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Jennie J. JonesEmily Moore’s Updates
Update #5: The Importance of Co-Teaching
Co-teaching can generally have a negative perception as one of the teachers in the room may feel overpowered. From my experience, one of the most important aspects of co-teaching is communication. This is my second year co-teaching, and it has been great. With a higher ratio of students, my co-teacher and I can accommodate students in the same time setting. We also share teaching the concepts so that students are receiving information from not one but two highly qualified teachers. Not only is my co-teacher highly qualified, but my co-teacher is also SPED certified which helps students meet their accommodational goals. I have seen higher success in our classroom with two teachers present. I also would like to point out that when we teach a topic, we share knowledge from both sides. I may say something and then my co-teacher will expand on what I said to give students more facts on the topic. Our knowledge bounces off of each other creating an engaging, effective learning environment. The image below presents the benefits of co-teaching for the students, teachers, and student-teachers.
Co-teaching has significant benefits for the students that sit in our classroom. According to research, students who are exposed to co-teaching are better equipped for the future they will face (Hurd & Weilbacher, 2017). Research also claims that co-teaching enhances interactions between educators, improves teaching practices and preparation, and specifically improves instruction for students in the middle grades as that is where we see the most presence of co-teachers (Hurd & Weilbacher, 2017). One teacher in the room can feel an overwhelming wave of stress, especially with a higher ratio of students. Grading, teacher proximity, monitoring students, lecturing, etc., can easily bombard one teacher. With co-teaching, responsibilities are shared. I find this to be one of the most effective teaching practices.
References
Co-Teaching Classroom. (n.d.). Ppt Download. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://slideplayer.com/slide/5696501/
Hurd, E., & Weilbacher, G. (2017). " You Want Me to Do What?" The Benefits of Co-Teaching in the Middle Level. Middle Grades Review, 3(1), n1.
A united front! This has long been a huge concept in the military, and in a lot of homes where mom and dad needed to put on a united front to show the kids that they were on the same page.
I see this as the same thing as co-teaching, where the teachers come at their lessons the same way, and with the same goals in mind. This lets the learners know that the expectations are the same no matter what classroom they are in.
It also allows for the teachers to help each other with lesson plans, time away and filling in for each other. I also believe it gives them more time to spend with each student because the lesson plans are done together shortening the time needed.
Great article with great knowledge provided.