Co-teaching is defined as two teachers working together in a shared physical classroom to plan, organize, teach, and assess students. The two teachers are the main teacher and the co-teacher. It’s a wonderful tool for students to have in the classroom. In the last blog post, “What is Math Co-teaching?”, we learned how students benefit greatly from having not one, but two wonderful math teachers. Co-teaching doesn’t have to be stressful or overwhelming. Let’s look at the six co-teaching strategies for the classroom.
There are many different approaches to co-teaching math lessons. Here are six of the top co-teaching strategies to try in your classroom. Not all of the strategies have to involve two teachers. Option number five can be done with only one teacher in the classroom.
1. Team Teaching
Both teachers are often in the front of the classroom, sharing the responsibilities of lead instruction, with equally active, but possibly different roles in a lesson. Pros to this strategy are it can enhance teacher creativity, encourage collaboration, and energize students. Cons to this strategy are it utilizes only whole group instruction and has no options for individualized or group support. It should also be noted that this strategy should be used occasionally as more subtle student needs can be missed when grouping is not being used.
2. Parallel Teaching
Co-teacher and main teacher divide the class in half and instruct them on the same material. Groups do not rotate. Parallel teaching allows the teachers to maximize participation and minimize behavior problems. Pros to this strategy are it reduces the student-teacher ratio and increases instructional intensity. Cons to this strategy are both teachers need to be aware of timing and pacing when using this strategy so that they’re behind or ahead in teaching topics.
3. Alternative Teaching
One teacher manages a large group of students while the other takes a small group for a specific instructional purpose. This approach provides instructional flexibility and can be used for enrichment, remediation, assessment, or pre-teaching, as well as for using alternative methods of providing lesson input. Pros to this strategy are it encourages enrichment or remediation for a certain group of students. Cons to this strategy are it does not benefit students in the middle who are not privy to enrichment or remediation needs.
4. One Teach, One Observe
One teacher acts as the main teacher while the other gathers specific observational information on student learning such as students’ academic, behavioral, and social skills while in the classroom. Pros to this strategy are it informs both teachers of issues that may be going on. Cons to this strategy are it does not allow for the observing teacher to do much else besides observe. It should also be noted that this strategy is only meant to be used occasionally, not every day.
5. Station Teaching
Co-teachers divide their class into small groups to provide instruction at separate stations. Activities should be designed to function independently of each other and require approximately the same amount of time with student groups rotating stations. This approach reduces the student-teacher ratio, increasing student participation and effective monitoring of the students. Pros to this strategy are it increases student participation and engagement. Cons to this strategy are is it allows freedom for students which can cause student behavior issues to arise if classroom management is not effective. It should also be noted that this strategy is only meant to be used occasionally, not every day.
6. One Teach, One Assist
One teacher acts as the main teacher while the other assists and supports the learners. The co-teacher assists by monitoring student work, addressing behavior issues, answering student questions, distributing materials, or asking the lead teacher to clarify any developing student misconceptions. Pros to this strategy are it supports the main teacher role and supports the students more. Cons to this strategy are it does not allow the co-teacher to teach or lead, but rather assist. For newer teachers that want to lead or teach a classroom this can be a sore point. Make sure to have your co-teacher included in lesson planning and ideas of how to instruct the students too.
Co-Teacher Tasks
A math co-teacher is a support teacher in the classroom. They have many tasks. They can teach students in whole group or small groups. They help students and extend support when the main teacher is busy or otherwise engaged teaching and assisting other students. Duties can be shared with the co-teacher such as planning, organizing, teaching, and assessing students. The co-teacher provides extra support and assistance for students. Particularly students with individualized educational plans that need special assistance. The co-teacher walks around the classroom and monitors students to aide in instruction and practice of math skills.
When going through the process of co-teaching you may want advice for how it can run more smoothly in your classroom.
Here are 7 tips to make co-teaching work.
- Share leadership in the classroom. Show yourself both as leaders in the classroom when it comes to classroom management, teaching, and other tasks. Being able to share leadership in the classroom will strengthen your co-teaching relationship.
- Planning together for co-taught instruction. Make sure you get together and plan once a week for 30 to 60 minutes. Time is something teachers don’t have a lot of, but your co-teaching will thrive if you make an effort to plan together every week just for 30 minutes.
- Respecting and Trusting each other. Both teachers in a co-teaching relationship need to be able to trust each other, even if they have different teaching philosophies or backgrounds. It helps for co-teachers to have a relationship outside of the classroom so there is a strong foundation to build on. Get to know each other’s strengths so you can lean on each other and make the most of your partnership. At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that both teachers are there to support the students.
- Communicating honestly with each other even when it is difficult. Communication is crucial to a successful co-teaching relationship. Expect to meet with your co-teacher for at least one hour per week to make sure you are on the same page about curriculum and student progress. The more communication time you share with your co-teacher, the better.
- Sharing creative ideas and materials with each other. Both of you come to the table with creative ideas for how to teach different math topics. Make sure that you’re sharing respectively and it’s a somewhat equal give and take of materials too. One teacher should not be doing all of it, share the load with each other.
- Coordinating Tasks. This is again another way to make sure not just one teacher is doing everything. Share the responsibilities of planning, organizing, teaching, and assessing students. This was make teaching much easier for both of you.
- Students view both teachers equally. Present yourselves to students and parents as equals from the moment you’re given your class list. Create a united front by using “we” instead of “I” and putting both teachers’ names on all class materials.
GUIDE TO MATH CO-TEACHING
Grab the Guide to Math Co-Teaching Notes for this series today! It’s a 5-part video series about how to co-teach math lessons in the classroom. Each quick 6-minute videos will give you tips, strategies, and resources to develop a co-teaching plan for your classroom. Learn how to use FLIPPED classroom techniques, math video lessons, and more.
Click here for the Guide to Math Co-Teaching Notes and Resources.
