afternoon ladies. I am . . ..


 * Attendees introduce themselves starting with the person to Rommie's right**.


 * __Building Administrator, Mr. Smith (Rommie)__** **:** We are here to discuss observations and solutions as to how we can make our Inclusion model more effective.

(towards Ms. Jones) Mrs. Jones, your expertise as a teacher leader will prove to be invaluable in our process.

(towards Mrs. Wilson) Mrs. Wilson your experience with exceptional children could prove to be equally valuable to our process.

(directed to Mrs. Jones & Ms. Wilson) Ladies, what do you perceive your roles to be in this process? What does inclusion mean to you? What will it take for inclusion to be effective at Progressive High School? As we discuss some observations and solutions in regard to our process. I would ask that you both remain solution-focused as we further discuss suggestions to improve our program.

(towards Ms. Wilson) I'd like to begin with you Ms. Wilson.


 * __Co-Teacher, Ms. Wilson – Co-Teacher/SPED Instructor (Shawneice):__** Last week, I spoke with Mr. Smith regarding to the way the inclusive education class that I co-teach with Ms. Jones is being conducted. I believe that there is a small power struggle that is arising. I know that Ms. Jones is a very well-versed content instructor, however, I believe that if we collaborate better, my knowledge of current and evidence-based strategies along with her content knowledge during instruction will benefit the students by leading to increased academic achievement. Though we collaborated before the first class that was observed by meeting and deciding together to implement “One Teach One Observe”, nothing was done with the observations that were made even though we discussed beforehand what I should be looking for. I would also like to work with more heterogeneous groups so that the students with special needs can engage in peer tutoring and work on social interactions with non-disabled peers. In my opinion, Ms. Jones does not have very much respect for me as a teacher. I’m hoping that by meeting here today, we can come to some sort of consensus regarding collaboration and the co-teaching environment.


 * __Building Administrator, Mr. Smith (Rommie)__** **: (directed to Ms. Wilson)** Ms. Wilson . ..


 * __General Ed. Teacher, Ms. Jones (Bonita)__:** I see my role as the content specialist. Ms. Wilson is here to assist me with her children and any other children who may need extra help. Inclusion to me means that those special kids are put in my class to be exposed to what they will see on the End of Course test, but from their progress so far, I believe that they will only bring down our class test scores. Ms. Wilson does a good job when she is here, but she is only in class once or twice a week because she has to work with the other content teachers. When she does show up, she is late and often called out during class for manifestation or IEP meetings. This is a problem because I don’t know when she will actually be here and when she won’t. I didn’t go to school to teach special students and they stay in the room even when she isn’t there. The other teachers are experiencing the same inconsistency with co-teaching in their classrooms also. If these students continue to stay in here, I must have assistance every day because they waste valuable time that could be used to work with the others that do have a chance of passing the test.

We had planned together and Ms. Wilson was to observe some students that were struggling academically but weren’t able to go over the observation results because we don’t have a common planning period and it is difficult to get together because she has class in the afternoon after school and I tutor before and after school.

When the sped administrator came to observe the class, Ms. Wilson hadn’t started working with her students in the back of the room, when I asked for her assistance. There are others that need help too, but she says she doesn’t feel comfortable working with large groups and chooses to take her students to the back of the room to work with them. She mentioned that she feels intimidated with teaching information to large groups.

Ms. Wilson is unfamiliar with the content and feels uncomfortable stepping into a whole class situation. When she does interject often because of either her lack of knowledge or because she isn’t here enough to know what we are doing in class on a daily basis, she gives misinformation to the students. The day you came to observe, Ms. Wilson was teaching the class, but I had to take over because she was giving the wrong information to the students. Because Gateway and End of Course tests are less than a month away, the students must not be confused with incorrect information.

Mr. Smith, I know you chose the two of us to work together because of our record of success with students, but in order for this to work, we must have more time to plan together and work out any problems that could come up during instruction time. Ms. Wilson must be here to work with me daily because the students need consistency.


 * __Literacy Coach, Ms. Johnson (Wendi)__** : During my recent walkthrough of Ms. Wilson’s and Ms. Jones’ classroom, I observed Ms. Jones teaching a lesson and Ms. Wilson observing and taking notes. It was evident that they had collaborated before class to implement the One Teach One Observe method of co-teaching. Ms. Wilson’s note-taking was focused on documenting individual student understanding. Students were engaged in Ms. Jones’ lesson, the lesson was well-planned and use of technology was evident. My understanding is that the notes that Ms. Jones was taking were never utilized to differentiate instruction for follow up lessons. I would like to see these two teachers collaborating to implement a more positive inclusive environment. I believe they both do an excellent job implementing best practices and they both seem to understand the co-teaching models. The break down appears to be with collaborative planning and co-teaching implementation. There must be a teaching partnership where both teachers equally share the classroom, deliver curriculum, plan effectively together, and collaborate to offer the best instruction possible for each and every student in this classroom.


 * SPED Supervisor, Ms. Williams (Cherhonda):** I'd like to thank Ms. Jones & Ms. Wilson for the opportunity to observe their class. I contend observations and honest dialogue about what is done well and what needs to improved upon are among the best ways to move toward more effective inclusive environments, demonstrating equity among our co-teachers. With that end in mind, during my observation, I was pleased to see the two of you differentiating instruction as each of you worked with students in small groups - this is indeed a best practice. The students in both groups appeared to be engaged and interested in the lessons as well as the discussions intertwined therein. However, Ms. Jones, I was very disappointed when you asked Ms. Wilson to leave the room to make copies of a worksheet as she prepared to work her group of students. While I would like to think this an isolated incident; it was still totally unacceptable. This sends the message to students that Ms. Wilson is not a "real teacher" but there to help you so you can help them. As the district diligently works to create more inclusive environments for our students, I am explaining the role of the SPED teacher in co-teaching environments more and more often. Ms. Wilson is your educational equal. She is by no means anyone's administrative assistant. You mentioned you feel you are a "content specialist", therefore, I ask you to consider Ms. Wilson to be a strategy specialist. While we all know education is not a business, I must ask you to treat Ms. Wilson as you would, say, a business partner - bearing in mind neither of you can succeed without the other. What good is content without the means to effectively impart it to ALL of your students and vice versa. Both of you should be simultaneously present.Also, the two of you should have a common planning period. Mr. Smith, I think it would be wise to revisit your scheduling to ensure Mrs, Jones and Ms. Wilson are able to collaborate and make decisions such as who will make copies prior to the beginning of class as well as other aspects of their lessons. Ms. Wilson, you are to assist and monitor ALL student learning, not simply the students Ms. Johnson has referred to as "your students", they are ALL your students.They are ALL OUR STUDENTS!


 * __Building Administrator, Mr. Smith (Rommie)__** **:** Observation


 * __Literacy Coach, Ms. Johnson (Wendi)__**: Presentation of Mentoring Plan and Professional Development Activities


 * __Building Administrator, Mr. Smith (Rommie)__:** Wrap-up