Co-Teaching

Co-Teaching : 

Co-Teaching Shelly Foster SPED. 590 New Mexico State University

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Co- Teachers are jointly committed to “Our” students, not “Yours” and “Mine”

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Defining Co-teaching “Co”, as a prefix, has multiple meanings. In an educational context, “co-” means “together, jointly, mutually. Thus the term - Co-Teaching occurs when two or more professionals jointly deliver instruction to a diverse, or blended, group of students in a single physical space.

Co-Teaching Is: : 

Co-teaching requires specialized knowledge and skills for both general and special education teachers. Co-teachers should be confident in their ability to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Co-teaching incorporates meaningful roles for the general and the special education teacher. Co-teaching provides for a wider range of instructional alternatives than would be possible with just one teacher. Co-Teaching Is:

Co-Teaching Is, continued : 

A partnership between the general education teacher and the special education teacher. Increases individualized programming for all students. An opportunity to increase Differentiated Instruction that benefits all students. An opportunity to decrease student to staff ratios supporting all learning needs, styles, and ability levels. Allows student with special needs to be educated with their non-disabled peers. Co-Teaching Is, continued

Co-Teachers:A partnership between the curriculum specialist and the learning specialist : 

Co-Teachers:A partnership between the curriculum specialist and the learning specialist

Co – Teaching is Not : 

Co – Teaching is Not Always having two teachers in the front of the room. The Special Education teacher being present only in the role of an assistant. Taking the place of self-contained classrooms. Using the Special education teachers as the “behavior police.”

Benefits of Co-Teaching : 

Benefits of Co-Teaching Advantages for the General Education Teacher: Learning opportunities that reach all students. More time to focus on content. More time to learn, share and use learning strategies. Two times the opportunity to assist All students, regardless of ability or disability. Support for students who need organizational strategies. Peer pressure for appropriate behavior-negative behaviors are decreased. Professional growth. Advantages for the Special Education Teacher: Teaching with a content area expert and learning the expectations of the general education classroom. Assisting students in developing motivation, and responsibility for their own learning. Have more opportunities to use learning strategies within content areas. Partnership with a colleague in support of student IEP goals. Improved student behaviors Mutual learning and appreciation for each teacher’s expertise.

Questions to discuss between co-teachers before class begins. : 

Questions to discuss between co-teachers before class begins. How will we plan? When will we plan? Will we keep one planning book or two? How will we set up the classroom? How will we both work with all students? How will we handle discipline? There are many other questions that will be unique to each situation and to every teacher.

Effective Co – Planning Tips : 

Effective Co – Planning Tips Co – Planning should start from the perspective of the learner. Set up a scheduled time to co-plan and stick to it. Map out the unit in advance on a calendar. Zoom in on specific co-taught lessons that need a lot of planning time. Vary your co-teaching methods or models. Let the curriculum drive what co-teaching arrangements make sense for a given lesson. Schedule in your co-planning time before anything else. Send each other your ideas in advance. Try to plan for two weeks at a time. Review your plans weekly and make adjustments as necessary. If you do not co-plan ….you can not co-teach

Five Classroom Strategies for Co-TeachingOne Teach, One ObservesAlternative TeachingParallel TeachingStation TeachingTeam Teaching : 

Five Classroom Strategies for Co-TeachingOne Teach, One ObservesAlternative TeachingParallel TeachingStation TeachingTeam Teaching

One Teach – One Observes : 

One teacher leads the lesson and one teacher observes and assists the students. Consider having the general educator and the special educator alternate roles between support teacher and lead teacher. One Teach – One Observes

One Teach, One Observes : 

Strengths: Limited teacher planning Provides basic support to students with diverse needs Affords observation of how a lesson is taught by another educator. Challenges: The “assist” teacher may feel like a glorified teacher’s assistant Students may question the “assist” teacher’s authority Poor utilization of staff One Teach, One Observes

Alternative Teaching : 

One teacher works with a large group of students while the other teacher is working with a small group of students. Small groups can be pulled for pre-teaching, re-teaching, enrichment, interest groups, special projects, make-up work or assessment groups Alternative Teaching Strengths: All students, benefit from small group instruction. When general and special education teachers alternate roles, equal status is maintained. Challenges: Being careful when pulling groups of students. The main learning groups should not always be our students with Special Needs

Parallel Teaching : 

The class is divided in half. Both teachers plan instruction jointly and are teaching the same lesson at the same time to heterogeneous groups. Parallel Teaching Strengths: Lower student to teacher ratio. Allows for increased student interaction and/or student to student interaction Challenges: General Educator and Special Educator need to coordinate teaching so that students receive essentially the same instruction within the same amount of time.

Station Teaching : 

Teachers divide instructional content into several segments and present the content in separate stations around the classroom. With two stations, the General educator and the Special educator each teach their half of the content and then switch groups. Both teachers may move between groups in order to provide support. If students are able to work independently with content, a third station may be established. Station Teaching

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Strengths: Professional engagement Increased instructional intensity Individualized instruction Station Teaching Challenges: Pacing students work Students need to work independently Noise level

Team Teaching : 

Team Teaching Both the general educator and the special educator share in the instruction of all students. One teacher may lead the discussion while the other models or demonstrates. Team teaching affords the ability to model quality team and interpersonal interactions.

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Team Teaching

Using the Appropriate Co-Teaching Method : 

When deciding the appropriate co-teaching method to use, remember that there are several variables that you should consider: The content to be covered The learning activities to be used The students’ needs and learning profiles The comfort level of both teachers with the content and activities The classroom arrangements Using the Appropriate Co-Teaching Method

Co-TeachingMeeting the needs of all students : 

Co-TeachingMeeting the needs of all students Recently there has been an increasing emphasis on co-teaching in our schools. Educating students in the least restrictive environment is important. For students with disabilities, placement in the least restrictive environment enhances the achievement of individualized educational plan (IEP) objectives. In order to promote success for students with and without disabilities in general education settings, general and special education teachers need to work together to, Co-teach

Resources : 

Friend, M. (1995). Co-Teaching: Guidelines for Creating Effective Practices. Focus on Exceptional Children. Howard, Lori & Potts, A. Elizabeth (2009). Using Co-Planning Time: Strategies for a Successful Co-Teaching Marriage. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus. Kunkel, Heineman Sonya, Ed.S., (2002), Practical Inclusion: Strategies Grades 6-12: A Training Manual New Mexico Public Education Department: Quarterly Special Education Meeting, April 2004 Sileo, M. Jane (2005). Co-Teaching: Best Practices for Education Weiss, M.P., & Lloyd, J. (2003). Conditions for co-teaching: lessons from a case study, Teacher Education and Special Education, 26(1), 27-41 Villa, A. Richard Dr. (2009). Restructuring for Caring and Effective: The Inclusive School. Ravillabayridge.com Resources