A Teacher Training course on WizIQ organized by Dr Nellie Deutsh in 2014.
Susan Dixon and Nives Torresi were paired in an assignment during a live online webinar and disseminated into a BreakOut room where the communication for the assignment took place.
The culmination of this Pair Work by two Teachers resulted in this presentation.
3. Introduction into definition of Pair Teaching
What does the term simply mean?
Pair Teaching (PT) is the collaboration of 2 Teachers
preparing material for one lesson or subject. The idea
behind pair teaching is that there are always 2 people
giving their view of the same topic. Hence the old adage
“Two heads are better than one”
It has been used effectively in higher education but does
present negative aspects as well as strong positives.
4. Four Challenges
1. Planning and agreeing on layout of class topic
2. Avoiding conflict in workload and personal views
3. Different styles and personalities of educators may
cause confusion in the classroom
4. Finding a middle ground on discipline
5. Some benefits of Pair Teaching (PT)
1. Assisting Trainee teachers learn from a more
experienced Teacher
2. Provides collaborative support
3. Learning from one another
4. Input of using creativity like technology alongside
traditional use of textbooks
5. Adds an element of fun not only to the Paired
Teachers but also the students who may see it as an
opportunity to learn from diverse styles.
6. Tips….
1. Use creative interactive tools together
2. Always ensure that the other pair in the equation is
not overloaded - ‘sharing is caring’
3. Reinforce workload by constantly checking the outlay
and plan
4. Openly accept criticism - it’s also a way to grow
5. Communicate with students ‘are they learning’
6. Don’t forget the objective is to get a message across
7. Is the message clear?
10. References...resources
● Provided by Dr Nellie Deutsch -
http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/121185.pdf
● Dr Nellie’s power point - https://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/843420-mm5-pair-
teaching
● Some interesting points in Pair teaching seen as ‘Co-Teaching as a Team’
in http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/abstract81/
● Definition in slide 3 comes from this link:
http://www.ctserc.org/initiatives/teachandlearn/coteach.shtml
● Different types of co-Teaching are discussed in detail here:
http://www.asdk12.org/depts/hr/student_teaching/PDF/The_Power_of_
2.pdf
● A great article that’s easy to read: http://www.nea.org/tools/6-steps-
to-successful-co-teaching.html
11. Thank you
We hope you enjoyed our presentation and we look
forward to our next Teaching experience together.
If you would like to join us and other Teachers from
around the globe learning together online then join our
online community at WizIQ - CELT
Link: https://www.wiziq.com/course/49507-english-language-teachers-
worldwide
Susan Dixon, USA & Nives Torresi, Italy (Australian)
Editor's Notes
Teaching in Pairs is part of a course program organized by Dr Nellie Deutsch on WizIQ. This presentation is part of the online activity that occurred during the live class on October 20, 2014. The two Teachers involved in this mini presentation are Susan Dixon (USA) and Nives Torresi (An Australian in Italy)
Finding a suitable pear! Susan discovered the Asian pear suited our colour! Adding some fun and colour like images is also an important factor - do not underestimate the value of good clean humour! Show your students or learners that you too are human and definitely not infallible.
The first question we asked ourselves was had we really understood the meaning of teaching in pairs, obviously the whole process of being in a breakout room was to virtually practice this form of collaboration among the Teaching staff. Following is a good definition of Co-Teaching which is just another way of referring to Pair Teaching: “Co-teaching involves two or more certified professionals who contract to share instructional responsibility for a single group of students primarily in a single classroom or workspace for specific content or objectives with mutual ownership, pooled resources and joint accountability. (Friend & Cook 2000)” see resources links
There are many challenges when working together as a team in Pair Teaching, if you are a Trainee then you have a shoulder to lean on and someone to lead the way. But if on the other hand you are two equal Teachers - sometimes thrown together by chance or situation - the challenge is in the ‘communication channel’ remaining open. We’ve outlined 4 main challenges, the first agreeing on an outline of the topic, secondly keeping any conflictual feelings aside, thirdly be very cautious to prevent confusion among the learners due to differing personality traits and lastly come together and meet each other half-way.
Trainee teachers can work together with an experienced Teacher especially in the formative period allowing for support and collaboration in settling into a Teaching environment. The collaborative support helps overcome the insecurities that may ensue from new surroundings (e.g. school, class, locality, etc). Aids in peers creating a communication line to actually learn from one another - Teachers and teaching methods are forever changing especially with the advent of technological devices. Creating new ways of bridging the ‘generation gap’ by using creativity in learning - moving away from traditional methods like textbooks and chalk. Working together in a team creates a social bonding that leads to a classroom that can be ‘fun’ literally! Students can take advantage from seeing two viewpoints and feeling better equipped to handle a subject.
Don’t just stop at classical teaching methods look beyond the use of interactive tools like ‘GetKahoot’ can turn a class around and is a great opportunity to put into practice Pair Teaching. Do not lose sight of the other pair - ensure that the workload is divided clearly, do not get involved in petty misunderstandings - clear the air quickly and get on with it. If need be go over each other’s tasks just in case - to avoid missing information. Sometimes showing your presentation to other peers is a good way to gauge its quality. Make sure that the ‘students’ who are the denominator in the course are being ‘heard’ - is the message clear - are they learning? These are just some tips to make sure your Pair Teaching is as smooth as a baby’s bottom...
Dr Nellie gave us about 20 minutes in two lots, we were able to use the microphone for communicating and one of us had the video cam too. The work we did on the white board we saved as a screen capture image and have included what the board looked like at the end of the session. Leaving us with an idea of what to do.
The first thing we did was to create a Google Drive document and share the link, we uploaded our own personal Chat box text and notes from the whiteboard and quickly laid out a plan of what to tackle. Then we divided the workload and added to it in the following days!
When the plan was clear enough we set to work, finding snippets of time here and there to fill out our slide presentation in time for the next class on October 24 with Dr Nellie and our colleagues.
This is a list of the references we had to work with as you will notice the first one was given to us during the class and provided by Dr Nellie Deutsch as a main source of reference to use during the break out session. The others were collated from searches and readings on internet, the links are all clickable in the slides.
We hope you enjoyed our presentation and we look forward to our next Teaching experience together.
If you would like to join us and other Teachers from around the globe learning together online then join our online community at WizIQ