With a co-teacher in the classroom, students have more expertise, support, and accountability to enhance their learning experience. To maximize the benefits of co-teaching, especially in a virtual classroom, can use the following tips:
1. Simplify Your Tools
With a co-teacher in the classroom, students have more expertise, support, and accountability to enhance their learning experience. To maximize the benefits of co-teaching, especially in a virtual classroom, can use the following tips:
Canvas is an exceptional multifunctional LMS that allows teachers to build and share curriculum materials and assessments, grade and provide feedback on student work, and communicate with students and families. With each co-teacher using a single, standard LMS, they can work in alignment with one another and provide consistent information to their students.
2. Maximize Planning Time
Most co-teachers do not have the same planning period or enough time to manage independent planning tasks. Thankfully, co-teachers can allot common time to tasks that require synchronous planning and devote asynchronous time to independent tasks.
Most co-teachers do not have the same planning period or enough time to manage independent planning tasks. Thankfully, co-teachers can allot common time to tasks that require synchronous planning and devote asynchronous time to independent tasks.
Not Recommended: Co-teachers might write collaborative lesson plans asynchronously. Use synchronous time to make adjustments.
Recommended: Co-teachers might use synchronous time to develop lesson plans. Use asynchronous time to provide feedback on assessments
As a result of maximizing their planning time, co-teachers can also better execute their responsibilities.
3. Designate Roles for Virtual Scenarios
Co-teaching roles should be flexible. What works for one lesson may not be the best structure for the next, especially in a virtual classroom.
The following models help co-teachers navigate different lessons:
- ‘One Teach, One Moderate’: One teacher gives direct instruction, and the other monitors the chat forum, where students might ask questions for clarification.
- ‘Parallel Teaching’: Co-teachers divide the class into two breakout rooms and provide direct instruction in the same format.
- ‘Alternative Teaching’: Similar to ‘Parallel Teaching,’ except that groups differ in size. Both styles allow for differentiation based on groupings.
- ‘Station Teaching,’: Groups ‘travel’ from one breakout room to another, where one teacher is available to model a task, provide feedback, or facilitate discussion.
4. PRESENT AS EQUALS
Our last tip has less to do with tools and more to do with teamwork. Just like the relationship between a student and teacher can be one of the most powerful drivers of learning, the relationship between two co-teachers determines the effectiveness of a learning environment.
CONCLUSION
One way to convey a sense of equality and alignment is for the co-teachers to use the pronoun ‘we’ when communicating with students. Using ‘I’ indicates that one co-teacher is deciding and the other is reacting. It shows that one person sees a student’s assignment while the other doesn’t. It conveys a lack of cohesion and may prompt students to compare co-teachers. Using ‘we’ in co-teaching demonstrates a unified approach to learning.
MindWorks Collaborative would love to invite you to learn more about co-teaching in a virtual environment. Join future conversations on this topic by signing up for our community of justice-driven special educators here and sign up to get alerts for our next roundtable.
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