Co-Teaching: Equitable and Inclusive Opportunities for Students
Co-Teaching Strategies to Start With for Your Co-Teaching Partnership and Program
Co-teaching is an expanding opportunity across schools to provide equitable and inclusive classrooms for all students. It can be used in many facets and is employed regularly in schools through many different mechanisms and programs. Generally, many think of co-teaching as only to provide students with special needs an opportunity to participate in general education classrooms in the least restricted environment. However, it goes beyond that in our classrooms. We often have paraprofessionals, family volunteers, and utilize co-teachers in English Language Development courses – also even within CTE programs and courses. Additionally, we see co-teaching in Higher Education courses where we have two content specialists related to a similar discipline. Co-teaching even has a large influence in preschool and in Pre-K classroom spaces. Thus, as you can see, co-teaching takes many forms and touches many classroom spaces in education as a whole.
Co-teaching provides the opportunity to support more learners at once. By having another teacher and educator in the classroom, more attention can be provided to students. Whether it be during whole class instruction, small group instruction, and one on one instruction, with another teacher in the classroom, these opportunities for teacher-led instruction increase. Although, for co-teaching to be effective, it requires strategy, planning, and administrative support to make it happen well. Co-teaching done well can impact student learning outcomes positively. Thus, this introductory blog aims to demonstrate basic strategies to help you, as a teacher or your school, get started with co-teaching. Whether getting started or looking to improve your practice, we will provide some of the basics to begin that process!
Basic Co-teaching Strategies To Help You Get Started
To get started with co-teaching, we recommend three introductory co-teaching strategies. These are easy-to-get-started strategies that can be utilized during your first days co-teaching with your co-teaching partner. Let’s dive into each of them.
One Teach, One Observe – In the “One Teach, One Observe” co-teaching strategy, one teacher leads the instruction while the other co-teacher takes on the role of an observer who monitors student behavior and engagement, gathers data on student understanding, and looks for teaching strategies that can be optimized. For example, in a 3rd-grade classroom, while one teacher leads a reading instruction, discussing the main themes of a storybook, the observing teacher might note and collect data on how students interact with the story, who struggles with comprehension, and who provides insightful comments. Additionally, this teacher monitors for behavior and redirects students during various parts of the lesson.
One Teach, One Support – This co-teaching strategy involves one teacher leading the class in a lesson while the other teacher circulates around the room, offering additional support where needed. This might include helping students with learning disabilities, managing classroom behavior, or providing differentiated resources. In a fifth-grade setting, during a math lesson on addition and subtraction, one teacher can lead the instruction from the front of the class while the other helps students individually, ensuring they use the correct problem-solving techniques and understand the process.
Graze and Tag – This co-teaching strategy entails one teacher leading the main instruction while the other “grazes” around the room, assisting students as needed, and then “tags” the lead teacher to switch roles or to highlight a teaching moment. For instance, in a primary classroom during an art lesson, while one teacher instructs students, the other teacher might help students individually. When a common issue arises, such as difficulties in classroom management or the need for one-on-one or small group support, the supporting teacher could “tag” the lead teacher to address this issue with the whole class.
Remember, these strategies will take time to master. Also, think less is more with each strategy. Strategize and plan with your co-teacher on how these will look in your classroom before getting started. Overly planning is a good strategy when first trying co-teaching. Eventually, it will go from feeling more scripted to more free-flowing as both co-teachers will have the experience and intuition to maximize each strategy.
Co-Teaching Partnerships
Co-teaching partnerships are two co-teachers working together in a shared classroom space. In order for them to be successful and effective, we recommend three important items when getting started: planning time, synchronous and asynchronous planning throughout the week, and strategically dividing up the labor while co-teaching.
In co-teaching, dedicated planning time is essential for success, serving as the backbone of a well-executed co-taught classroom. All district and school leaders implementing co-teaching need to ensure common planning time exists during the school day. These in-person synchronous planning times. To ensure planning spans throughout the week, we also recommend asynchronous planning and administrative time, which is time dedicated to work towards the co-teaching classroom but can be done independently by each co-teacher.
Synchronous and asynchronous planning throughout the week ensures that both teachers are aligned on objectives, teaching methodologies, and student assessments, which is crucial for maintaining a cohesive learning environment. When planning synchronously, co-teachers can instantly share feedback and adapt lesson plans in real-time, which fosters dynamic planning that can respond to the immediate needs of students. Asynchronous planning, using tools like Google Docs or Microsoft Word Online, allows co-teachers to contribute at their convenience throughout the week as well as update based on student performance in their lessons, ensuring that thoughtful and thorough preparation is put into each lesson without requiring simultaneous scheduling. This flexibility is particularly valuable in addressing diverse student needs and adjusting teaching as insights are gained about student progress and engagement.
An upfront investment in planning how to divide the labor in the co-teaching partnership can yield significant benefits. Initially, this involves determining who is better suited for particular roles, content areas, administrative duties (grading, communicating with families, and more), and acknowledging each teacher’s strengths and preferences. Over time, this division of responsibilities will likely need recalibration as each co-teacher becomes more familiar with their students and with each other’s teaching styles. Regular check-ins to discuss what is working and what isn’t can lead to adjustments that enhance the co-teaching strategy, making the teaching more effective and efficient.
Moving Forward
Co-teaching can provide equitable and inclusive opportunities for students. It can also be utilized for many different programs to support student learning. With two educators in a classroom, it can open up many doors. However, it must be done strategically and systems must also be in place for it to be effective. This post aimed to help you as a co-teaching partnership, school, or district learn the basics to get started. Whether you are implementing it for your Special Education, English Language Development, ESL, CTE program, or within university courses, it CAN be done and WE look forward to supporting you along the way. More posts on co-teaching will follow in the future as we progress through 2024!
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions – additionally, feel free to post your experience co-teaching below!