10/01/13 Class Notes extended to Blog #5 Developing a Research Plan

Beginning to Develop a Research Plan

Focus- co-teaching and communication in the classroom (pre-kindergarten/early childhood specific)

Research Questions:
1. What are the essential features that co-teachers need to communicate?
2. How does the planning process and communication among co-teachers affect the performance of each other and the students in the classroom?

Who has studied this and what do they say:
I am still in the process of searching for an article, but there seem to be a few articles on co-teaching but nothing specific on communication and co-teaching in the classroom. 10/1/13

10/4/13
I found an article that was very interesting. "Communicating and Collaborating in Co-Taught Classrooms" by Greg Conderman, Sarah Johnston-Rodriguez, and Paula Hartman.
- This article discusses how co-teaching is affected due to communication, and its offers advice as to how co-teachers should communicate between one another in order to run a successful classroom.
-I did not find anything on observing co-teachers in the classroom, so it seems that my study may or may not be the first of this kind. I think that this article is helpful to use because as I conduct my own research I think I would be able to compare what I see to the suggestions and descriptions that this article offers. It could be used as a sort of backbone for my research, and who knows, maybe there will be some things in this article that may not be true after my observations.

What do I need to find out to answer the question:
(this leads to the methods)
-how the teachers together act a team/support each other to meet an overall goal for their class- question to ask: Also find out what their overall goal is?
- Find out what each teacher contributes to the lesson planning process and how each of them execute the lesson

What should I do to gather that information:
-observe/interview teachers on how they work together/support each other
-see their plans and instructional materials and find out who planned what and who plans on executing which parts of the lesson: ask questions
-notice each teacher's role in the classroom and how they each command the classroom simultaneously/individually

TO BEGIN MY RESEARCH: 
-I will contact a school that I am familiar with and set up a few days where I can come in and observe the pre-kindergarten classroom.
-I will also interview both the head teacher and assistant teacher.
- I will also want to try to get a copy of their lesson plans, and also have them break down who does what in the classroom and why
-A possibility would be talking to the director on co-teaching and how she has seen different dynamics in the classroom. I think it would be also helpful to get her opinion on co-teaching and find out what advice or rules she has for her co-teachers and how she encourages them to work together.