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Part 3: Creating a Co-Teaching Partnership Power Point 

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Part 3: Creating a Co-Teaching Partnership Processing Guide

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Part 3: Creating a Co-Teaching Partnership Processing Guide

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Part 2: Using the Co-Teaching Models Power Point

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Part 2: Using the Co-Teaching Models Power Point

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Part 1: Why Inclusive Education Recorded Webinar

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Part 1: Why Inclusive Education Recorded Webinar

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Inclusive Master Scheduling Padlet of Resources

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Inclusive Master Scheduling Padlet of Resources

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Webinar #1: Inclusive Practices and Master Scheduling Introduction

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Webinar #1: Inclusive Practices and Master Scheduling Introduction

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Innovative Practices and Master Scheduling

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Webinar #2: Master Scheduling: Elementary

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Webinar #2: Master Scheduling: Elementary

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Webinar #3: Master Scheduling: Secondary

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Webinar #3: Master Scheduling: Secondary

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The Far-Reaching Benefits of Co-Teaching for ELLs

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The Far-Reaching Benefits of Co-Teaching for ELLs

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Teaching Channel

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Video: What does co-teaching look like? 

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Video: What does co-teaching look like? 

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VIDEO: Lead and Support: One Teach, One Assist 

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VIDEO: Lead and Support: One Teach, One Assist 

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What Co-teaching Is... What Co-teaching Is Not...

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What Co-teaching Is... What Co-teaching Is Not...

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Collaborative Team Teaching: Challenges and Rewards

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Veteran special ed teacher Marisa Kaplan shares the challenges and rewards of co-teaching, including the fun of having another adult in the classroom.

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by Justin Garcia

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This week kicked off my first week of Co-Teaching! Hooray! I survived! I'm still employed! I still love my job!

In all seriousness, over the past year I've been researching, reaching out to professionals, reading , and meeting with administration to set the stage for a productive Co-Teaching school culture. I came in with a plan, and this week I not only executed, but took time to reflect so I can improve for next year (already!). I can't thank my fabulous twitter PLN enough; a lot@Toppel_ELD, @TanELLClassroom, @ReadySetCoTeach, @Andrea honigsfel, @specsol, @Larryferlazzo, @CBTennyson, @MsSalvac, and everyone active in our fabulous #ELLchat for getting me started! I couldn't have done this without your amazing help.

This blog post is narrative, part informative, but also part reflection. I came into the year with a plan, but I also didn't want to micro-manage my interactions with teachers. After all, teaching is a profession where we work with . Not everything runs smoothly, so I felt it necessary to get organized on a basic level and tackle the nitty gritty details as the week progresses. Over the course of this week, I realized that a lot of what I planned worked really well for myself and teachers, but there were a few things that I wish I would have done a little differently.

Definitely do: Make your role known

One thing I'm glad that I organized was a brief presentation about Co-Teaching. It contained the basic definition of what Co-Teaching is, but also the definition I developed with my administrative staff. Having everyone take part in what a collaborative teaching environment looks like gave us a more united front, which helped validate what we are trying to accomplish. I didn't review every Co-Teaching model or the components of Co-Planning as to not overwhelm teachers new to having a teaching partner (which was essentially the entire staff). Since I'm the only ELD Co-Teacher for the 12 elementary staff, tackling what it would look like for each teacher team during our first Co-Planning session would be a better time to delve into the specifics. My feedback afterwards was mostly positive; it was the perfect amount of information for new teachers, but returning staff wanted to know more details.

I started creating it in May before the school year was over and worked on it piece by piece over the summer (adding and editing information as I learned more). Sometimes I slept on it for a week then came back to it with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. I met with my administration over the course of the year as I created it, too, so they can provide input on what to add / edit / omit. It's all about a balance of being specific enough to make your point clear, but also general enough as to know overload teachers with too much input. At the start of the year, there's usually loads of the latter, so be sure to adjust accordingly.

I wanted to stress the importance of assets based conversations during collaboration.

Creating a shared definition with administration is crucial to gaining relevant support.

Definitely do: Give a Co-Teaching Quick Write

Maria Dove and Andrea Honigsfeld suggested providing a Co-Teaching Quick Write at the start of the year to gauge everyone's background knowledge of what collaborative instruction looks like, how it's organized, and what it isn't. It was also a great ice breaker activity to get our meeting started. Teachers broke off into their teacher teams (specialists also were included in this!) to complete the handout. Afterwards, teachers shared some of the points with the whole group. Later, I compiled all of the information into a word cloud that I shared with teachers so I can pinpoint consistent language and ideas.

One piece of feedback I received was that I could have outlined the purpose of the Quick Write a bit more thoroughly at the start of the meeting. Some teachers weren't very sure why they were doing it and what would be done with it afterwards, so I'll be sure to incorporate these points in the future.

Having everyone take part in what a collaborative teaching environment looks like gave us a more united front.

