Co-Teaching can be an effective way to assist student teachers as they try to adjust to life in the classroom. Educational consultant Shannon Holden describes the six types of Co-Teaching scenarios, and how they can be used to give novices a better preparation for teaching.

1. Transitioning From College
to the Classroom Using
Co-Teaching Programs
Presenter:
Shannon J. Holden
Republic R-III Schools

2. Overview of Today’s Session
• What is Co-Teaching?
• How was Co-Teaching first used?
• How school districts are using Co-Teaching
now
• Isn’t Co-Teaching Expensive?

3. Overview of Today’s Session
• Six types of Co-Teaching
• Advantages/Disadvantages of each
• How Co-Teaching keeps teachers in the
profession

4. What is Co-Teaching?
• Co-Teaching is otherwise known as
Collaborative Team Teaching – a strategy
where two instructors split teaching
responsibilities in an attempt to differentiate
instruction & engage students in the material
being taught

5. How was Co-Teaching first used?
• Co-Teaching was first used in the Special
Education department

6. How is Co-Teaching Being Used Today?
• School districts are working with Universities
to structure their student-teaching programs
• School districts are using Co-Teaching to
induct and train new teachers

7. Why is This Necessary?
• Traditional pre-service teacher training
programs are ineffective
• Traditional novice-teacher induction
programs (mentoring, etc.) are not effective
• Almost half of all novice teachers do not
make it five years in the classroom

8. Student Teaching in the “Olden Days”
• Cooperating teacher volunteered to mentor a
student teacher in order to “take a break”
from teaching
• Cooperating teacher handed classes to
student teacher – then left the room
• The rationale was that the student teacher
needed to be alone to “establish herself” as
the authority figure in the classroom

9. Isn’t Co-Teaching Expensive?
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Yes, Co-Teaching IS expensive
You are lowering the teacher-student ratio
Extra teachers will need to be hired
What is the alternative?
– Unprepared teachers are costly as well!

10. The Costs of Unprepared Teachers
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High teacher turnover
Poor instruction
Lower standardized test scores
Increase in number of lawsuits
Increase of time spent by administrators
remediating under-trained staff

11. Six Types of Co-Teaching
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One Teach, One Observe
One Teach, One Assist
Station Teaching (Rotational Teaching)
Parallel Teaching
Alternative Teaching
Tag Team (Traditional Co-Teaching)

12. Six Types of Co-Teaching
• Each type of Co-Teaching has its “Pros” and
“Cons”
• As a novice teacher, listen to the
descriptions of each type of Co-Teaching
• Think to yourself “Which type of Co-Teaching
would help me grow the most?”

13. One Teach, One Observe
• One teacher (usually the stronger of the two)
does all of the teaching
• The other teacher floats or observes the class

14. One Teach, One Observe (Pros)
• Minimal coordination or collaboration is
necessary
• Allows the stronger teacher to deliver highquality lessons without interruption
• Can conceal the weaknesses of the weaker
partner in a particular subject area

15. One Teach, One Observe (Cons)
• Does not fully utilize each teacher
• Can create an authority problem for the
observing teacher if done regularly
• Can create contempt or frustration from the
lead teacher if used too often (unless it is by
mutual choice)

16. One Teach, One Assist
• One teacher instructs while the other teacher
manages behavior or assists individual
students as needed
• In my school, this is the prevalent format for
our Class Within a Class (CWC)

17. One Teach, One Assist (Pros)
• Allows a strong teacher to deliver lessons
without interruption

18. One Teach, One Assist (Cons)
• Does not make full use of two teachers
• Can result in establishing the assisting
teacher as the disciplinarian (which may lead
to negative student feelings towards that
particular teacher)

19. One Teach, One Assist
• Beware of a situation where a co-teacher
hovers over a specific student or group of
students – stigmatizing both the students and
the co-teacher
• Beware of one teacher becoming the
photocopier or in-class paper grader instead
of instructor
• Beware of resentment because of the
unequal status of the teachers

20. Station Teaching (Rotational Teaching)
• Each teacher is responsible for a particular
portion of the lesson (or a different lesson
entirely)
• Students are divided into two or more groups
• The students travel from station to station, or
the teacher may travel from group to group in
order to present their portion of the lesson

21. Station Teaching (Pros)
• Each teacher can plan independently for a
lesson that fits their strength
• Each student is exposed to similar material,
but groups can be differentiated by level
• Makes good use of both teachers for
management purposes

22. Station Teaching (Cons)
• Requires good timing between the two
teachers, which will take practice
• Requires management of students as they
work independently
• Depending on your classroom space, may
be logistically difficult

23. Parallel Teaching
• The class is split in half, and each teacher
presents the same material (lesson)

24. Parallel Teaching (Pros)
• More individualized instruction/attention due
to a smaller group
• Can provide control for socially-based
behavior problems between students

25. Parallel Teaching (Cons)
• Also requires excellent timing, which will
require practice
• Requires collaborative planning, which will
take time
• Requires each teacher to be equally strong in
the material being presented

26. Parallel Teaching
• Beware of creating a special class within the
class and lowering student achievement by
homogeneously grouping lower performing
students together
• Keep the noise at acceptable levels (difficult
when multiple activities are happening at the
same time)

27. Alternative Teaching
• One teacher teaches a lesson to the larger
group of students
• One teacher teaches a different lesson to a
smaller group of students

28. Alternative Teaching (Pros)
• Provides excellent differentiation
opportunities
• Provides opportunities for remediation and
enrichment for those who need it
• Can provide behavior control in the smaller
group setting

29. Alternative Teaching (Cons)
• Must not categorize one group of students by
constantly putting them together
• May reduce the efficacy of inclusion by
separating specific students with special
needs
• May reduce students’ exposure to the
general education curriculum

30. Alternative Teaching
• Beware of one teacher being typecast as the
“expert” or “real teacher”
• Beware of failing to plan for “role reversal” so
that both teachers are able to teach the large
group

31. Tag Team Teaching (Traditional)
• Both teachers plan and deliver lessons
together, with each teacher equally
responsible for the material in the lesson
• This can occur either spontaneously or
scripted

32. Tag Team Teaching (Pros)
• A great way to model a respectful working
relationship between two adults
• Allows both teachers to give their input on
specific topics
• Can allow the teaching of two ideas or
strategies at the same time
• Promotes respect for both teachers in the
team

33. Tag Team Teaching (Cons)
• Requires a rapport between the two teachers
that cannot be rushed or faked
• Requires meticulous planning as a team,
which takes a lot of time and effort

34. Potential Problems
• Beware of not monitoring the students who
need it
• Beware of too much teacher talk, repetition,
and lack of student-student interaction

35. For ANY of These Models to Succeed,
Both Teachers Must:
• Establish rapport
• Identify your teaching styles and use them to
create a cohesive classroom
• Discuss strengths & weaknesses

36. For ANY of These Models to Succeed,
Both Teachers Must:
• Discuss Individualized Education Plan (IEP) &
regular education goals
• Formulate a plan of action and act as a
unified team
• Take risks and grow!

37. How Co-Teaching Keeps
Teachers in the Profession
• Co-Teaching results in student teachers
being better prepared to embark on their
teaching career
• Co-Teaching results in new hires being
inducted the correct way

38. How Co-Teaching Keeps
Teachers in the Profession
• Co-Teaching invigorates veteran teachers by
exposing them to fresh ideas
• Co-Teaching takes antiquated “Mentoring”
programs to a whole new level

39. How Co-Teaching Keeps
Teachers in the Profession
• Co-Teaching provides a higher level of
instruction for students
• Co-Teaching provides opportunities for
educators to form professional relatonships
that last a lifetime

40. Possible Uses of Co-Teaching
• Student Teacher is “Teacher A”
• Cooperating Teacher is “Teacher B”
• See next slide for possible co-teaching
schedule

41. Possible Uses of Co-Teaching
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Week 1 – One Teach (B), One Observe (A)
Week 2 – One Teach (B), One Assist (A)
Week 3 – Station Teaching (A & B)
Week 4 – Parallel Teaching (A & B)
Week 5 – One Teach (A), One Assist (B)

42. Possible Uses of Co-Teaching
• Week 6 – One Teach (A), One Observe (B)
• Week 7 – Traditional Co-Teaching
• Teacher A & Teacher B alternate topics during lesson
• Week 8 – Teacher A (Solo)

43. The Combinations are Endless!
• The preceding slides are just an example of
the ways each co-teaching type can be
utilize to help student teachers learn
• Each student teacher is unique, and
schedules could be individualized if needed