CoTeaching

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Co-Teaching
Ms. Becky Wilson Hawbaker, resource
teacher becky.hawbaker_at_uni.edu Dr. Frank Kohler,
associate professor frank.kohler_at_uni.edu Ms. Kim
Miller, resource teacher kim.miller_at_uni.edu
Special Education Department Price Laboratory
School at the University of Northern Iowa
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The Power of Two

• Co-Teaching is a model for successful
  collaboration between special education and
  general education teachers in order to meet the
  needs of students with diverse learning abilities
  in the general education classroom.

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Heres What You Will Find

• 1. Support Systems In The General
• Education Classroom
• 2. What is Co-Teaching
• 3. Benefits of Co-Teaching
• 4. Models of Co-Teaching
• 5. Conditions for Success
• 6. Co-Planning Using BASE
• 7. Concerns and Considerations
• 8. Resources

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1. Ways to Support Students With Diverse
Learning Needs in the General Education Classroom
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2. What is Co-Teaching?

• Two educators
• Delivering instruction together in the regular
  classroom
• To diverse groups of students
• Accomplished through joint planning and both
  educators delivering instruction in large, small,
  and individual groups.

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3. Benefits of Co-Teaching Teacher
Outcomes

• Student are more accepting of their peers with
  special needs (less stigma and negative
  perceptions).
• Students become active learners through frequent
  interaction and feedback.
• Students benefit through exposure to different
  teaching styles and strategies.
• Cohesive programming occurs when connections are
  made between students individual needs and the
  regular classroom curriculum.
• Individualization of instruction increases.

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3. Benefits of Co-Teaching Teacher Outcomes

• Its more fun when you teach with someone.
• Collegial relationships are created along with
  professional development.
• Resources are shared.
• Management strategies are more consistent with
  frequent feedback.
• Individualization of instruction is fostered with
  multiple views of the students.

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4. Models of Co-Teaching

• One Teaching, One Assisting
• Station Teaching
• Parallel Teaching
• Alternative Teaching
• Team Teaching
• Adapted from Cook Friend (1996). CEC Today,
  Sept. 1996, vol. 29, no. 1

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One Teaching, One Assisting One educator takes a
lead in providing instruction, while the other
monitors the classroom for management and
understanding and assists individual students as
needed. This is the simplest approach because it
requires very little planning or coordination
between the two teachers. However, the teacher
who assumes the assisting role may not be
utilizing their full teaching skills and may feel
like a glorified teaching assistant. This makes
it critical for the teachers to share in the
roles of teaching and assisting.
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Station Teaching Teachers divide the
instructional content into two or more segments
and present this content at separate locations
(stations) in the classroom. Each teacher takes
responsibility for one station and a third might
be created for students to work
independently. This arrangement requires a clear
division of labor, as each teacher is responsible
for planning and teaching their part of the
content. This separating of instruction can
increase the comfort level of inexperienced
co-teachers. Students can benefit from the
reduced teacher-pupil ratio and be exposed to a
wider range of experiences as they move from
station to station.
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Parallel Teaching Teachers plan the instruction
jointly, but each delivers it to a part of the
class. The teachers do not exchange groups. The
teachers address the same content, but may
address different learning goals and levels of
understanding. This approach requires that the
teachers coordinate their efforts so that all
students receive exposure to the same general
content and information. Group composition may
vary from mixed to same ability, depending on
students needs and the goal of the lesson.
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Alternative Teaching One teacher selects a group
of students who require instruction that is
different from the other class members. There is
little collaboration in planning and delivering
instruction. Alternative teaching can be used
for a variety of purposes, including preteaching,
additional review, reteaching, conducting
authentic assessments, teaching students to use
learning strategies, etc. This arrangement may
lead to stigmatization and negative attitudes of
students if students with learning difficulties
are taught in the same heterogeneous group.
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Team Teaching Co-teachers share in the process
of instructing all students, whether that occurs
in large group, monitoring students working
independently, or facilitating groupwork. This
arrangement requires the highest degree of
collaboration and trust between the co-teachers.
It also requires that the two teachers are able
to mesh or blend their teaching styles. Overall,
this model can be the most rewarding both for the
teachers and the students. For specific video
examples see www.intime.uni.edu, Craig Saddler
and Kim Miller video, 2000
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Each of the models of co-teaching can be
effective in different classroom situations.
Co-teachers have to determine which arrangement
best suits the needs of their students in a
particular situation. The models are meant to be
flexible and used interchangeably. For
specific video examples see The Power of Two
(videos) Exceptional Children 1-888-232-7733 www
.powerof2.org (web site)
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5. Conditions for Success

• Start Small - Choose teachers that you know you
  can work with. Change is a process that occurs
  over time - not in one year.
• Be A Collaborator - Develop and maintain trust.
  Believe in the benefits of co-teaching and work
  together as a team. Use each others strengths.
• Group Students Together - Students who would
  benefit most from co-teaching are placed
  together. Upcoming classes are grouped in the
  spring with the input of the classroom teacher,
  special education teacher, guidance counselor,
  and principal. Classes are carefully balanced as
  to not overload teachers.