Definitely do: Start Co-Planning

One of my goals for the first week was to get the common planning times for teachers so I can get involved with Co-Planning right away. It's always difficult to change up routines in the middle of the year, so starting the first week with a (mostly) set schedule was at the front of my to-do list. I managed to meet with all six grades during week one! We didn't delve right into Co-Planning lessons, though. Instead I provided a laminated list of Co-Teaching models as well as an adapted menu similar to John Nordmeyer's Collaborative Teaching Menu to use a reference for "on the spot collaboration". Teachers really appreciated the baby steps that I have been taking to get ourselves used to this process. It's not only new to them, but new to me, too!

Now that I have my Co-Planning schedule completed, I can build my Co-Teaching schedule around the times I plan. While I'm involved in everyone's planning meetings, I will not be Co-Teaching with every teacher, but instead teaching with teachers I a.) have a positive working relationship with and b.) have the need in their class. We'll see how the schedule plays out in the coming weeks as it's already filling up quickly!

Probably wait on: Co-Teaching

While I appreciated that some teachers wanted to jump into Co-Teaching right away, I expressed that Co-Teaching can wait until at least the second week of school. Depending on your comfort level with your Co-Teacher (especially if both of you have Co-Taught before) you could jump into this on day one. In my case, more than half of the elementary teachers were brand new and none of them have had experience Co-Teaching (including myself!), so I wanted to take it slow and ease into collaborative practice. Co-Planning was a great first step!

We'll start Co-Teaching once a week and gradually increase frequency as we all become comfortable with the new dynamic. I want to make sure that we do this rather than jump into anything too intense from the get-go. Also, teachers need their space to get settled into their new classrooms and environment. Ideally, once we establish a positive working relationship and gain more experience, we can start Co-Teaching earlier in the school year.

Should do: Help model classroom routines

After reflecting this week on my presence in classrooms, I thought that a great way to ease in to Co-Teaching would be to model lessons about classroom routines together. It's low stress, low prep, and non-academic so planning and teaching would be an easy way to get used to Co-Teaching models. Not only would teachers become more used to two people teaching at the same time, but the students would also get used to having two teachers in the room as well.

There are plenty of opportunities to model classroom routines and expectations. A few colleagues use "Responsive Classroom" and "Morning Meeting" into their daily schedule. Working with another teacher during these lessons is a great way to model examples and non-examples of greeting each other and playing games. When modeling reading / writing stamina, a second teacher can fill in an anchor chart while another teacher models expectations. It's also helpful to have another set of eyes in the classroom to formatively assess which students have more stamina than others. I'm already in classrooms helping with pre-assessments, which gives teachers another set of eyes to interpret and record assessment data at the start of the year.

Definitely do: Create collaborative goals

I adapted a form by @ReadySetCoteach the outlines three variations of collaborative goals: Co-Teaching, Professional, and Student goals. I also notated which goals we considered short term (being accomplished in three weeks or less) and long term (exceeding three weeks). I sent an editable Google Doc to teacher teams outlining goals that we discussed during our first Co-Planning session for teachers to review, edit, and comment on (plus I'm making an attempt to go 100% paperless this year). We're starting with short term goals like establishing Co-Planning routines and Co-Teaching our first lesson together. This is also a great way to keep me organized and focused on what we're working on together with students and our own professional practice.

With one teacher team, we made a short term goal about using DRA pre-assessment data to guide our future instruction for the first reading unit. Using that assessment data, we can create a long term reading goal for our students. These goals helped us focus our first weeks of collaborative instruction!

I started using this template, adapted from a form by @ReadySetCoteach, to make collaborative goals for the staff that I Co-Teach with.

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I'm SO excited to jump into Co-Teaching in the coming weeks! All of this research has really paid off, and I'm looking forward to working with my colleagues this year to not only help our students grow, but to improve our professional practice as well.

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This week kicked off my first week of Co-Teaching! Hooray! I survived! I'm still employed! I still love my job! In all seriousness, over the past year I've been researching, reaching out to professionals, reading , and meeting with administration to set the stage for a productive Co-Teaching school culture.

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How to Make the Most of a Co-Teaching Partnership

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How to Make the Most of a Co-Teaching Partnership

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Cult of Pedagogy

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5 Ways to Strengthen Your Co-Teaching Partnership

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5 Ways to Strengthen Your Co-Teaching Partnership

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by Ready, Set, Co-Teach

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by Tan Huynh

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Welcome to the Collaborating for English Learners Series. When collaboration and co-teaching time was planned into my schedule, I had no idea how to work with content teachers. I was thrown in the ring without ever receiving training. I wish that I had had these four teacher collaboration faqs to point me in the right direction.

Collaborating allows me to share literacy practices with content teachers who are usually (and understandably) focused solely on developing content instruction. It's a mutually beneficial relationship because, in collaborating with content teachers, we create a context for ELs to use language and provide opportunities to make connections between ideas.

There are many frequently asked questions about collaboration, many of which can be answered by reading Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners by Andrea Honigsfeld and .

Before we consider specific teacher collaboration strategies , let's examine a few FAQs about collaboration in general.

Q1: What is Collaboration?

Friend & Cook (1992) define teacher collaboration as, " [a] style of direct interaction between at least two co-equal parties voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work toward a common goal " (p. 5) . In our field of work, collaboration is when at least two teachers have equal opportunities to decide curriculum and shape instruction in order to enhance learning for ELS.

Sometimes the journey of collaboration can be smooth and at other times rough, but if you have these essential elements in place, they'll act as like guardrails to direct your work and prevent you from falling off the track.

Q2: Why should teachers collaborate?

We should consider collaborating with other educators because research on teacher collaboration proves that it leads to increased academic achievement f or ELs. Pardini (2006) conducted a multi-year study of the effects of teacher collaboration in St. Paul's School District in Minnesota. After looking at the results from the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Test, he found that the reading gap between ELs and non-ELs fell 7 percentage points (from 13% to 6%). Pardini also looked at results from the Test of Emerging English from 2003 to 2005 and found that ELs who attended St. Paul's Public Schools consistently outscored their peers statewide in reading and math for those three years.

Pardini also looked at results from the Test of Emerging English from 2003 to 2005 and found that ELs who attended St. Paul's Public Schools consistently outscored their peers statewide in reading and math for those three years.
Pardini suggested that the positive academic achievement occurred because the content teachers and English language teachers (ELTs) collaborated to make content more comprehensible. Studies such as Pardini's encourage us to collaborate beyond our individual departments because such partnerships produce measurable academic achievement for all students, not just ELs.

Q3: How does collaboration work?

Teacher collaboration is usually divided into four categories: co-planning, co-teaching, co-assessing, and co-reflecting. In this series, I'll mainly be commenting on co-planning and co-teaching. Co-planning means jointly making decisions about curriculum, unit design, lesson planning, and prioritizing state standards. Co-teaching means agreeing on how to deliver content, clarifying the roles of each teacher, and identifying ways to differentiate and scaffold instruction.

It's important to have both of these because co-planning informs co-teaching and vice versa. Collaboration is a cycle - not an event; a process - not an outcome.

Co-teaching without co-planning relegates an ELT as an education aide by disregarding the valuable contributions an ELT makes in directing ELs' education. Furthermore, it always puts the ELT behind the 8-ball, scrambling to find out the lesson's objective instead of spending the time working with the ELs.

Moreover, co-planning without co-teaching disproportionately places the burden on the content teacher. For example, a reading strategy that was shared during co-planning is best modeled by an ELT, who has expertise in that area. The content teacher might need the ELT there to describe the strategy or help students as they implement it.

Q4: Who does what when collaborating?

I liken the roles of a content teacher and an ELT to oars on a rowboat. Although the person in the front provides the momentum while the person in the rear stirs the boat, both are needed to successfully arrive at the dock. Content teachers offer expertise of a specific discipline such as nuances of the content, the sequence of content standards, and the connections to things outside of school. Content teachers should be the ones deciding the content standards, selecting the topics, arranging the scope and sequence, and sequencing the learning activities.

ELTs play a significant but distinctly different role during this collaboration. Our expertise is in supporting language development, ensuring that all cultures are respected, and scaffolding activities to facilitate student engagement. We're particularly valuable when working with ELs new to English , helping ELs understand instruction , and empowering ELs to demonstrate their thinking though differentiated tasks .

Without the expertise from ELTs, ELs might not fully access or engage with content. Without the expertise of content teachers, ELs might not form a deep understanding of the content or have a context to apply language (Honigsfeld & Dove, 2010).

Ying can exist without Yang in the short run, but it produces an unbalanced, disjointed reality in the long term.

It takes a village to educate a child, and everyone is invited to contribute from their area of expertise. Content teachers offer content knowledge while English language teachers support language development. They each play a distinct, but vital role in teaching ELs.

Now that we have a shared understanding of collaboration, I'll examine co-planning and co-teaching respectively in the following post. There's a range of strategies on the continuum between co-planning and co-teaching, and knowing what type of collaboration to offer is critical to successful collaboration.
What should other FAQs about teacher collaboration? Please comment below.
Friend, M., & Cook, L. (1992). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Honigsfeld, A. & Dove, M. (2010). Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition.

Pardini, P. (2006). In one voice: Mainstream and ELL teachers work side-by-side in the classroom teaching language through content. Journal of Staff Development, 27 (4), 20- 25.

Ronfeldt, M., Farmer, S., McQueen, K., & Grissom, J. (2015). Teacher collaboration in instructional teams and student achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 52 (3), 475-514.

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#43. Four Teacher Collaboration FAQs - ELL Strategies | TanKHuynh

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Examines teacher collaboration FAQs - its benefits, the difference between co-planning and co-teaching, and who does what in the process.

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A great way to start your co-teaching journey! Use the co-teaching contract to start the important conversations with your co-teacher.

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What Does the Research Say about Inclusive Education? 

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What Does the Research Say about Inclusive Education? 

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Co-Teaching: A Simple Solution that Isn't Simple at All

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Co-Teaching: A Simple Solution that Isn't Simple at All

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by Marilyn Friend

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Supporting Co-Teaching in High School Article 

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Supporting Co-Teaching in High School Article 

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Everything you need to schedule & plan co-conferences with your co-teacher!

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Honigsfeld & Dove 2018

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Do's & Don'ts

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by Angela Perry on Cult of Pedagogy

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Impossible. That was my first thought when I saw the class roster. In one of my ninth grade English classes, 13 of my 27 students had IEPs. Additionally, about one-third of the students had failed the class the previous year. I dreaded the first day of school. But then something wonderful happened: The principal assigned me a co-teacher, a special education expert to serve as another set of hands (and eyes and ears!) during this class every day. I was thrilled.

My co-teacher Sandie was a joy to collaborate with, but our relationship was by no means perfect, especially at the beginning. We often struggled to find planning time. Sometimes we disagreed about how to best help a particular student. However, we nurtured the co-teaching relationship and, in time, found a rhythm that worked for us-and for the students we served.

In the years since I co-taught with Sandie and other teachers, I've coached and consulted with dozens of successful and not-so-successful teams. Co-teaching, when done well, offers benefits for both students and teachers. When not done well, it can be confusing or downright frustrating for all involved. If you are or will be part of a co-teaching partnership, this post will show you some ways to make your partnership work beautifully.

What is Co-Teaching?

In a co-teaching relationship, also known as a "push-in" arrangement, a general education teacher partners with a specialist who may be certified in teaching English Language Learners (ELLs), students with learning disabilities, or some other special population. A co-teaching team works in the general ed classroom; for the majority of the time, students with special needs are not pulled out to receive services in another location.

For instance, a middle school social studies teacher may have an ELL teacher co-teaching with him during one class period because five students in that class are newcomers to the United States and speak only Arabic fluently. A high school teacher may have one or two sections of biology to which many students with IEPs for reading are channeled; a co-teacher who specializes in reading disabilities co-teaches in these classes. A 4th grade teacher may have two students with 504 plans and another three who have specific learning disabilities in her class; she works alongside a special education teacher daily during lessons in the four core academic subject areas.

For more background, download this Brief History of Co-Teaching.

Co-Teaching Structures

General education teachers working with specialists in a "push-in" model often work in one of the following structures described by Friend and Cook (1996):

One teach, one observe: One teacher delivers instruction while the other observes student learning. Usually the observer collects data on student understanding so that the co-teaching team can better plan future instruction. Sometimes, specific students are watched closely so that the teachers can determine new strategies to use with them.

One teach, one assist: One teacher takes the lead in providing instruction while the other moves around the classroom, assisting struggling students. This help is not limited to students with special needs; the assisting professional is there to serve whomever needs support.

Parallel teaching: The class is divided in two groups and the same material is presented simultaneously by both teachers. The teachers plan the two groups deliberately to maximize the success of all students; this is not simply a "pull-out" or intervention group sitting in the same room.

Station teaching: Both teachers are actively involved in instruction as students are divided into groups and rotate from one station to the next. There may be stations where students work independently or with a paraprofessional in addition to the two stations the co-teachers facilitate.

Alternative teaching: One teacher takes a small group of students and provides them more intensive or specialized instruction that is different than what the large group receives from the other teacher.

Team teaching: Both teachers teach the content at the same time in tandem or "tag team" fashion.

It is important to note that both teachers have equal status and equal responsibility in all six of these arrangements. In the co-teaching relationships that work best, at no time is one teacher seen as subordinate to the other. Both professionals are credentialed professionals, although each may have his or her specific areas of expertise.

How to Make the Most of a Co-Teaching Partnership

Researchers and practitioners have tons of advice about how to co-teach effectively, and as a person who has been "in the trenches" with several different co-teachers, so do I. The advice below sums up the most common recommendations.

1. Respect each other.

Not surprisingly, mutual respect is critical to the co-teaching relationship. You'll have to share ideas openly and do much of your work facing students together, so respecting each other is paramount. Sometimes you'll disagree, and that's to be expected. As co-teacher and ELL specialist Melissa Eddington says, it's fine to disagree with someone's ideas, but don't make the disagreement about the person.

Teachers in co-teaching situations that don't work well often report feeling disrespected. Amy* is an ELL specialist paired with a middle school social studies teacher. When they collaborate, Amy feels her suggestions for tweaking whole-class lessons are not taken seriously by her partner. "She respects me as a professional," Amy says of her co-teacher, "but I think because I'm not experienced in her content, she doesn't see my input as valuable."

Susan*, who is licensed in both secondary science and learning disabilities, works with two physical science teachers and one biology teacher. The physical science teachers welcome her ideas and eagerly adjust their lessons based on her suggestions. They are seeing a steady increase of students mastering the required standards in the classes Susan supports. The biology teacher, however, dismisses many of Susan's ideas and accuses her of "dumbing down" his content. Susan feels disrespected and finds it hard to even be in the room with the biology teacher because he constantly positions himself as "the expert" and places her in a subordinate role.

Words and gestures speak volumes. Take care to show respect for your partner in all you do.

2. Clearly define roles and responsibilities.

Co-teaching works better when the partners agree on who does what, when. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities prevent either partner from feeling the other has overstepped a boundary or shirked responsibilities.

Natalie Marston (2002-2015), an elementary special ed teacher, recommends co-teachers reach agreement on scheduling, classroom procedures and behaviors, classwork and homework policies, grading, and school/home communication together so they present a united front at all times.

Obviously this type of planning requires a great deal of time, ideally before school starts. If extended time is not available prior to the beginning of the school year, then the co-teaching team should expect to put in extra hours before and after school in the first few weeks so things get off to a good start.

My co-teacher Sandie and I did not have advance warning of our assignment. We found out about it on the first teacher workday, leaving us only a few days before the students arrived. For weeks, we both felt like we were playing "catch up and keep up," but found that having lunch together (and some happy hours together) helped us stay in sync.

3. Be flexible.

Innovation is difficult. That's why so many teachers find themselves falling back on comfortable (and even tired) activities and strategies. Co-teaching allows you to gain another person's perspective on how instruction might be improved, how students might be best assessed, what resources to use, and so much more. Sometimes this means one person has to put aside his or her favorite tried-and-true strategy and try something different.

When Susan suggested a tactile, quiz-like method for reviewing the periodic table to her physical science co-teaching partners, they were skeptical about the time and materials it might require. They initially felt it would be more efficient to simply give additional notes to their students and then pair students to quiz each other. However, they agreed to try the review Susan's way. The students loved the activity, and almost every student with special needs passed the chapter test two days later. All three teachers were thrilled and committed to using the activity in future years.

4. Plan together.

The co-teaching relationship brings together two people with wonderfully rich expertise and experiences. Special educators are typically skilled in individualizing curriculum and instruction based on children's needs (Dettmer et al., 2005; Volonino & Zigmond, 2007). General educators, on the other hand, tend to have broad knowledge of the curriculum, standards, and desired outcomes for the larger group. Therefore, when general educators plan lessons, they tend to aim for the masses (Dettmer et al., 2005). Both perspectives are important, and co-teaching teams need ample planning time to work through how to best utilize each one.

Lack of planning time can lead to territorialism. Without time to plan for a good balance of content and individualization, a general ed teacher may become protective of his subject matter, or a specialist may become protective of his students. Emma*, a high school special ed teacher partnered with two geometry teachers, has experienced this. One teacher often asks Emma to pull aside the five or six students with specific disabilities within his class and work only with them. He sometimes says to her, "You worry about your kids. I'll worry about geometry." The principal is now providing an additional hour of planning time for Emma and this teacher. An assistant principal who oversees the math department facilitates the meetings so Emma feels supported and the geometry teacher has another content-area expert to hash things out with.

Keep in mind that planning must include both instruction and assessment. Considering many students with special needs have legal accommodations for assessment (like being provided translation, extended time, or oral reading), it's best to include both partners fully in designing quizzes, tests, papers, and other high-stakes assessment tasks.

How much time is ideal? One study found that co-teachers desired, on average, 15 minutes to an hour each day for planning (Dieker & Murawski, 2003). This figure corresponds to what worked for my co-teacher and me, and it also confirms what I hear from many co-teachers in the field. Strive to find that time any way you can.

5. Don't take yourself too seriously.

Innovation requires failure. Many times, teachers feel they've failed somehow during instruction, and in reality, the students haven't even noticed. We are often our own worst critics. Revisiting or correcting something later in the day (or the next day) doesn't mean you failed earlier. It means you've learned something since. This is the kind of ongoing learning we want to model for our students.

And, as in most situations in life, a little bit of humor goes a long way. Laugh with your co-teacher. Allow students to see both of you laughing with each other and with them when something is surprising, silly, or just doesn't go the way you planned. In the words of Jennifer Wolf who co-teaches with Melissa Eddington, "Take the work seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously."

Eddington adds, "You gotta laugh at each other! Our job is hard, and if you're not laughing and making light of some things, then it's just not going to be a good place to be."

6. Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Planning time is one thing; constant communication is another. Not only should co-teachers frequently plan for what standards will be covered, how material will be taught, and how students will be assessed, they should also regularly communicate in less formal ways.

Co-teaching teams have different methods to create and sustain that communication:

Eddington and Wolf use the Voxer app throughout the school day and on their drives home to send messages back and forth. Voxer works like a walkie-talkie and allows back-and-forth conversation in real time when two people are not physically close to each other. Melissa says, "We're constantly communicating. We're talking about specific students. We're looking at assessments to see what areas are lacking...different things we want to bring to the classroom, things we don't want to do..."

Some other teams I've worked with use texting and emails throughout each day to share updates. Voxer, texts, and emails can all work well, especially if one teacher has urgent information or an urgent question about a particular student.

Teams can use Google Docs or other shared documents to keep track of lesson planning and to share feedback with each other on how lessons went. Collaborative documents can also be used to provide each other with information about targeted students.

In addition to ongoing communication, Ariel Sacks (2014) reminds us to periodically check in with our co-teacher about how we are doing in general. She recommends asking your partner the following:

Are there management items we should clarify, such as when are students allowed to go to the bathroom?

Are we sharing airtime well?

Are we dividing grading in an equitable way?

Would different teaching formats better utilize the two of us in the classroom?

Finally, co-teachers need to present a united front when dealing with parents. Some partners go as far as to create a shared email address from which all communication flows. This may or may not be practical in your situation. At the very least, important parent communication about a student's progress should be drafted by both parties.

For more in-depth information about communicating and collaborating with your co-teacher, see Communicating and Collaborating in Co-Taught Classrooms (Conderman et al., 2009).

7. Seek administrative support.

Sometimes, teachers have been scheduled to co-teach by administrators but didn't have much advance notice. This is what happened with Sandie and me. We were able to find snippets of time during the school day to use for planning and checking in with each other, but we had no common planning period. If you and your partner don't have a common planning time when you can frequently collaborate, ask for it. Go to your principal with a couple of proposals about how this can work without too much disruption to the rest of the schedule.

Sometimes co-teachers may not understand fully why they are being asked to team. If this is the case, ask for a meeting with the principal and any others responsible for the assignment. Ask them why they thought the two of you would be a good fit and what they hope you will accomplish with students.

If you're already in a co-teaching partnership that's not working well, and you've tried to address this with your partner, turn to a trusted administrator next for advice. If you and your co-teacher have not recently been observed, ask the administrator to come sit in on part of a lesson. Tell him or her what you'd like feedback on or what feels like it's not working well. Debrief with the administrator, ideally with your co-teaching partner. When an observer offers data and feedback to both of you, it may feel different for your partner than when you share things from your perspective. (This co-teaching observation form can help.)

It's important not to go to other teachers with your concerns. Respect the collegial relationship you have with your co-teacher and don't do anything that might undermine it. And it should go without saying that you don't want students to perceive any problems within the co-teaching relationship. Be cognizant of your demeanor, tone, and body language. Students are quite perceptive and can easily spot trouble. They are also experts at "good cop/bad cop." Don't let students play you and your partner against each other. If your colleagues or students give you any evidence that they know the co-teaching arrangement is ineffective, head straight for that trusted administrator to support you. ♦

*These names have been changed.
References:
Conderman, G., Johnston-Rodriguez, S., & Hartman, P. (2009). Communicating and collaborating in co-taught classrooms. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus,5(5). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967751.pdf

Dettmer, P., Thurston, L., Knackendoffel, A., & Dyck, N. (2009). Collaboration, consultation, and teamwork (6th ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson.

Dieker, Lisa A., Murawski, W. M. (2003). "Co-teaching at the Secondary Level: Unique Issues, Current Trends, and Suggestions for Success." The High School Journal, 86(4). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220220652/13494E2D48D1DB506F0/8

Friend, M. & Cook, L. (1996). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Marston, N. (2002-2015). Six steps to successful co-teaching: Helping special and regular education teachers work together. National Education Association. Retrieved January 26, 2017 from http://www.nea.org/tools/6-steps-to-successful-co-teaching.html

Sacks, A. (2014, October 15). Blog post. Eight tips for making the most of co-teaching. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2014/10/15/ctq_sacks_coteaching.html

Volonino, V. & Zigmond, N. (2007). Promoting research-based practices through inclusion. Theory into Practice, 46(4), 291-300.

Learn More

Angela Peery is the author of The Co-Teacher's Playbook, which will be available in September 2019.

Links to this book are Amazon Affiliate links. Cult of Pedagogy gets a small commission for all purchases made through these links.

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When done well, co-teaching offers benefits for both students and teachers. When not done well, it can be confusing or downright frustrating for all involved.

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by Tan Huynh

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This is Part 2 of the Co-Planning Series.

Continuum of Collaboration

I have been lucky enough to collaborate with dozens of truly amazing teachers. What has surprised me the most about my collaborations is the various forms that they take.

After analyzing all the ways I collaborate with colleagues, I created this Collaboration Continuum to describe the different types of collaboration between content teachers and English language teachers (ELTs) and what needs they address. This Collaboration Continuum includes levels of both co-planning and co-teaching. However, I'll focus on just co-planning in this article and will discuss co-teaching in a subsequent series.

Informal Co-Planning

For content teachers who need just a little support, Informal Co-Planning works best. Informal Co-Planning is when two teachers collaborate on a specific aspect of a lesson and the ELT can explain the solution quickly and with little effort. These teachers usually have only a few ELs who are also fluent in social, but not academic, language.

In one example, Ms. M, a 9th grade science teacher at my school, was struggling to explain the concept of validity and reliability to her ELs. When Ms. M emailed me to ask for suggestions, I directed her to my article about writing a science lab report. T h e a r t i c l e g a v e e x a m p l e s o f built-in scaffolds like sentence frames and the diagrams that supported students in Mr. Arno's science classes.

When we found 10 minutes to conference, I showed her the sample scaffolded lab report. I pointed out the two diagrams below that were used to visually communicate the concepts of reliability and validity. I also explained the two questions above them that were designed to help students complete this section.

The advantage to Informal Co-Planning (next week's article) is that you don't need to spend a lot of time or energy when using it and you can easily participate via e-mail if you don't have time to meet. However, if the task is not so specific, consider the next level instead:

One-Off Co-planning

One-Off Co-Planning (also called "Low Risk Co-Planning") is when two teachers collaborate on just one aspect of a lesson, but the solution takes slightly more time to address or implement. While there might be a few more ELs in the class, these ELs usually have a strong command of social language but a developing mastery of academic language.

The request for support is also usually one-time event to help the content teacher scaffold one activity or prevent an assessment from becoming a reading test. Because an ELT can't briefly explain the solution, One-Off Co-Planning requires more than a 10-minute meeting.

For example, Mr. M , the Physical Education teacher, once asked me to look over a document he planned to have students work on. He knew that there were three ELs in particular who would benefit from having a scaffolded document and e-mailed his draft to me. Once I finished scaffolding it, we scheduled a one-time meeting to go over the changes.

I wanted to meet with him in person to ensure that the scaffolding improved students' comprehension of the instructions without changing the skills being assessed. Unlike the insertion of a simple diagram from Ms. M example, the collaborative discussion Mr. M and I had on his document could not have been completed with a quick e-mail.

Temporary Co-Planning

Temporary Co-Planning requires even more time than the previous two forms because the content teacher wants support that spans over several days. It's also likely that there's a sizable group of ELs, but most should have developed at least social language.

Often, content teachers will have a multi-day activity that requires the assistance of an ELT. A one-time event is not sufficient to guide the ELs through the learning experiences because each phase of learning is connected to the next. Scaffolding needs to occur at each phase of learning.

For example, Mr. J, a history teacher, wanted to teach his students how to assess the reliability of a resource through a process called Origin, Purpose, Value, and Limitation (OPVL). He emailed me in frustration because he struggled with having many students, not just ELs, misunderstand this complex process. We decided to meet to collaborate.

In the first meeting, we talked about each part of the OPVL process and analyzed what had stumped the students. We decided to turn the process into a flowchart and scheduled another meeting. At our next meeting, I shared a draft flowchart I had created, and we spent the entire period making modifications. I finished the second draft and we met one final time to finalize the flowchart below:

Mr. J liked the flowchart so much that he decided to use it for all his students, and he offered them the opportunity to create their own flowchart using the same infographic software ( Piktochart ) I used to create the OPVL flowchart. We never know how much impact our collaboration can have on students and teachers.

Our schedules didn't align so that I could co-teach the flowchart myself, but we had a brief, informal follow-up one day while passing each other in the hall. Mr. J reported that students found it much easier to analyze the reliability of a resource following the visual scaffold.

Sustained Co-planning

Sustained Co-Planning is the most robust form of collaboration because the content teacher and ELT co-design all aspects of the unit together - from mapping out the sequence to teaching the standards, scaffolding learning experiences and creating assessments.

Usually, Sustained Co-Planning is needed if one or more of three factors apply:

1. You have a group of 2-3 Beginning ELs who are completely new to English,

2. You have a large group of Developing ELs (10+), or

3. Your ELs have a wide range of language proficiency.

Often, all three converge into a perfect storm.

This is what it looks like in practice:

Currently, I have Sustained Co-Planning partnerships with three science teachers and three history teachers who each have a group of beginners in their classes. I'm assigned to work with them the entire year or until the Beginning ELs have developed sufficient independence.

I meet once an eight-day cycle with each of the departments to discuss EL supports. During the meetings, we establish specific co-teaching practices, which I'll cover more extensively in future posts.

In an ideal world, the content teacher and ELT would co-plan daily. However, I am only able to co-plan with each teacher once every eight days. Mr. A created a clever solution to managing this time gap: a Google Doc that keeps track of the learning objectives. He fills in the table, and, after reviewing the objectives, I describe how I'll scaffold learning.

Because Sustained Co-Planning requires the content teachers and ELTs to be interdependent , it naturally leads to co-teaching. Co-planning coupled with co-teaching is one of the most effective models of collaboration.

Notice that Sustained Co-Planning provides the greatest opportunities for students to develop academic language. This is because the content teacher and ELT have a continuous working relationship where content and language standards are taught together. When students regularly read, write and speak about content, they reinforce their literacy skills. Though this is the best-case scenario, I understand that it's not always possible to have Sustained Co-Planning due to staffing limitations.

These Co-Planning examples from my Collaboration Continuum are by no means exhaustive; they're just representative of my experience. But they do show that whatever your needs, there's always a way for ELTs to support content teachers. And when teachers and administrators can easily identify these different forms of co-planning, a school can better utilize their faculty's expertise.

Takeaways

I hope that this article has provided you with a basic introduction to the forms of teacher co-planning. I also hope that it has peaked your interest and calmed your concerns about collaboration with content teachers.
If you'd like an in-depth inquiry into teacher collaboration, I strongly encourage you to read Andrea Honigsfeld and 's book entitled Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners because they are the ultimate gurus of collaboration within the context of EL instruction.

