Co-teaching strategies that work | Edutopia

As teachers, we have many responsibilities and must meet the needs of diverse students. Sometimes this can seem like a difficult task. I remember myself as a new teacher, not realizing all the additional responsibilities of teaching and wondering how I was going to get all these things done and be an effective teacher.

The answer to my question was collaboration in the form of co-teaching. True co-teaching is more than just two adults in a room: it is where roles and responsibilities in the classroom are shared between two teachers. Co-teaching would allow my students to receive more adult support when working independently, and content could be differentiated in small groups to make complex content more accessible. I had someone to brainstorm, plan, and problem solve with, and having two of us in the class made it easier to manage our students.

When a truly collaborative environment is created among teachers, the daunting task of teaching becomes much more achievable. The teaching team must ensure that they have shared responsibility, shared routines and shared pedagogy. When both teachers have the same vision in these three areas, we really have what we need to create an effective co-teaching environment.

The most challenging parts of co-teaching take place right after the start of the year. This is when we wrap up our community building activities and complete our baseline testing for the year. During this time, as we get through our first two blocks of content, we sometimes see the problematic aspects of co-teaching. This is the time when we need to ensure that responsibilities within the classes are also shared.

We dive into the content and know that assignments must be scored and assessed. During this time, it is important that both teachers have a say in academic expectations. Common expectations can come from working together to co-create the success criteria for the assessment or grade evaluations. When teachers grade their assignments together, it is essential to look at how each teacher grades the student’s work. Teachers must agree on what they expect from students’ work. This way, expectations for the work are consistent regardless of which group of students the teachers are working with. This is also an excellent time for both teachers to provide feedback to all students. This ensures that students see both teachers as equal teachers in the classroom.

As we work together to manage a classroom, we need to review our teaching routines to ensure we are on the same page. This doesn’t mean we have to recreate the classroom management wheel, but both teachers need to be on the same page about how our classroom will function. Both instructors should review behavior management procedures so that each instructor feels comfortable praising or correcting all students.

The team must be on the same page about behavioral expectations so that the message to students is coherent. The co-teaching team can create common phrases so that students can hear a similar message. Sharing classroom functions can be complex for some classroom teachers who believe they will be giving up some autonomy over how their classrooms should be managed. The idea behind sharing classroom management is not to take away one teacher’s ownership of the classroom, but to share ownership equally. Both teachers need to understand how the space will work to ensure a standard set of expectations.

Another part of sharing routines is how the space and materials are laid out. As a team, ensure that the layout of the room is conducive to co-teaching. Michael Ralph has some great ideas about creating a collaborative classroom. Some of the best forms of co-teaching occur during station and parallel teaching. This means that both instructors need groups somewhere so that they are not on top of each other and can work through their portion of the lessons without disturbing each other.

Collaborating on what this will look like is a good time to make sure both teachers know where the materials are and how they should be organized. This way, if a student needs materials, both teachers know where they are and can help the student without interrupting the teaching that is taking place with the other group. This is a small step, but if done correctly, it will create an efficient classroom environment.

The next step for the teaching team will be to ensure that we have the same view of our pedagogy. Throughout the year, especially at the beginning of a new unit, both teachers should assess what needs to be taught and plan together how to present it to the students. As teachers, we all have strengths in our content areas. Use this to your advantage and be transparent about it with students.

Students have similar views on certain content areas. This can be used to build connections with them. Knowing that we all have strengths and challenges when it comes to content can help students instill a growth mindset and encourage them to try challenging content. As you create the small groups in which you will work, you can divide the lesson so that one group is more of a support strategy and the other is more content-oriented, depending on your expertise.

For example, if the teachers were teaching a math lesson on multiplication strategies, the students could be split according to their needs. Some students might work in a small group with more concrete materials to review the lesson, while others might work on more abstract strategies or be given extension activities to move into higher-order thinking.

Two of the best forms of co-teaching are parallel teaching and station teaching. Here both teachers can divide the class according to the needs of the students. Group sizes are split so that students receive more adult support. With station teaching, we can break down each station so that they are differentiated and work on what students need most.

Co-teaching is a delicate balance between the two teachers who will run a classroom together. Working together to have a shared vision of routines, pedagogy and responsibilities creates a truly collaborative environment. This benefits all of our students, from our struggling students to our top achievers. Sharing these ideas and working together balances the teachers’ workload. Consistently working to align these shared ideas will help both teachers and students succeed in the classroom.