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Being a co-teacher is an extremely rewarding experience and an extremely beneficial practice. Co-teaching allows a teacher to gain valuable new knowledge about another area of education. It teaches a teacher how to collaborate with other teachers and it provides students with a quality education that contains the strengths of teachers of different disciplines.

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Professional development as a Co-teacher

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Professional development as a Co-teacher

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Co-teachers are constantly developing professionally.  This means that they are learning new practices, strategies and instructional methods to use in the classroom from their co-teacher. This does not, however, mean that co-teachers would not benefit from formal professional development. As is true for any teacher, professional development is extremely important.

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In a classroom with co-teachers, both teachers need to have equal responsibilities and equal authority in the classroom. This means that both teachers need to be on the safe page as far as classroom rules and procedures are concerned in order to successfully resolve conflicts in the classroom. When it comes to co-teachers, communication is key!

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Co-teaching is extremely beneficial for the students in the classroom. This is because they receive instruction that contains the strengths of both the special education and general education teacher. This means that a variety of instructional methods are used to meet the diverse learning needs of the students in the class.

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Adjusting to being a co-teacher can be difficult. It is often helpful for co-teachers to view co-teaching as a partnership, not a friendship. It is also helpful for co-teachers to view co-teaching as a great opportunity for professional development, as they will learn valuable information from their co-teacher!

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Co-teachers should group students in heterogeneous groups. This ensures that the special education teacher works with all of the students in the classroom and the general education teacher works with all students in the classroom. Groups may be equal in size or different sizes. However, when it comes to grouping, it is most important that both teachers work with all of the students in the classroom.

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In a classroom with co-teachers, both teachers share an equal role in instructing the class. The way that co-teachers conduct their classroom may depend on the preference of the teachers. Some co-teachers may choose to teach lessons together and other co-teachers may choose to take turns being the lead teacher and being the support teacher.

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Both co-teachers should assess all students in the classroom. By doing this, the general education teacher is able to learn about assessment strategies for students on IEP's and the special education teacher learns about assessment strategies for students who are not on IEP's. By assessing all students in the class, both teachers grow in their understanding of strategies assessment.

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Co-teachers share the responsibility of planning by planning together. By planning together, the two teachers have equal responsibility in the classroom, play an equal role in planning and the lessons created contain the strengths of both teachers.

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Co-teaching occurs when a general education teacher and a special education teacher teach together in one classroom. The two teachers share all classroom responsibilities equally.