Co-Planning for Co-Teaching

Time-Saving Routines That Work in Inclusive Classrooms (ASCD Arias)

Gloria Lodato Wilson

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781416623182
• eBook ISBN: 9781416623212
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Bildungstheorie & -praxis

How do you ensure that your co-teaching strategies make the most of the time that you and your co-teaching partner have in the classroom? The answer is co-planning, which will dramatically and efficiently increase the effectiveness of your instruction.

In Co-Planning for Co-Teaching, author Gloria Lodato Wilson presents time-saving routines for general and special education teachers that will increase the active roles of each co-teacher and intensify instruction for students. Useful for co-teachers, administrators supervising co-teachers, and pre-service teachers, this book outlines

• how to eliminate the frustration and barriers often associated with co-planning,
• how to maintain the rigor of the coursework,
• how best to address the needs of students, and
• co-planning strategies for meeting IEP goals.

Packed with useful examples for both elementary and secondary co-teachers, Wilson's "behind-the-scenes" guidance helps co-teachers make the most of co-planning time.

Introduction

I love co-teaching but there is hardly any time for us to plan lessons. I'm in two elementary classes each day, a 2nd grade and 4th grade, so it is very difficult to co-plan with the two general education teachers. In addition, I've co-taught 2nd grade before but this is the first year that I am together with the 2nd grade teacher. I've never co-taught 4th grade so I am with a new co-teacher and learning a new curriculum.
—Special Education Co-Teacher, Elementary

I co-teach in 3 biology classes with 3 different general education teachers. Although the curriculum is pretty set, and I've made it my business to learn the content, the 3 teachers have very different styles. I'm able to co-plan with one co-teacher but not the others, so my role in each of the classes is very different. It's impossible to co-plan with 3 teachers.
—Special Education Co-Teacher, Secondary

Instituted to address diverse learning needs of students, inclusive classrooms wherein a general educator and special educator share the teaching duties—that is, co-teach—expanded and evolved throughout the past 20 years. Co-teaching in inclusive classrooms is commonplace in schools in the United States, and co-planning by co-teachers is both complex and time consuming. Often frustrated by lack of time for co-planning, co-teachers frequently over rely on ineffective ways of addressing the needs of students and become overwhelmed and discouraged.

Time-saving routines that both increase the active roles of each co-teacher and intensify instruction for students in inclusive settings make exponential differences in the learning of students. By co-thinking logistics, routines, strategies, and technologies, co-teachers streamline their co-planning and their co-teaching becomes more effective. This book provides co-teachers in inclusive settings, administrators supervising co-teachers, and pre-service teachers substantive suggestions and real-life examples on how co-teachers can co-plan effectively.

Co-Planning: The Key to Successful Co-Teaching

Why is co-planning so essential to successful co-teaching? Co-planning allows the general and special educators to communicate the needs of students in relation to the curriculum and the teaching of daily lessons and tasks. With co-planning, co-teachers realize together how the process of teaching content to students with exceptionalities requires focusing on the potential barriers that impede efficient learning. Co-planning allows co-teachers to find ways to remove the barriers to effective teaching practices while keeping the rigor of the coursework intact, to take the time to decide the big ideas that need to be understood and together make sure that those ideas are propelling lessons, and to create learning environments that support all learners and enable students to succeed. With co-planning, parity between the co-teachers is entrenched in spirit and in reality.

Without co-planning, lessons often remain unchanged, and the needs of diverse learners may not be specifically addressed. Without co-planning, parity between the co-teachers can be illusive and may result in one co-teacher doing the bulk of the planning and teaching. Without co-planning, students with special needs are likely to be underserved and their needs only marginally met.

Making the most of two teachers in an inclusive classroom is intricately aligned to the level of co-planning and an understanding of the appropriateness of each of the five major models of co-teaching routinely incorporated within daily classroom lessons.

Five Co-Teaching Models

Effective co-planning requires an understanding of the five major co-teaching models—one teach/one support; teaming; alternative; parallel; and station. Each model has its place in a co-taught inclusive classroom (Wilson & Blednick, 2011). Co-teachers who analyze and reflect on the models they commonly employ, and who make adjustments to intensify instruction and deepen learning, understand their paired teaching potential. After reflection, co-teachers who are willing to alter their typical practices, which may be more comfortable though not maximally effective, often realize that they can teach more in less time—and that students learn more.

One Teach/One Support

This model of co-teaching, wherein one teacher is primarily responsible for the planning and execution of the lessons while the other co-teacher offers roaming support to students, occasionally interjecting points and assessing student learning, requires very little, if any, co-planning. The one teach/one support model is pervasive in co-taught classes due, in part, to the belief that the roaming teacher is indeed giving students the individual attention needed by noticing confusion and clarifying points. Both co-teachers are actively involved in teaching the students.

However, this "butterfly approach," where one co-teacher briefly interacts with a number of students, is less effective than other co-teaching models in delivering the degree of support needed for diverse learners, can lead to disparate roll identification and workload, and generally undermines the vision of an inclusive classroom where co-teachers deliver intensive instruction to all students. Quantifying the frequency of the use of the one teach/one support model enlightens co-teachers' practice and compels co-teachers to seek other models. If co-teachers find they are using the one teach/one support model the majority of the time, they need to reflect, redirect, and try a co-teaching model that lowers the ratio of students to teachers and enables co-teachers to better assess learning, adjust instruction, and give more students opportunities to respond.

Teaming

In the teaming model, co-teachers teach to the entire class and together offer information and comments. Often this becomes a "ping-pong" method, where co-teachers take turns delivering instruction and supporting students. One co-teacher can take one point of view, the other another; one co-teacher can deliver content while the other highlights strategies that students must understand and remember. As it turns out, many co-teachers who believe that they are using the teaming model are actually using the one teach/one support model.

While this model creates parity of roles with the co-teachers and the students, it does little to increase student responses or differentiate instruction, is less effective than models that result in better student to teacher ratios, affords students few opportunities to respond, and doesn't allow co-teachers to fully assess student performance or adapt instruction.

Alternative

This co-teaching model is often employed when co-teachers feel that the skill level of a select number of students is far below that of their classmates. Often called the "back-table" model, in alternative co-teaching, one co-teacher takes a small group of students (usually those who are having some difficulties) to a separate part of the room—often the back table. This co-teacher pre-teaches, re-teaches, and practices with the small group the prerequisite and requisite skills for the content being delivered by the other co-teacher, who teaches the majority of the students.

While the "back-table" application of the alternative model is at times needed, its overuse creates a virtual "other" class—or a class within a class—and leads to stigmatization of the students grouped in this way. Rather than decreasing skill disparities, this model can actually increase the achievement gap by holding up the progression of learning and limiting the scope of the curriculum.

Parallel

When initially introduced to parallel co-teaching—the splitting of the class into two heterogeneous groups with each co-teacher delivering instruction to a group—co-teachers usually protest. Typical objections are that it's distracting to students and co-teachers, or that the classrooms are not large enough to accommodate two simultaneous lessons. But after visiting thousands of co-taught classes and seeing the parallel model in action, I can attest to the fact that after a period of adjustment, modifying teacher voice volume, rearranging desks, and customizing content, co-teachers see the power of this model. This model offers students an opportunity to focus more closely on the lesson and participate more fully, and co-teachers an opportunity to assess student learning, adjust teaching accordingly, and target learning.

Parallel co-teaching can take a number of forms. One way is for both teachers to teach identical content. Another is for each teacher to teach a component of a lesson to a group of students and then have the groups switch so that every student receives all of the content—making it a virtual two-station model. While the student groups are usually heterogeneous, students may at times be grouped homogeneously, according to need.

Station

Station co-teaching, not to be confused with cooperative learning groups, requires the division of the class into three or four heterogeneous groupings that rotate throughout the class period. Two of the stations are directly taught by the co-teachers, and the remaining one or two stations are independent stations. In the teacher-directed stations, co-teachers actively interact with students who are engaged in lessons that require investigation of topics, teacher modeling, guided practice, and thoughtful discussions. In these small-group teacher-directed stations, teachers can customize the delivery of the lesson as they are continually provided with opportunities to assess student learning, enlightenment, or confusion. In the independent stations, students can work alone or interact with others on a particular task.

With the station model, each station, although addressing various aspects of a topic, must stand on its own. What is learned in one station is not dependent on any other station since in a three-station lesson, each student group starts at a different station.

The creation of the independent stations takes some practice—as the students must complete the task during the allotted station rotation time, and the material must be at a level that will enable students to complete the activity without the assistance of a teacher. The tasks must also engage students sufficiently so that they will remain focused without teacher support.

Finding the Right Mix: Which Models Work Best Together

Once teachers understand the different co-teaching models, co-teachers' reflection on their current practices can lead to substantive changes. By discussing the different co-teaching models and assessing each in relation to the percentage of time that a given model is used during the co-teachers' time together, and under which circumstances, co-teachers can determine the extent to which they must adjust their practices to better serve their students.

The table in Figure 1 may be expanded as needed to keep track of a week's worth of co-teaching sessions. After reviewing a week, co-teachers co-analyze the tasks and their corresponding co-teaching models, the efficacy of the tasks/ lessons, and what changes might be needed.

---

FIGURE 1: Co-Teaching Session Log

---

For each model, co-teachers can answer the following questions:

• For what percentage of time do we use the _______________ model?
• For which lessons or tasks do we routinely use this model?
• What are the advantages of using this model with this routine?
• What are the disadvantages of using this model routinely?
• How well do students learn when we use this model?
• Is there another model we should try for this routine that is more beneficial for student learning?
• What co-planning do we need to do if we decide to use a different model for this particular routine?
• What roles will each of us play in this adjusted routine?

Co-Plan Logistics

Devising a Co-Planning Schedule

For effective co-planning, it is essential that co-teachers meet other than during actual class time. Co-teachers need to set aside time for co-planning—whether or not the time is administratively woven into their day. Admittedly, this is a challenge, but all teachers spend time outside of the school day planning, creating materials, and marking papers. While co-teachers must spend time co-planning outside of the school day, the amount of time needed can be minimized and the time spent optimized if the co-teachers first focus on logistics such as the coordination of schedules.

Co-teachers can devise optimal co-planning times by answering the following questions:

• What time do each of us typically arrive in the morning? Leave the school at day's end?
• When do we each have administrative duty periods? Plannin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Encore Divider
• Encore
• References
• Related Resources
• About the Author
• Copyright