Co-Teaching

1. Co-Teaching Sheryl Baker Mary Wardell

2. Purpose • To discuss pros and cons of co-teaching • To provide clarification of job responsibilities of co-teaching partners. • To understand that a successful co-teaching partnership takes time, honesty and patience • To really believe that both teachers are there for the benefit of the students! (Don’t take things too personally)

3. Co-Teaching Givens • You are a team and partners. • Both teachers have to be able to share, compromise, and negotiate. • You both plan, teach, develop materials, and grade (if finding planning time an issue – it is much harder to do). • You can review each other’s part of the lesson and student handouts. • You must develop a professional relationship. • This takes time and patience to develop.

4. Why do you co-teach? • Because students are more successful in general education classes with co-teachers. • Some of the students in your class are deemed “at risk” or challenged due to educational needs. • Expectations to differentiate instruction are far greater – ex. Accommodations, reformatting of work • Documentation, contact with home, and paperwork is time consuming. • Many times the partners are assigned based on scheduling availability.

5. Accommodations • Both teachers should be aware of them. • Create spreadsheet of students. • Figure out how the accommodations are provided. • Consider switching groups so that one teacher does not always stay with a certain group. • Pass around spread sheet

6. Dealing with Students in the Classroom • Since you are a team, you back each other in front of students, and discuss later. • Students need to see both teachers as credible. • Teachers need to develop an interactive style that both are comfortable with. • You need to communicate with your co-teacher about student interactions (cc. emails, have one communication log to record interactions) • Students will try to divide and conquer the teachers as they do with their parents. • Both teachers need to make phone calls home, make comments on papers, address discipline as well as positive student contributions.

7. Dealing with Parents • Either co-teacher can handle a parent conference. • Both teachers meet jointly with parents on parent conference days. • Both teachers have knowledge of grades and student skill levels. • Both need to have access to aspen and any student paperwork (keep all student paperwork in one binder). • Again…both teachers need to make phone calls home, make comments on papers, address discipline as well as positive student contributions.

8. Benefits • Students and parents have two teachers to contact instead of one. • Sub plans are much easier. • Never a non-learning day because it is very rare when both teachers are out. • Two sets of skill sets to draw from. • The likelihood of the student or teacher disliking the same person is unlikely. • Professionally you can grow as an educator from learning from your partner. • It is easier to make that home to school connection since there are two teachers. • It is easier to get data or cum file info on students because you are two. • Nice to share the experience when dealing with students with challenges, and often times the team approach allows more creativity.

9. Awareness • Content teachers often struggle giving up “their” class to another. • Content teachers have assessment scores reported by their name. • Co-teachers may feel they do not know the content well enough to teach it. • Co-teachers have caseloads; students they are responsible for in terms of monitoring their progress in school. It may involve completing paperwork, attending meetings, or meeting with students that could take them out of the classroom on occasion.

10. We realize… • This can be daunting. • You are building a relationship with the other teacher which takes time and trust. • Get to know your partner as an individual!( where do they live, how long have they been teaching, do they have children? etc) • We do not live in a perfect world.

11. Closing… • Please take a minute and complete the evaluation.