Runninghead:LITERARYANALYSIS

LITERARYANALYSIS
ElijahWilliem

NationalUniversity

InpartialfulfillmentfortherequirementsforTED690

ProfessorJohnson

June15,2016

LITERARYANALYSIS

ABSTRACT

Thefollowingliteraryanalysisconcernsanarticletitled,CoTeachingELLs:RidingaTandem
BikebyAndreaHonigsfeldandMariaG.Dove.Inthisarticle,theauthorsdiscussthebenefitsof
coteachingtocreateunderstandingwithELLs.Theauthorssuggestcertainwaystowork
together,empoweringboththeclassroomteacherandtheresourceteacher(ESL).Inthispaper,
theirclaimswillbeexaminedandreflecteduponusingpersonalexperiences.

LITERARYANALYSIS

TeachingELLsintheclassroomtakesspecificskillsandstrategies,andsomeofwhich
arenotalwaysavailable.ManytimesresourceteacherssuchasESLteachersworkinother
classroomsandpulltheELLsoutofthemainclassroomforinstruction.Thisisnotonlya
limitingpracticeforthestudentwhomissestheacademictimeandsocializationwithpeers,butit
alsocreatesachasmbetweenwhatthemainteacherandtheESLteacherareteaching.The
articleIhavechosenforanalysisisCoteachingELLs:ridingatandembike:(coplanningand
collaborativeteachingforthesakeofEnglishlanguagelearners).Thisarticlediscussesone
particularlyeffectivemethodforgettingbothteachersonthesametrack.Assumingbotha
MasterteacherandanESLteachercanbeinthesameclassroom,thearticledemonstrates
throughanexampleofalessonontheGreatDepression,thattwoteacherscanworkintandem,
asequalpartners,inclassroominstruction.Thearticlefirstbringsofthepointthattrue
coteachingisinsistentoncollaborationofequals,apartnershipofequitywhereeachpartnerhas
animportanttask.Theauthorscontrastthisworkingrelationshiptothemorecommon
relationshipwhere,theESLteacherisrelegatedtotheroleofthehelperwhoroutinelyhasto
ask,Whatarewedoingtoday?(Honigsfeld,Dove,2015,pg.57)Thisanalysiswilldiscussthe
articleandtheresearchpresented,reflectuponthearticleandreflectontheeffectivenessofthis
model.
Theauthorsstatethatforcoteachingtotrulywork,theremustbefourcomponentsinthe
instructionalcycle:planning,teaching,assessment,andreflection(pg.57).Thismeansthatthe
teachersmustcommunicatetheirideasandeachmustbeastakeholderintheinstruction.This
symbioticrelationshipwillnotworkiftheclassroomteacherleadstheclassandsimplyhands

LITERARYANALYSIS

theresourceteachertasks.Eachpartnermusthaveanequallyimportanttask.Goingbacktothe
GreatDepressionExample,twoteachersworkedviaconversationsandemailstoensurethatboth
teacherssupportedeachother.Whilethemainteacherfocusedontheteachingtheconcepts,the
resourceteacherfocusedonvocabularyandcreatingsummariesforthehighabilityleveltext.
BothteachersdecidedonpresentingaPowerPointpresentation,butwiththemodificationof
addingmorepicturesfortheELLs.Theteachersworkedtogetherforthelessonproviding
individualstudentdifferentiationtogreatresults.
Thisexampleshowsthatwithplanningtogether,bothteachershadafocus,andwiththat
focuscamesuccess.Theauthorslistdifferenttypesofeffectiveinteractionbetweencoteachers
andcompareittoridingatandembicycle.Ifoneteacherpullsadifferentwaythantheother,
theyareboundtofall.Sowitheffectiveteaching,oneteachercouldteachthewholegroup,while
theotherteacheswithpurpose(assistingindividualsorsmallgroupsofstudentswhoneed
extrahelpunderstandingthelesson)(pg.60).Theresourceteachercouldalsoteachthelesson
alongwiththeclassroomteacherorgiveassessmentstothestudents.Withallofthesemethods,
theteachersaregivingoneononehelptostudents,andcreatingahealthybalanceinthe
classroom.
Ihaveseensuccessfulcoteachingintheclassroomanditissomethingtobehold.The
trustbetweentwoequalsthatareabletoplanandteachtogetheristrulyamazing.This
demonstrationoftrustallowsthestudentstoseehowworkingwithpartnerscanhavehuge
benefits.Paula,ateacherquotedinthearticlestates,theinteractionoftwoadultsworking
togethercloselyprovidesthechildrenwithapowerfulmodelofhowthesmallesttothelargest
taskscanbeaccomplishedtogether(pg.56).Aswestrivetoincludeeachstudentinthe

LITERARYANALYSIS

classroom,weshouldrememberthatwehaveschoolresourcessuchasESLteachersandaides
thataretheretohelp.Wemustfindawaytoworkwithallresources,giveeveryoneastakein
th th
thelearningofthestudents.Becausemylaststudentteachingassignmentwasina4
/5
grade
th
comboclass,manytimesIwasteaching4thgradeasthemasterteachertaught5
.Wewould

alternatesometimesduringthelesson,whereshewouldtaketheleadandIwouldcheckfor
studentunderstandingorviceversa.Wehadtoplantogether,tounderstandourgoalsandour
roles.Wehadaverysuccessfulclassbecausewecommunicateandplannedtogether.Iseethat
coteachingissoimportantintheclassroomandthisarticlepaintsaverypositivepictureofit.

LITERARYANALYSIS

REFERENCE

Honigsfeld,A.,Dove,M.G.(2015).CoteachingELLs:ridingatandembike.(coplanningand
collaborativeteachingforthesakeofEnglishlanguagelearners).
EducationalLeadership
73(4).