Carlie Hobbs

1. List what you learned about each of the characters in the case. What do you think is
motivating the thoughts and actions of each of the characters?

Jim: From the reading, it can be inferred that Jim is very aware of
his struggles in spelling and is very self-conscious. From Marys
point of view it would seem that Jim genuinely tries to better
himself in the area of spelling but lets his embarrassment get the
best of him by skipping class. Motivating Jims thoughts, I believe,

are his insecurities and embarrassment not being able to spell.

Mary: Besides the facts of Mary being a 15 year veteran to special
education and co-teaching, I learned that she lacks confidence.
Mary knows many great strategies, in my opinion, but she lacks
the confidence to stand up for what she knows and believes in.
Marys motivation for her thoughts and actions come from her
experience as a special educator and the results of Jims tests and

his lack of progress.

Helen: Helen I learned is very head strong, which is to be expected
of a 20 year teacher, however she is now in a new scenario and
working with different types of students which calls for her to be
open to new ideas. Helen is a leader, and by not hearing any
complaints or suggestions from Mary in the beginning she was
allowed to establish and maintain her dominance. Helens
motivation for her thoughts and actions are her strong personal

philosophies towards spelling and the pressure put on teachers

from high-stakes testing.
2. What are the issues and problems in the case? Discuss the common problems and
issues faced in co-teaching.
What steps are required to establish successful co-teaching relationships?
The problems in this case are that there is a lack of communication, no coplanning occurring, and both teachers are looking at assessments separately.
When Mary invited Helen to come take part in co-planning she should of taken
the leard role because she has been a co-teacher before, whereas that is an area in
which Helen struggles. Instead she let Helens dominance come into play and let
her make all the decisions. By losing this co-planning opportunity Helen and
Mary lost their chance to begin building a relationship and establishing a
communication system that would work for both of them. Instead of confronting
things head on, Mary lets them bottle up until they become a problem and then it
appears that she is being confrontational with Helen, and based off of Helens
personality she does not respond well to confrontation. By looking at the
assessments separately, they are seeing two separate problems; Helen sees a
majority who is striving so the student must be slacking, whereas Mary sees a
student who needs modifications to a curriculum that is too high for him.
Based on what we learned in the presentation and from personal experience a lack
of communication, not co-planning, and not working together to analyze
assessments are common problems amongst co-teachers. Co-teachers often
struggle with forming an effective way to communicate with one another in a way

that makes both partners feel equal. Often one person will become more dominant
and the other submits and listens, never sharing their ideas or concerns. When this
occurs co-teachers fall into a slump of not being able to plan together or assess
together, because they dont have the basic fundamental of communication down.
Steps to establishing a successful co-teaching relationship would be to first both
have a firm understanding on co-teaching, what it is and what it is not. When both
parties understand that it is not a leader and a follower type of relationship they
will be able to begin building a bridge of communication in which they view each
other as equals. The next step would be to simply get to know each other. Who are
you teaching with? What are their teaching philosophies? Why did they want to
become a teacher? How do they handle behaviors? When you know the person
you are teaching with you will form a better understanding of how to approach
them on certain topics and understand their decisions. Once the relationship has
been built, co-teachers then need to begin looking at the planning process.
Lessons should be planned together and roles within the lesson established
afterwards. Each educator should have an equal say in what in taught and how it
is taught. Finally, both educators should be able to sit down and look at
assessments together. What went right and what went wrong. This should become
a point of discussion and a model for them to work off of.
3. When is it appropriate to make instructional accommodations? Modifications?
Discuss techniques for modifying instructional methods and materials. What

instructional accommodations and modifications in spelling did Mary make for Jim?
Were they effective? Why or why not?
This is a difficult question, so I will answer based on what I do with my students. I
accommodate whenever a student is performing below grade level due to a disability
interfering with their learning. I modify whenever a student is performing below
grade level due to the outside environment, a disability, or behavior problems. Even
though accommodations and modifications are often grouped together there is a
difference. Accommodations I would typically base off of test scores and evaluation
results, where as modifications I would provide to any student who is struggling in a
way that affects their learning.
Some of the instructional modifications Mary made for Jim were creating flash cards,
breaking the spelling words down into smaller lists presented by day, words being
taught independently, one-on-one instruction of word rules (or their structure), and
writing the words over and over again. These modifications were not effective
because they were not addressing Jims problem. When Mary went and looked at his
test scores and saw that he was a 4.6 in language and a 1.8 in spelling it shows that
Jim has a major deficit in this area of academics. Mary tried to make the
accommodation of an alternative spelling test in which Jim was provided with the
word spelled 3 different ways, this was turned down by Helen, therefore it was not
given a chance to be determined effective or not.
4. Discuss the importance and benefits of communication and collaboration that
promote interaction with students, parents, and school and community personnel.

The importance and benefits of communication and collaboration that promote

interaction with students, parents, and school and community personnel are that we are
providing the best education possible, as the old saying goes, It takes a village. We
need everyone involved in a students education to come together and be able to talk with
one another on how to best help that student. In the case of Jim, he was regressing
because one teacher was too scared to speak up for what he needed and another was too
stuck in their ways to compromise or work together. Educators have to learn how to talk
to their peers, students, parents, and other staff so that they are guarantying a child with
the best education possible