Co-Teaching Models

     Co-teaching comes in sorts of varieties, and each model serves a specific purpose. During my first two-years of co-teaching, I had not received any professional development. Therefore, my co-teacher and I had to do our own research, create co-teaching models that worked for our high school math classroom, reflect on the models and then determine any adjustments that needed to be made before trying this model again. But, I do want to assure you, all of these models that I will be sharing in this blog were not used all in one week or in one unit. Instead, we found what worked best in the high school setting, since students are so used to structure, we would continue to use direct, teacher-led instruction for about 50% of our lessons, and then utilize another model for discovery, practice, support, etc. I have chose to the four most common co-teaching models that we use in our high school math co-taught classroom.

Co-Teaching Models

Flip-Flop

The first model that my co-teacher, Jen, and I have used in the high school math setting is called Flip-Flop. In this model, two teachers have separate groups of students, Teacher 1 has Group A and Teacher 2 has Group B. They teach different concepts for a designated period of time to that group. After time is up, the students change classrooms or locations in the room, and they learn a new concept from the second teacher. 

• Benefits: Smaller student to teacher ratio, one teacher could be used as a reinforcement or enrichment station, rather than teaching a new concept, Heterogenous grouping
• Costs: What one teacher teachers cannot be a prerequisite to what the concept the second teacher introduces. A second space must be available to pull half of the class.

Flip/Flop Switch

Flip/Flop is one of my favorite models because it caters to the use of more differentiation amongst groups. In this model, Teacher 1 teaches the same lesson to both Group A and Group B. While Teacher 1 is teaching a new lesson to Group A, Teacher 2 is doing pre-teaching, reteaching or frontloading with Group B before they move on to Teacher 1 to learn the same concept Group A just learned. While Group B is with Teacher 1, Group A will go with Teacher 2 for enrichment activities that will expand on the concept introduced by Teacher 1.

• Benefits: Differentiation for high versus low groups, smaller student to teacher ratio
• Costs: Assessment from a former lesson must drive homogenous grouping, two spaces must be available to pull Group B

Alternative Teaching

Alternative teaching is a model that we use when we know there are multiple entry points that we can use to introduce a new concept. In this model, students are either assigned are get to choose how they would prefer to learn a new concept, such as visually, manipulatively, electronically, or traditionally. Therefore, the same concepts are introduced the same way, but in most cases, additional structure and support is required to ensure that understanding has been met from any discovery of properties. 

    In our co-taught classroom, this model requires quite a bit of planning and creativity. For example, we have used this in a three station setting to introduce the concept of circumference of a circle. I led a group using glow sticks, my teacher led a group using traditional teaching methods and a third group used the GeoGebra app on their Chromebook to be introduced to the concept before numbers and problem solving was required.

• Benefits: Meeting students' learning needs for different types of learners, smaller student to teacher setting
• Costs: multiple spaces needed for teaching, ample time for preparation

Team Teaching

Team teaching is a coteaching model in which there is a flow between co-teachers and there are no assigned responsibilities in the lesson. The teachers build off of one-another and are actively involved in the lesson. The lesson is shared and each teacher has the ability to interject information and ask/answer questions freely. This model was the hardest for me to adopt when I began co-teaching because of its lack of structure, but as my co-teaching and I have gotten more familiar with each others' strengths, weaknesses and tendencies, it has become the my favorite when we have students in one common setting.

• Benefits: the knowledge of both teachers are utilized, more teachers available to answer questions and anticipate misconceptions, and teachers are equally respected.
• Costs: students in larger groups can lead to more distractions, fewer opportunity for differentiation amongst students.

    All in all, there are dozens of co-teaching models that exist, but it is up to you and your co-teacher to identify which ones work best for you. My recommendation is ... don't force it! It is important to have an established relationship with your co-teacher, have a discussion about how strong you both are in the content and then make decisions from there. There have been times when I have asked my co-teacher, the special education teacher to lead a lesson as she is amazingly articulate and is a great storyteller, which is how were were introducing the properties of quadrilaterals. One the contrary, she asked me to lead our first lesson on geometric proofs because of her unfamiliarity with the theorems and postulates. According to Rexroat-Frazier and Chamberlain (2019), "despite valiant efforts, not all coteaching practices are effective, efficient or purposeful" (pg. 174). Therefore, whatever works best for you and your co-teacher will be the most beneficial for your students!!! 

References

Rexroat‐Frazier, N., & Chamberlin, S. (2019). Best practices in co‐teaching mathematics with special needs                 students. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 19(3), 173-183.