Next Post

Now that we have a firm understanding of the basics of collaboration, I'll describe each of the phases of the Collaboration Continuum next week, starting with Informal Collaboration. I'll share two philosophies that work well with Informal Co-Planning, in particular, but that can also be applied to any form of teacher collaboration.
Which level of co-planning do you find the easiest? Or the hardest? Let me know in the comments below.
Honigsfeld, A. & Dove, M. (2010). Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners. SAGE Publications. [Kindle version]. Retrived from http://www.amazon.com/WhereYouDownloadedTheBookFrom

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#44. The Collaboration Continuum: Forms of Teacher Co-Planning - ELL Strategies | TanKHuynh

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This is Part 2 of the Co-Planning Series. Continuum of Collaboration I have been lucky enough to collaborate with dozens of truly amazing teachers. What has surprised me the most about my collaborations is the various forms that they take.

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Editable Lesson Plan Template for Co-Teachers

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Editable Lesson Plan Template for Co-Teachers

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Get organized with this easy to follow lesson plan template specifically for co-teachers! Editable so you can add anything you need or take out anything you don't! Includes sections for:

-Subject & Topic
-Essential questions
-Content Vocabulary
-Other language needed
-Standards & Objectives
-Materials & Assessments
-Day tracking
-Co-teaching approach(es)
- Lesson Activities
-Teacher assignments/duties
-Exit Tickets

Looking for more co-teaching resources? Follow us on Twitter @readysetcoteach and subscribe to our blog at www.readysetcoteach.com

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Editable Coteaching Lesson Plan Template

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Get organized with this easy to follow lesson plan template specifically for co-teachers! Editable so you can add anything you need or take out anything you don't! Includes sections for: -Subject & Topic -Essential questions -Content Vocabulary -Other language needed -Standards & Objectives...

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by Ready, Set, Coteach

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Launching into Co-Teaching: 3 Steps to Help You Get Started (Blog Post)

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Launching into Co-Teaching: 3 Steps to Help You Get Started (Blog Post)

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With the end of the school year fast approaching, now is a good time to start planning for next year. Are you considering co-teaching? Or maybe you are being asked to do it by your administrators? Well, don't fret because, while it can seem like a daunting task, here are some easy steps to getting started.

Step 1: Get your administrators on board.

Nothing is more important while embarking on this journey than making sure that you have the support you will need. Gaining this support may be difficult initially, but hopefully your admin will recognize your great results and jump on board by the year's end. If you want to learn more about this, see Allyson's blogpost on obtaining admin support. Trust us-you NEED them on board and excited about what you are doing.
Step 2: Informally get to know your co-teacher.
This one may seem unnecessary-I mean we work with people that we don't know on a personal level every day, right? Well, not exactly. As you share the same room with your co-teacher for a huge chunk of your day, you will become more like friends (or even family). Building that relationship with your co-teacher so that your PARITY is strong from the beginning is so important. Building trust in the classroom is so much easier when you have spent some time outside of work getting to know each other.

Step 3: Complete a co-teaching contract.
When we say complete a contract we mean an actual formal contract. Get together and discuss EVERYTHING. Make sure that you are all on the same page about what you want to achieve. What are the routines and procedures for the classroom? How will you share responsibilities? How will you solve conflict? When and where will you plan? You cannot expect your co-teacher to know what you need if you don't establish these norms from the beginning. We are making our contract available to you, but be sure to modify it according to your own needs. When you get to the document click make a copy in order to edit and modify.
We are so excited by your interest in co-teaching and we would love to support you in any way you need. Want a FREE coaching session? We're available through email and Skype to help you through any obstacles! Just fill out this form to set up your session.

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Launching Into Co-teaching: 3 Steps To Help You Get Started

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With the end of the school year fast approaching, now is a good time to start planning for next year. Are you considering co-teaching? Or maybe you are being asked to do it by your administrators? Well, don't fret because, while it can seem like a daunting task, here are some easy steps to getting started.

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Council for Exceptional Children Guidance on Master Scheduling 

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Council for Exceptional Children Guidance on Master Scheduling 

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GREAT blog for co-teaching in the middle grades!

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Ready, Set, Co-Teach! (Allyson, John & Ashley)

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Ready, Set, Co-Teach! (Allyson, John & Ashley)

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www.readysetcoteach.com
Follow our journey as co-teachers :)

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Co-Teach: Building and Sustaining Effective Partnerships 

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Co-Teach: Building and Sustaining Effective Partnerships 

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As more and more students with disabilities and those for whom English is not their first language are educated in general education setting alongside their typical peers, co-teaching has become an important way to accomplish two purposes: First, it ensures that students are accessing the same curriculum as their peers, an option nearly impossible when services are offered only in a separate setting. Second, it makes possible the delivery of specialized services that are integrated into daily lessons.

This website is dedicated to providing information and resources to educators and parents about co-teaching and helping them in problem solving to ensure student success.

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Marilyn Friend, Inc | The Co-Teaching Connection

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As more and more students with disabilities and those for whom English is not their first language are educated in general education setting alongside their typical peers, co-teaching has become an important way to accomplish two purposes: First, it ensures that students are accessing the same curriculum as their peers, an option nearly impossible when services are offered only in a separate setting.

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Buy Here:

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Buy Here: https://www.amazon.com/Elevating-Co-Teaching-through-Elizabeth-Stein/dp/1930583583/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=coteaching&qid=1554745368&s=gateway&sr=8-5