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5. Conditions for Success

• Co-Planning Time - This occurs according to your
  own individual situation common planning time
  during the school day, before school/during
  lunch/after school, early release days, special
  education teacher sees students four days a week
  and the fifth day is spent planning with
  teachers, substitute teacher is hired so special
  education teacher can be released to plan
• Co-Planning Using The Base Model - Planning needs
  to be efficient and foster long term results.
  Specific steps need to be in place to create the
  best learning possible.

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6. Co-Planning Using BASE

• Big Ideas
• Analyze the difficulties
• Strategies
• Evaluation
• Hawbaker, B., Balong, M. (2001). Building a
  strong base of support for all students through
  coplanning. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 33(4),
  24-30.
• BASE article online http//journals.cec.sped.org/
  EC/Archive_Articles/VOL.33NO.4MARAPR2001_TEC_Artic
  le4.pdf

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Co-Planning

• Co-teaching and
• Team planning
• Teachers share in curricular decisions and
  pedagogy
• All teachers share teaching responsibilities in
  the classroom

• Team planning
• Teachers share in curricular decisions and
  pedagogy
• All teachers use BASE process for unit planning

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Big Ideas

• Big Ideas are those that represent major
  organizing principles, have rich explanatory and
  predictive power, help frame significant
  questions, and are applicable in many situations
  and contexts. (Carnine, Dixon, and Silbert 1998,
  p.95)
• What are the major concepts/skills in the unit
  that ALL students must learn?
• What are the major concepts/skills that will be
  most important in students future?
• Prioritize concepts and skills using The Planning
  Pyramid (Schumm, Vaughn, Harris, 1997)
• Time needed is approximately 30 minutes.

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Analyze the Difficulties

• What concepts/skills are likely to cause all
  students difficulty?
• What concepts/skills are likely to cause special
  needs students difficulty?
• What concepts/skills have caused difficulties for
  students in the past?
• Time needed is approximately 10-15 minutes.

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Strategies

• Strategies go beyond explaining by giving
  students a structure to understand and remember
  the concept/skill
• Create a list of preferred strategies
• Decide which strategy type would best teach each
  area of difficulty
• Assign team members the task of creating
  strategies
• Time needed is approximately 10-15 minutes
  (discussion time)

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Learning Strategies

• Acronym
• Rhyme/Song
• Movement
• Storytelling/Drama
• Key Word Picture
• Alternative Algorithm
• Scaffolding
• Extra Prompt
• Manipulatives
• Analogy

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Assessment Strategies

• Accommodated assignment
• (Three levels of assignments)
• Accommodated assessments
• Alternative assessments

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Evaluation Did the process adequately support
student learning?

• Consider student performance data (Assignments,
  Quizzes/Tests, Projects, Presentations, Weekly
  Progress Reports)
• Ask,
• Were the big ideas identified accurately?
• Were the areas of difficulty predicted
  accurately?
• Were the strategies successful in teaching the
  material?
• Were the strategies effective and efficient for
  students and teachers?
• What would we do differently next time?

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Other Co-Planning Links http//www.ascd.org/train
ingopportunities/ossd/collaborativeplanning.html A
ssociation for Supervision and Curriculum
Development website, includes a page on
collaborative planning, with hints on how to get
started and links to other resources. http//www.
stanford.edu/dept/SUSE/csrn/features/collaboration
/ Stanford University School Redesign Network
site on collaborative planning, includes info on
how to get time to plan, sample schedules, links
to schools that use collaborative planning, and
links to other resources.
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Concerns and Considerations

• Number of Students That We Serve
• Building the Comfort Zone with Another Teacher
  and Establishing a Safe Working Environment
• Scheduling
• Defining Mutually Beneficial Roles in the
  Co-Teaching Relationship

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Great discoveries and achievements invariably
involves the cooperation of many minds-Alexander
Graham Bell
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Resources Back To Home Cook,
L., Friend, M. (Nov 1995). Co-teaching
Guidelines for creating effective practices.
Focus on Exceptional Children, 28(3),
1-16. Dieker, L., Barnett, C. (Sept/Oct 1996).
Effective co-teaching. Teaching Exceptional
Children, 1-7. Elliot, D., McKenney, M.
(Mar/Apr 1998). Four inclusion models that work
Consultation, team teaching, aide services, and
limited pullout services. Teaching Exceptional
Children, 54-58. Gately, S., Gately, F.
(Mar/Apr 2001). Understanding coteaching
components. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33(4),
40-47. Langerock, N. (Nov/Dec 2000). A passion
for action research Collaboration in an
inclusive classroom. Teaching Exceptional
Children, 33(2), 26-34. Weerstra, S. (Sept/Oct
1997). All students can learn. Learning, 56
59. Walther-Thomas, C., Brysant, M., Land, S.
(July 1996). Planning for effective
co-teaching The key to successful inclusion.
Remedial and Special Education, 17(4),
255-Cover 3. Vaughn, S., Schumm, J.,
Arguelles, M. (Nov/Dec 1997). The ABCDEs of co-
teaching. Teaching Exceptional Children, 4-10.
http//www.intime.uni.edu - web site developed
by UNI that showcases 50 teachers of all grades
and areas using technology within best practices
of education