I think co-teaching has a lot of benefits, both for students and the student teacher. Probably for the cooperating teacher as well. When I was teaching in 4th grade, we used one teach, one observe. I was not observing Jane's teaching, instead I observed the students and their work as I walked around. Jane and I had brainstormed some categories the day before and as I walked around I wrote down names of students that fit into those categories. The students were doing a writing assignment and we wanted to know how far along students were and what areas they were having trouble with. I was able to gather some valuable data. From that data, Jane and I were able to pull students for small groups to work on specific things. It is sometimes hard to observe everything one would like if you are the only adult in the room. This was one time it really helped to have two teachers.
I also think co-teaching was valuable when we tried one teach and one assist. If I was teaching a lesson, Jane could help me monitor students or check in with groups during science or social studies activities. Students were able to ask more questions and get feedback quicker. At the beginning of teaching, this helped me feel less overwhelmed. This method was also helpful during Writer's Workshop. By having two teachers Jane and I were able to conference with each individual student on their first writing project. The students really enjoyed the feedback and their final drafts turned out very well. You could tell that the individual conferences really helped. Conferencing with each student on every writing project is much harder to manage with just one teacher.
I'm curious to know more about the categories that you brainstormed with Jane and then used to decide on where kids needed extra support in small groups. This is a great example of a performance assessment that influences future instructional planning. I wonder if using small groups will be as regular a practice in your math classes. I think we talked about this last week, but I'm mentioning it again here so we remember to keep that topic on the conversation table. Even if your math classes are loosely grouped by ability, you know there will be a range of skills even within a "homogeneously" grouped class, so how Zoe manages that to support each student's development will be interesting to watch.
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