Case Study 1

Ms. Frost and Ms. Savory agree that they were enjoying teaching their eighth graders so much this year because they were team teaching. One of the main advantages to teaming was that they could role-play behavioral expectations for the students, dramatizing both appropriate and inappropriate behavior. For example, when using cooperative learning groups, they would assign roles, such as recorder, timekeeper, taskmaster, and self-assessor. Before students began working, the two teachers would dramatize, in an exaggerated, humorous fashion, the appropriate behavior for each role. Ms Frost was hilarious when she pretended to be a taskmaster who turned into a dictator: “Hey you! Get to work. Quit being lazy. Do my work for me, too. I rule.” The students cracked up. Ms. Savory would then model proper conduct for a taskmaster, again in an exaggerated manner: “Now, now. I think we are getting off task. Let’s look at our goals again and be clear about what to do next.” Even the positive modeling caused some chuckling from the students, but they got the idea, and it had its desired effect.