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Collaborative Teaching in Secondary Schools
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Collaborative Teaching in Secondary Schools
Making the Co-Teaching Marriage Work!



March 2009 | 288 pages | Corwin

"This is like the 'Everything You Wanted to Know About Co-Teaching' book that answers questions you did not even know to ask! Murawski's wit, enthusiasm, and expertise are engaging and informative throughout. From the details of starting a co-teaching relationship to the fine art of sustaining the co-teaching union, this book has something for everyone."
—Peggy King-Sears, Professor of Special Education
George Mason University

Create a successful partnership that provides the ultimate learning environment for every student!

Many districts across the nation are incorporating co-teaching into their schools in order to create the best learning environment for all students. This practical, easy-to-use resource offers administrators and teachers a wealth of strategies and tools for setting up, conducting, and maintaining a successful co-teaching relationship that addresses the diverse needs in today's inclusive classrooms.

Offered in a lighthearted, humorous manner that compares the co-teaching relationship to a marriage, this comprehensive guide provides substantive, field-tested differentiation and application strategies strongly supported by research and years of expert, hands-on experience. Numerous replicable forms, worksheets, checklists, and examples are included as well as helpful references, Web sites, co-teaching scenarios and case studies, and much more. Each chapter is packed with straightforward ideas for:

  • Dealing with difficult content
  • Mastering scheduling challenges and personality conflicts
  • Setting roles and responsibilities
  • Various approaches for co-instruction
  • Co-planning and co-assessement

This resource is ideal for helping schools improve current programs or as a reference for teachers who have no experience with co-teaching and are ready to initiate a new relationship.


 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Introduction: Why This Book?
 
Part I. The Dating Scene
 
1. Understanding What It Means to Be in a Relationship
 
2. Dating, Living Together, and Marriage
 
3. General Educators Are From Jupiter, Special Service Providers Are From Saturn
 
Self-Assessment #1: Are We Ready to Date?
 
4. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
 
Part II. The Engagement
 
5. Getting to Know Your Partner
 
6. Registering for the Wedding
 
7. Discussing the Future
 
Self-Assessment #2: Are We Ready to Get Engaged?
 
8. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
 
Part III. The Wedding
 
9. For Better or Worse: Establishing Norms for Behavior and Academics
 
10. For Richer or Poorer: Sharing Space and Materials
 
11. Planning Quality Time Together: Why, When, and How to Plan
 
Self-Assessment Part #3: Are We Ready to Marry?
 
12. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
 
Part IV. The Marriage
 
13. Working Together to Wrangle the Lil' Rascals
 
14. Teaching the Seven Dwarves
 
15. Are We Successful Yet?
 
16. Playing Nicely With Other Parents
 
Self-Assessment, Part IV: Will We Be Able to Celebrate Our Anniversary?
 
17. Matchmaker, Matchmaker: The Role of the Administrator
 
Appendix: Keeping the Honeymoon Going
 
References
 
Index

"The book is full of practical tips, suggestions, and tools to help you become a successful co-teacher. While the book is designed for secondary educators, the content can easily be applied to middle school and elementary educators. If you are looking for a valuable resource to guide you through the co-teaching process, I strongly encourage you to consider this as a first purchase."

Nancy Yost, Professor of Special Education
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

"The humorous comparison of co-teaching to marriage is the spoonful of sugar that makes the mass of information in this text go down smoothly. While this text is strongly supported by research and expert opinion, it is also written by someone who has practical experience."

Joyce Williams Bergin, Professor of Special Education
Armstrong Atlantic State University

"A comprehensive, informative resource with enough humor to keep you reading and enough substance to get you started. The author shares her long experience with co-teaching and gives valuable strategies, forms, and charts to help make your foray into co-teaching as successful as possible.”

Richard Hanf, HI Itinerant Teacher
Berkeley County School District, SC

"This is the most practical guide to teaching that I’ve read to date! Wendy Murawski has a true-to-life understanding of what really goes on in the K-12 schools and classrooms with teachers, administrators, students, and parents."

Gretchen Gall, Instructor, Instructional Assistant Program
Moraine Park Technical College

"The book provides a fun, practical, and realistic approach to a complex issue in today’s secondary classrooms. The numerous forms provide quick access to remediate, enhance, or simply start a co-teaching relationship. Her approach to building the perfect co-teaching relationship is one that is not only essential, but practical and refreshing."

Lisa Dieker, Professor
University of Central Florida

"This is like an 'Everything You Wanted to Know About Co-Teaching' book that answers questions you did not even know to ask! Murawski's wit, enthusiasm, and expertise are engaging and informative throughout. From the details of starting a co-teaching relationship to the fine art of sustaining the co-teaching union, this book has something for everyone."

Peggy King-Sears, Professor of Special Education
George Mason University

"This is a compendium of the latest research and wisdom on co-teaching: where to start on the path, how to avoid the potholes, and what makes it work. Clearly, Murawski has established herself as a national expert on a topic of critical concern to special and general educators. This book is accessible enough for beginners yet detailed enough to provide experienced educators with new approaches and classroom-tested strategies."

Mark B. Goor, Dean, College of Education and Organizational Leadership
University of La Verne

"Murawski’s engaging and witty book provides a practical approach to understanding the world of co-teaching. She defines ambiguous special education terms in an understandable format for classroom practitioners. Her use of the marriage metaphor is appropriate for describing the co-teaching process. Murawski’s writing is based on up-to-date co-teaching research that affords secondary co-teachers the ability to translate theory into practice. Through various assessment tools, case studies, and activities, co-teachers can go beyond the honeymoon and engage in successful co-teaching for many years to come. This book is a welcome addition to our field!"

Kathleen A. Magiera and Rhea J.Simmons, Associate Professors
State University of New York at Fredonia
Key features

This practical and teacher-friendly book includes:

  • Field-tested strategies with appropriate examples
  • Case studies/scenarios of co-teachers
  • Tables indicating how co-teachers can work together
  • Pictures of teachers engaged in co-teaching to help demonstrate key points, plus pictures of products and strategies suggested for differentiation
  • Reproducibles--extensive handouts and forms, including forms for co-teaching--as well as examples of letters and samples of differentiated work
  • A list of helpful Web sites and resources
  • A reference list for locating inexpensive teacher resources (like Teach Timer, Wikki Stix, and more) in stores and on the Internet
  • A glossary of important terms
  • An annotated bibliography/references of current literature on co-teaching for extended study of primary sources
  • Special materials are infused throughout the book

Select a Purchasing Option


Rent or Buy eBook
ISBN: 9781452273297

Paperback
ISBN: 9781412968058
$44.95

This title is also available on SAGE Knowledge, the ultimate social sciences online library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial.