Week 3: Two is better than One.

Traditionally in a classroom there is 1 teacher to about 25ish students. I remember that most of the time when I was in Elementary. Sometimes it was hard to get the attention that you needed or there were concepts not quite understood because that one teacher could not focus on just you. After this week I have learned that most of the time that is not the best scenario, but rather co-teaching is a more effective way for teacher and students to be successful.
There are 7 different models of co-teaching that teachers can pick to use bases on needs of students and resources
1. One teach, one observe: There is one teacher whose primary responsibility is to just teach while another teacher observes behaviors of children, or can see who understands and who doesn't. this is effective in many ways: the main teacher doesn't always see the same picture and then teachers can come together to talk of observation.
2. One teach one assist: while one teacher is doing the teaching, the other can help with set up or can focus on helping individual students as needed.
3. CENTERS!: groups spend time at different stations with different teachers teaching different curriculum.
4. Parallel teaching: divide students in half and teachers teach same content, just able to focus on less children at a time.
5. Supplemental: one teacher works with students at expected levels while another works with students that need more help and things to be retaught to them.
6. Alternative teaching: different teaching strategies that help teach the same content
7. Team teaching: lesson taught together, flows nice, both are actively involved in this teaching process.
These are 7 very different models of teaching from the traditional style of one teacher per classroom. I feel that these models work better for students because it allows two educators, or more, to help in the learning process. These models allow for different perspective in teaching in learning that that positive impacts on students.
If anything I learned that there is not one right or wrong way to teach, just like there is not one right or wrong way to how we learn. In order for these 7 models to work, teachers must have positive relationships with their students and know the needs of individuals. There is no right or wrong when it comes to teaching, but there are better and best options to help meet the needs of all the students you teach.