Meet Me in the Middle: Chapter 11

Chapter eleven discussed team teaching, and how the teachers formulate working plans that compliment each others' plans; that is, if one teacher has a test coming up in their class, the other teachers are able to schedule their tests to fall on different days. Team teaching also allows for further collaboration, which would be made much more difficult if they didn't have an elevated sense of communication. Teachers can plan units that 'match up,' so to speak- for example, if the history class is discussing the sinking of the Titanic, the science class can build Morse code transmitters. The team teaching aspect allows for more integrated activity, which further encourages students to communicate and collaborate on their own.

As far as this chapter is concerned, I agree wholeheartedly with more integrated instruction, as I think it's easier to grasp certain concepts when small parts are revealed throughout different disciplines. I think eighth grade science class, when we built Morse code transmitters and learned Morse code, would have been more interesting if we had been studying anything that would lend the historical implications for the development of the code. I think it's equally important for integrated units simply for the 'good example' teachers set for students as an example of good communication.