CO-TEACHING
AS A MODEL FOR PREPARING
CLASSROOM-READY TEACHERS
MACTE/COMTEC/MAECTE CONFERENCE
F R I D AY, A P R I L 1 7 , 2 0 1 5
SESSION AGENDA
• The teams (5 min)
• Background (5 min)
• What is co-teaching? (5 min)
• Inside a co-teaching classroom (40 min)
• Reflections (10 min)
• Strengths and opportunities
• Challenges and questions
• Questions (10 min)
THE TEAMS
Michele Fournier + Nina Batt | English
Judy Murphy + Michelle McGahan | Mathematics
(Mary O’Donnell) + Madeline Dodge | English
BACKGROUND/CONTEXT
May 2013: Conference
2013-2014: Discussions/Planning
Fall 2014: Pre-Practicum
January 2015: Launch
WHAT IS CO-TEACHING?
“Co-teaching is defined as two teachers working
together with groups of students and sharing the
planning, organization, delivery and assessment of
instruction and physical space.”
VIDEO #1: BUILDING CONFIDENCE TO
TRY NEW THINGS IN THE CLASSROOM
VIDEO #1: BUILDING CONFIDENCE TO
TRY NEW THINGS IN THE CLASSROOM
Focus Question:
- How does co-teaching
help a teacher
candidate build the
confidence to use
different instructional
methods such as
stations?
VIDEO #2: PARALLEL TEACHING AND
COLLABORATION IN THE CLASSROOM
VIDEO #2: PARALLEL TEACHING AND
COLLABORATION IN THE CLASSROOM
Focus Questions:
- How do lead teachers
utilize collaboration?
- Do students stay
engaged and focused
in their separate
groups?
- How do students
adjust to the coteaching model?
VIDEO #3: ASSUMING A LEAD ROLE IN
THE CLASSROOM
VIDEO #3: ASSUMING A LEAD ROLE IN
THE CLASSROOM
Focus Questions:
- How would you
characterize this coteaching classroom? Does
the teacher candidate still
gain valuable teaching
experience?
- How does the co-teaching
model benefit the students
and the whole classroom
environment?
STRENGTHS AND OPPORTUNITIES
• Collaboration before, during, and after the lesson
• More fluid transition between lead roles
• Benefits both teachers and students
• Increased levels of support and feedback for teacher
candidate
• Good for kids in the classroom!
CHALLENGES AND QUESTIONS
• Is the teacher candidate ready? What’s too much?
What’s not enough? How do you know?
• How do we frame this work with potential employers?
• Can this work with every pair? Can you do this without
building relationships? What is the role of personalities?
…PLUS many of the typical challenges of student
teaching, such as navigating grading, expectations, etc.
with another person!
QUESTIONS FOR THE TEAMS
EXTRA VIDEOS/PHOTOS
Co-planning session
Parallel teaching in action