The One With Team Teaching

Something new is taking place in 7th grade Science this year. It is something that has me giddy with excitement. I will be team teaching with a very sweet coteacher.

The idea was first introduced by our principal and has been revamped several times over the summer. The idea came from my coteacher being new to Science. She is very nervous about it. The original plan was that we would divide the frameworks, each teaching half, and trade students at semester. I was thrilled with this idea. My coteacher, Mrs. C, was as well. She really didn't want to teach life science since it includes reproduction 7th grade.

Over the past few weeks, I've been at a workshop with other science teachers. There were two ladies there who started team teaching last year. They did thinks a little bit different. Their method raised their test scores a little more than 20% and helped with their literacy scores.

That's it. I was sold! I talked to my principal and Mrs. C and we are following in their footsteps this year.

We will be focusing on vocabulary. Let's face it, if a students doesn't know what asexual reproduction is, how can we expect them to answer a test question about it? She will have "her students" (those scheduled in her class) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She will have my students on Tuesday and Thursday.

Here is what it will look like... Her students walk into her room Monday morning. There are a list of vocabulary words and definitions on the board. They copy them into their notebook as their bell work. They then talk about those words and do literacy activities to help enforce the definitions.

On Tuesday her students come to my room. They take an open book quiz on those vocab words. The idea isn't to have them memorize 6-8 words the night before, but to get them to see the words over and over. After the quiz, we will do a lab activity that again reinforces those words. Mrs. C. is doing the same thing she did Monday, but with my kids who did this lab on Monday.

They copy down vocab words and quiz in both rooms.

Same idea happens on Wednesday and Thursday, but with a new set of words.

On Friday they take a test on the words and have AR time.

That's the plan in a nutshell. I'm pretty excited about it.

There is a word wall that goes with it as well, but I'll save that for another post.