Our typical co-teaching day looks like this: We utilize Google Slides to present the day’s lesson and we begin by either reviewing vocabulary in the unit or we activate previously learned knowledge with an opener. Then we explore new topics with a Problem of the Day (POD) task. The POD gives students the opportunity to think creatively on how to solve the problem on their own while we walk around and facilitate; both of us providing accommodations as needed. After exploring the concept, we like to check in and model the problem before releasing our students to work on the problem sets in their groups. In the beginning, we utilize side-by-side teaching, which allows us to bounce ideas off one another. We both will show examples on the board or guide students to model their work on the board, before releasing our students to work on their own. The students get to see us working as a team and it gives us the opportunity to model mathematical thinking in two different ways!

During their problem sets, this is where we release the students and transition to parallel teaching! Ms. Neuner’s group sits at our kidney table with a dry erase board easel and her group automatically knows to come to her! Together, Ms. Neuner and her students complete each problem. Mrs. Goodpaster’s group gathers down to the rug and uses the whiteboard to complete the problems as a group. The rest of our students have the choice to work independently or with a partner in their group. This ensures that each student is getting exactly what they need to succeed! In our eyes this is what equity looks like. Additionally, we include one another in the planning and delivery process; always checking in to see what our students need to learn and how we can help get them there.

Our students seem to love the way we teach math. Ms. Neuner’s students feel calm knowing that she can keep it at a different pace so they are able to follow along and utilize tools they need to succeed, such as manipulatives or more direct instruction. All of our students know that they have two math teachers there to support and help them during our class period. We wanted to be as inclusive as possible. We hope that when someone walks into our class period, they are not able to differentiate who the general education teacher is and the special education teacher is. It is evident that our students are benefiting from this co-teaching model due to them mastering most of our standards on assessments! We couldn’t imagine teaching without the other!

This is what our normal slides look like on a daily basis: