The Keys to successful co-teaching Allie South

What is co-teaching? Involves two equally-qualified individuals who may or may not have the same area of expertise jointly delivering instruction to a group of students.

Different types of CO-teaching One member of the team takes the lead role and the other member rotates among students to provide support Supportive Co-teaching Support personnel and the classroom teacher instruct different heterogeneous groups of students Parallel Co-teaching A member of the co-teaching team does something to supplement or complement the instruction provided by the other member of the team Complementary Co-teaching The members of the team co-teach along side one another and share responsibility for planning, teaching, and assessing the progress of all students in the class Team Teaching

How are co-teaching strategies similar? Two or more co-teachers in the classroom Capitalizes on specific strengths and expertise of co-teachers Provides greater teacher/student ratio and brings additional 1-1 support for students in the classroom All approaches have benefits and cautions associated with their use Students are heterogeneously grouped by mixed abilities and interests Shared responsibilities requires trust, communication, planning time, and coordination of effort

What are potential problems with co-teaching? Supportive Co-Teaching: Staying in the supportive role, due to lack of planning time Ineffective use of expertise Parallel Co-Teaching: Noise level can become uncomfortably high when numerous activities are occurring in the same room Failing to adequately prepare other co-teachers to ensure they deliver instruction as intended, since you cannot monitor each other while you are simultaneously teaching

Continued…. Complementary Co-Teaching: Team Teaching: Not monitoring the students who need it Failing to plan for “role release,” so all co-teachers get to teach the content Team Teaching: Too much teacher talk, repetition, and lack of student- student instruction

6 steps for success Establish Rapport Get to know each other on a personal level before students arrive What things do you have in common? Are you married? Children? Hobbies? Identify your teaching styles and use them to create a cohesive classroom How do you manage behaviors? What are your discipline styles? Discuss strengths and weaknesses How can you utilize each instructor’s strengths and weaknesses?

6 steps to success continued… Discuss Individualized Education Plans and regular education goals The special and regular education teacher can then work together in meeting the student’s goals and ensuring adequate progress Formulate a plan of action and act as a unified team Consider the following items in your plan of action: Scheduling, expected classroom behaviors, classroom procedures, grading, communication between home and school Take risks and grow Learn from each other, and grow as professionals

Co-teaching is/is not Co-Teaching Is……. Co-Teaching Is Not….. Shared decision making Collaboration Inclusion Shared leadership All teachers responsible for all students One teach, One observe Effective teaching One teach- one sit One teach- one prepare materials Teacher and paraeducator Tutoring When the ideas of one person prevail

Characteristics that play a part in compatibility Communication Flexibility Shared common philosophy Clear definition of roles and responsibilities

Compatibility Principal Co-Teacher Co-Teacher

References http://www.nea.org/tools/6-steps-to-successful-co-teaching.html http://www.teachhub.com/effective-co-teaching-strategies