Sometimes I wonder if people with Type A personalities become teachers or if you morph into Type A because you are a teacher. My fifth year teaching 2nd grade, I was approached by my administrators and told I would be teaching ENL students therefore the ENL teacher would be pushing into my classroom every day. My principal insisted that a more inclusive structure and collaboration among teachers was more impactful on student learning and we needed to do this.

What do you mean I had to have another teacher in the classroom every day? I usually get good feedback-Did they think I was doing a bad job and they’re sending someone in to spy on me? Would I have to change the way I do things even though this is what works for me and my students? Are we going to get along? I had so many thoughts running through my head and I’m a little ashamed to say that most of them were initially negative. After letting it marinate for a little and talking (ok, complaining) about it I decided I needed to get over it and figure out how to make it work. 

Looking back, it was silly for me to be so worried about it right from the beginning. It was such a GREAT experience having a teammate in there with me. How many times do we talk about how isolating teaching can be and how we wish we could share some of these moments with someone else? THIS was the opportunity to have that. We were denied our request for some professional development at the time so took it upon ourselves to read a little about different co-teaching models we could use. We changed things up, we were BOTH responsible for students’ challenges and successes, we created systems that worked for both of us, we both delivered the instruction, we did tons of small group work and even had FUN. As far as we were concerned, gone were the days of standalone teaching and definitely FAREWELL to one-teach/one assist!

Below are the four most highly preferred co-teaching models that will allow you and your partner to achieve parity in your co-teaching relationship and will lead to greater success for all your students, while avoiding the “one teach/one assist” pitfall!

Station Teaching is small group, non-sequential, activities that take place simultaneously; two groups are teacher directed, and the rest are independent.  Students rotate through all stations in heterogeneous groups.  

• Station teaching enables you to plan easily even if you are limited on planning time together. Once you know what you want to cover for the lesson- the objective(s) and grouping- you can plan your stations separately. 

• A good place to start is by using stations for introductory lessons or review-although stations can be used to deliver new material as well

• You can have more than 3 stations

• You can stretch your stations out over multiple days

• Stations can be used for all subject areas

• Group strategically based on personality, goals and needs

• All stations can be centered around one subject or each one can be about different content

• Leveled work can be split into folders for students to encourage independence while you work with other students  

• It is critical that you practice the routines and expectations in order for stations to run smoothly (they probably won’t be at first and that is okay!!!)

• Some activity ideas for each specific subject can be but are not limited to:

• Science-experiments, journaling, technology, flashcards/other study strategies, games, extra help, vocabulary, videos

• Social Studies- Reading passages, Q&A work, technology, exploration (using primary resources, etc.), videos, graphic organizers, projects, current events, vocabulary

• Literacy- leveled reading passages, technology (leveled or not), short responses, drawing responses, strategy groups, word work

• Math- games, manipulatives, (independent) practice, extra help, enrichment work, introduce new skills, technology, problem solving, “create your own” word problems/equations, vocabulary, computation work

• Independent/miscellaneous- Catch up on unfinished assignments, cut & paste, tactile stations (for younger or students with special needs), coloring, drawing, peer discussion, sorting, matching, intentional play, motor skills, art, games, technology, research

Parallel Teaching is when the class is split into two heterogeneous groups and each teacher instructs one group regarding the same material.  Teachers can use their unique teaching style and strategies to instruct their group.  Both groups need to have met the same objectives.

• In an effort to utilize heterogeneous grouping, I suggest planning your lessons first and then place the students into the group that they would find the most success in. 

• Similarly to stations, you can plan your groups separately once you establish what needs to be covered

• Parallel teaching can be used for any subject area

• Below are some ideas for how to differentiate the lessons for each group while still teaching the same content:

• vary types of graphic organizers each group uses

• partnerships vs. more independent activities

• teacher-led vs. emphasis on student discussion

• read aloud vs. independent reading

• writing vs. drawing (within the delivery of the lesson and/or what students produce)

• visuals used can be different, in addition to the amount used throughout the lesson

• varied level of prompts can be introduced to students

• showing videos- for example, one group may be given prompts to stop and discuss with their peers while the other group may have a whole group discussion facilitated by the teacher

• types of manipulatives used may vary

• various strategies and/or entry points within each group

• Scaffolding for students will look different from group to group

Alternative Teaching is when one teacher takes a small group for pre-teaching, re-teaching, reinforcement or enrichment, while the other teacher works with the rest of the class. The group’s members, purpose, and teacher changes on a regular basis.  

• This model is used for short periods of time before or after the whole group lesson

• The rest of the class should not be learning something new so that the small group doesn’t miss critical instruction

• Alternative teaching can be used for : 

• Vocabulary work

• repetition of specific skills

•  going over directions

• mindfulness exercises 

• previewing key information needed for understanding

• enrichment work 

Team Teaching is when both teachers are equally responsible for delivering the instruction at the same time to all of the students. This is used more frequently with upper grades however there are appropriate times for this model to be used in lower grades as well. Typically, team teaching is useful at the beginning of a lesson to go over expectations, directions, and answer questions; or at the closing of a lesson to debrief. Because it does not lend itself to small group work, it is not used as often as some of the other co-teaching models.

There is no doubt that when trying something new, it can be very overwhelming. I encourage you to take baby steps! Although there are a number of co-teaching models that you should try, pick 1 to start. If you feel your students would really benefit from station teaching, for example, pick one day a week that you will use stations. Pick a subject area that will be the least stressful to plan for and give it a try! Even if it doesn’t work out how you envisioned the first time, you will get a lot of information about what to continue for next time and what needs to be done differently. Whatever you do, don’t give up!

If you would like more information about how we can help support CO-TEACHING practices in your school or district, go to our website www.cmdi.us to set up a free discovery call.