In the Coteach Lesson
Wow, what a great opportunity it was to plan this lesson and coteach it with my friend and former colleague. I was so mixed in emotions walking into the classroom. First of all, it’s not my class so I did not set any expectations, grouping of students etc. I relied on the classroom teacher to provide me with the information ahead of time so I felt prepared. She shared with me the learning progression up to this lesson and where it would be going after this lesson. This information was so helpful for me in my questioning of students in class. As a helpful hint, make sure you both are on the same page with student groupings and expectations for the lesson itself. It helped me to have worked with this teacher before and know her teacher style as well as she knew mine.
We cotaught this lesson for three periods in a row. I took the lead the first class, since I had designed the lesson. The classroom teacher helped around the room, questioned students and led them though the warm up, but the bulk of the lesson was facilitated by me. In the next class period we shared responsibility of facilitating and would constantly talk with one another throughout to determine what next steps worked best in this particular class. By the third-class period she took the lead and I contributed in a few places. It was truly a gradual release coteach and it was so fun to do with her! Throughout each class period we used a coteaching model where we talk in the middle of the lesson quickly about anything that arises. We would ask each other about timing, how we felt it was going, what question to ask next and more.
After the lesson we reflected on how we felt it went in the three different periods and how it progressed throughout. The first-class period did not make it as far in the lesson as the other two classes so we discussed how to start the next day with that class versus the others. The students did not get to demonstrate mastery in this lesson so the next day was a check for. Understanding and practice with the triangle similarities the discovered.
This coteach lesson gave me the opportunity to coteach with another teacher. After she saw me post about my experience she reached out and asked to coteach and also knew what she wanted to coteach together. I am so excited that is experience has led to other opportunities to grow myself and help other teachers grow as well.
Thanks for asking Kristina! We do not have one specific coteach model to follow but in coaching academy and through different trainings I have learned of several different models to use. For this lesson we planned the lesson together in any free moments we had. For us it worked best to discuss over the phone(we are not at the same campus) and through google docs. I arrived during her lunch so we could discuss the actual lesson coteaching and then we just did it. We did a coteaching model where you talk to each other throughout the lesson in front of the student or off to the side. I took the lead the first class and gradually released to her,…
Hi! I'm so curious about your co-teaching model and the reflection process that you use. My school has one inclusion cohort with co-teachers in each grade, but the two teachers are assigned to the cohorts without any guidance/process or common planning time. Seeing yours is a great place to start for us.