Valley High School: my first full-time teaching gig, my first true love. My colleagues and I were passionate about our low-income school where the free and reduced lunches and special education population were twice the size of those in neighboring districts. It was an uphill battle, but varied instruction and performance-based assessments finally began churning out the results we had worked for. Though try as we did, there was still a piece of the puzzle missing; our struggle to best serve students with learning and behavioral disabilities continued.
Searching for a way to meet the needs of all learners, we threw our hats in the co-teaching ring. It was a risky venture that meant the majority of our special needs students would be pushed into a regular classroom. Erin, special education, and I, Language Arts, were among the first to co-teach, a fairly new method on the scene in 2004. At that time, there wasn’t much research about the success or proper implementation of co-teaching, but our administration was supportive and we were excited to find a new way to reach more students, so we hit the ground running. Ultimately, teamwork made the dream work.
Click HERE or the graphic below for seven tips for co-teaching success, my latest on We Are Teachers!
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