Co-Planning

Co-planning is where two teachers who are going to teach together use one of the models of co-teaching to decide how they will implement instruction to meet the needs of all students. During the planning process the general goals of the lesson are developed along with ways to meet the academic and/or behavioral needs of individual students. Depending on the type of co-teaching used, the amount of planning time that is needed varies.

Co-planning is very important for co-taught teams to effectively meet the needs of all students. Without co-planning, lessons that are developed may just address the general needs of students in the classroom. If students in the classroom have unique academic or behavioral needs, without co-planning, accommodations may not be developed to ensure these specific students' needs are met in the co-taught setting.

What are some strategies to assist in co-planning?
When you start to plan for instruction, remember to consider using the 5 different types of co-teaching. You also may want to use the co-planning book which is available from Knowledge by Design or from the (CEC website). This book is a tool that allows the general educator to plan lessons as he or she always does and then for the special educator to write accommodations into the lesson. A sample of the format that is used in the book is provided below. In addition the book contains numerous other tools you might want to use to assist with the co-teaching process. Here is the process presented in the book that should be followed in a co-taught lesson.

Page 1 - Completed by the General Educator

This page is the typical lesson plan a general educator would create. However, for co-teaching to be effective the general educators must plan their lessons at a minimum a week in advance. They do not need to provide detailed lessons but at least a thumbnail sketch of what they will teach and students will learn in the upcoming week. With this level of preparation, more accommodations can be made for students with disabilities. 

Day

Lesson Big Idea/Goal

Activities

Assessment

Monday

3 Digit Conversion

Teacher led activities on process on the board

Students will complete 10 problems with 90% accuracy

Page 2- Completed by the Special Educator in relation to what has been written by the general educator for Monday

This type of planning is what ensures special educators are focusing on "what is special about special education." If the special educator goes in and only follows the general educator's plans, then there is not a need for individualized instruction. Instead, the special educator should know students' individual learning and behavioral needs and be planning for those needs. 

Type of Co-Teaching

Academic or Behavioral Modifications

Notes - Either teacher can write comments in this section

One Lead-One Support - I will work with individual students and then maybe go into an alternative teaching model if time and students are struggling.

I will provide Phoebe and Alex with a calculator.I will be offering Tasha points throughout class for on-task and quiet behavior. Sam will need to give his responses verbally to his peer mentor who will write his responses for him.

I am worried about Zachary - He is one of our top students, and I think he is bored. Can we talk about this at our planning on Wed.

Thanks for the new markers for the class dry erase boards?