List what you learned about each of the characters in the case.

What do you think is motivating

the thoughts and actions of each character?
 Jim- In elementary school Jim received both direct and indirect special education
services in the area of reading  since he struggled with spelling but was good at all other
subjects. In middle school Jim attended the general education setting for reading and the
special education teacher worked with the general education teacher to provide the
modifications Jim needed to be successful in class, because of this Jim was successful
in the general education setting and was able to keep up with his same aged peers. In
high school Jim has a new teacher who is posting spelling grades and thinks that he
should be as good at spelling like everyone else, he is not used to this, which is making
him feel embarrassed Jim is a six-foot tall 17-year-old athlete, so he wishes to go to
college on an athletic scholarship and his parents want the same thing. In conclusion I
think that Jim is motivated by doing well in school and working hard for his goals of
getting into college on an athletic scholarship, and this is shown by Jims progress in all
other subjects of school and by him getting support in reading.
 Mrs. O’Hara- Jim’s Mother supports and advocates for her son's special education
program because it has benefited him throughout school. I think that she is motivated by
her sons’ happiness, success, and progress. 
 Mary King- She has been teaching for 15 years and has been teaching at Crossroads for
5 years with their co-teaching program. Mary enjoyed co-teaching until the teacher that
she was co-teaching with resigned. Mary worked hard to build good relationships with
students and provided a caring and safe classroom environment. She was also clam and
quiet speaker who enjoyed working collaboratively with others. Students and families felt
that she was reliable and trustworthy. I think that she is motivated by students feeling
safe, welcomed, and cared for when coming to class. Even though she is quiet and calm
she spoke up to Helen and she did so to advocate for Jim, this shows how caring she is
and how she wants to help every student. In conclusion she is motivated by her students
and their happiness 
 Helen Williams- She has been teaching for 21 years and transferred to Crossroads due
to some shift changes in her building at the last minute. In her 21 years of teaching, she
has never co-taught before and she was unsure about it coming into Crossroads. Helen
was efficient and had high standards for students which she took pride in. She assigned
students many assignments that challenged students. Helen’s method of co-teaching is
one teacher teaches and the other teacher assists the students that are on IEPs’. Helen
thinks that the class is hers and thinks highly of her teaching methods. I feel that Helen
is motivated by students doing well on high stakes testing that makes her look well. I
also think that she cares about her students and that is why she holds them to such high
standards, but the problem is that she is not a flexible person when it comes to the
students struggling.  

2.
a) What are the issues and problems in the case?
 Mary and Helen have two different teaching methods and have not built a
working relationship to effectively co-teach together.
 Mary is only assisting students who are struggling rather than having a
role in the teaching.
 Mary is also trying to keep the peace with Helen and not upset her rather
than sharing her observations, thoughts, and knowledge of co-teaching.
Helen's mindset is fixed on she is the only one responsible for the
students and their learning outcomes.
  Mary was also problem solving by herself rather than with a team to help
Jim.
 Helen did not want to make any modifications because she felt that other
students would expect the same thing and held a high standard for all
students to be able to spell no matter the student's ability.
 Helen did not accept any suggestions of ways to help support Jim’s
academic needs due to his language learning delay and auditory
processing deficits.
 Helen has also disregarded Jim’s and his parents' dream to go to college
on an athletic scholarship by not doing what Jim needs to support his
areas of delay.
 Jim is frustrated and refuses to go to class.
b) Discuss the common problems and issues faced in co-teaching.
 Common issues in co-teaching according to the article “Tips and Strategies for
Co-Teaching at the Secondary Level” by Murawski and Kieker (2004) share
schedule that do not fit co-teaching teams and special education teachers are
assigned to work with multiple students and multiple teachers at the same time.
In chapter 12 “Linking to Other Professionals” in " In Teaching Content to All” By
Robinson (2004) a common problem is when the co-teaching model of one
teaching and one assisting occurs. In Interactions: Collaboration Skills for School
Professionals Chapter 8” by Friend (2020) shares that this model of co-teaching
can have its own issues as well. One being that it can be distracting to students
when a teacher is walking around the room and when the teacher stops to
whisper information to a student. This not only causes others around the student
but the student to be distracted and miss critical information being presented. Co-
teaching is best when both teachers are teaching at the same time sharing their
knowledge with the students. Another common issue that occurs in co-teaching
is when one teacher has different views and is unwilling to compromise. When
you have a strong working relationship you are comfortable with sharing your
thoughts and opinions to develop a lesson plan that meets all student’s needs.
Another issue co-teaching teams have is not having time to plan out lessons and
to problem solve. Friend (2020) tells us that the best way to avoid issues and
problems is to have co-teachers to discuss and determine who is going to be in
what role and what the responsibilities are for each teacher. Friend (2020) also
shares how important it is for co-teachers to communicate and form a working
relationship with one another. They should talk about teaching philosophy, their
own cultural background, and their classroom management style. This will help
the educators understand and build a working relationship with each other. 
c) What steps are required to establish successful co-teaching relationships?
 According to chapter 12 “Linking to Other Professionals” in " In Teaching Content
to All” By Robinson (2004) there are five P’s to effective co-teaching. Presence
where the teachers find time to get together to plan, discuss views, and problem-
solving lessons effectiveness with students. The second P is Planning, and this is
where the teachers have a set time to plan a lesson using the state's standards
and district provided curriculum material to develop a successful lesson. The
third P is Presenting, and this is where the two presenters can help offer their
 experience and knowledge to the students during the lesson. The fourth P is
Processing. This is where teachers find time to discuss what they see going well
with the less and what observations of weakness they have seen students with
during the lesson. This leads us to the fifth P which is Problem-Solving where
teachers get together with other teams to discuss what support they can put into
place to help students be successful with the content being taught. 
 
3.
a) When is it appropriate to make instructional accommodations?
 Accommodations should be incorporated in a lesson when planning that
lesson to be proactive. It should be available for all students who would
benefit from it to succeed. Accommodations help a student on their path to
learning the same content as other students. Therefore it is appropriate to
make instructional accommodations throughout an instructional lesson. 
b) When is it appropriate to make instructional modifications?
 Modifications should also be planned for in a lesson. Modifications change
the required task, activity or outcome a student is required to do. This
could simply be a text on the students level, different spelling words, or
even support on the assignment with an adult to read and scribe.
Modifications are made to accommodate a student's area of delays, but
still provide the student with the same state standard but at their level of
ability. 
c) Discuss techniques for modifying instructional methods and materials.
 Some ways you can modify instruction or materials might include the
following: 
o Providing text on the same subject on a student level. 
o Providing note
o Pre-teaching skills on a student level. 
o Adjusting an assignment or activity to meet the needs of the
student. Such as providing adult support, an activity enforcing skills
on the student level of  the content. Example would be if students
are spelling words but the student is working on identifying letters.
The student could then be given letters and record themselves
identifying the letters while other students are spelling words. 
o Assignments could be shortened.
o Evaluating students on their level. An example of this could be the
standard 2.OA.1 solving one and two step word problems by
adding and subtracting within a 100 with and without regrouping. A
standard under that would be 1.OA.1 solving word problems within
20. This is standard on the students level but is still aligned with
what all students are doing. 
d) What instructional accommodations and modifications in spelling did Mary make
for Jim? Were they effective? Why or why not?
 She broke the spelling list up and gave him 6 words on Monday and then
gave him the other 6 on Tuesday. 
 o This strategy was not effective because Jim was not able to spell
the words correctly on the spelling test. Jim thought that he had
spelled them correctly. Jim has a language delay that makes
spelling difficult for him. He could benefit from a modified spelling
list, a shortened list, or choosing the correct spelling of a word.
 She helped him make flashcards and modeled how to study with them at
home. 
o This did not help Jim because he still was not able to spell the
words on the spelling test. Mary could have talked with parents and
shared what the flashcards were for and how to help him study the
words for the spelling test. 
 She then gave him fewer words each day.
o Breaking the words up in to small chunks each day did not help Jim
either. He still continued to get the words wrong on the spelling test.
This is a lot of new words each day to try and remember how to
spell by the end of the week. 
 Direct instruction of spelling rules for the words. 
o This might have worked for Jim to start to recognize how to spell
the words but he was not able to implement the strategy when
spelling the words on the spelling test. Mary could have had him
make a notebook of spelling rules that he could use on the test to
help him recall the spelling words. 
 Write the words over and over again. 
o Jim did not benefit from this strategy because he still was not able
to spell the words correctly. He might have benefited from choosing
the correct spelling word or building the words with blocks, legos,
cards, playdough, ect. To help build memory of how to spell the
words. 
 Mary suggested a few more modifications
o Having Jim choose the correct spelling of the word out of three
choices. 
 This could have benefited Jim because then he did not have
to recall the letter, how to write the letter and how to put
them together to spell the word. Jim could read and
recognize how to spell the word. 
o Having Jim match the word to a sentence. 
 This could also help Jim by understanding what the word
means and how to use it. Jim uses the computer to complete
any writing task and uses the spell check to correct his
spelling errors. This would help Jim with his vocabulary and
recognizing more words. 
4. Discuss the importance and benefits of communication and collaboration that
promote interaction with students, parents, and school and community personnel.
 There are many benefits and reasons that make communication and
collaboration important when interacting with students, parents, other teachers,
and people within the community. 
  Benefits of communicating with students, parents, other teachers, and people
within the community include:
 By communicating with the general education teacher, the teacher has an
understanding of what the student needs and what to plan for within their
lessons. They can also give feedback about what they see within lessons that
may make it difficult for the student to learn the content. The general education
teacher can also help determine what accommodations would be most beneficial
for the student in the classroom. 
 By communicating with the student, the student is aware of their goals and what
they are working on. Also letting the student know why so that they understand
why they are working towards those goals. I generally do this by having the
student graph their success throughout the year. 
 By communicating with parents, the parents feel more comfortable and feel that
their child is receiving the support they need to be successful. Students can also
communicate back with information and observations outside of school. They
know their child best and can help with positive behavior support systems and
what supports the student responds to best. Letting the parents know how they
can help their student lets the parents feel they are a part of the process and
contributing to their child's success. 
 By communicating with the members in the community you can help find support
and resources for parents to look into. You can find groups to help you solve
problems and without sharing too much information.

References

Friend, M. (2020). Interactions: Collaboration Skills for School Professionals (9th ed.). Pearson
Education (US). https://kubookstore-bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780135752623

Vanderbilt University. (2019). IRIS. Vanderbilt.edu.

https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/