Alyssa Evans is an IXL Professional Learning Specialist with experience as a middle and high school teacher.
As schools work to support a diverse set of learners, co-teaching is becoming more common. Often co-teachers are when general education teachers and special education are paired up to work together in the same classroom, but co-teaching can look different from classroom to classroom.
In fact, there are six well-known co-teaching models! Let’s take a look at three of those models, parallel teaching, station teaching, and alternative teaching, to see how IXL supports co-taught classrooms!
1. Parallel teaching
In this model, the class is separated into two groups, and both teachers cover the same information simultaneously in different sections of the room. This allows teachers to work with smaller groups and pay more attention to students’ individual needs.
For parallel teaching, co-teachers typically plan the lesson together, but deliver it separately. The lesson may be exactly the same for both groups, or it may be adjusted to meet the needs of students in each group.
How IXL supports parallel teaching
- Creating groups: IXL’s Diagnostic Strand Analysis is a report that pinpoints each student’s level of understanding across key strands. With this knowledge in hand, you can easily split your class into groups based on their current understanding. Or use the Trouble Spots report’s pre-made learning groups based on what students are struggling with.
- Lesson planning: While planning the lesson together, you can use IXL skill plans to quickly find the activity that matches the lesson. For example, if you’re planning to cover a chapter of your textbook, you can see the exact skills that perfectly match the content within that chapter. Then, you can preview each skill and select the option that will work best for each group. Your co-teachers will see the skills you’ve suggested and skill plans you’ve pinned for co-taught students.
- Progress monitoring: When students are working in groups, you can use Live Classroom to see their responses and step in to help when needed. If each group is working on a different skill, you can use the “Group by skill” toggle to easily sort your class. Co-teachers will also be able to see their shared students’ progress on skills from a variety of reports like the Questions Log or the Score Grid.
2. Station teaching
In this model, teachers set up different learning stations in various areas of the classroom. Each teacher instructs at their own station, and there is usually at least one station where students work independently.
Station teaching allows students to get support from their teachers in small groups. This model is especially valuable when small groups are made up of students with similar strengths and challenges.
How IXL supports station teaching
- Working with small groups: Make one of your stations an IXL Group Jam! During a Group Jam you and your co-teacher will be able to see students working on the same skills at the same time, making it easy to spot and correct misconceptions in the moment.
- Personalizing independent practice: IXL’s Recommendations wall provides an excellent learning opportunity for an independent student work station. Each student’s wall is full of personalized skill recommendations that are just right for them. You can have students choose any skill from their Recommendations wall, and feel confident that it will help them grow from where they are.
3. Alternative teaching
In this model, one teacher leads a majority of the class in large group instruction, while the other teacher works with a small group of students in a different space. Alternative teaching can be a great way to provide additional support to students who are struggling with a concept. It also creates opportunities for re-teaching, reviewing, and pre-teaching.
How IXL supports alternative teaching
- Reviewing in small groups: In addition to the Diagnostic Strand Analysis, the Trouble Spots report is a great way to identify where students need extra help. The Trouble Spots report automatically groups students based on their current understanding of the topic, and provides the exact material to review with them. By suggesting Trouble Spots skills to your co-taught students your co-teacher will also be able to review students’ progress in those skills.
- Scaffolding your instruction: When you view IXL skills by topic, you’ll be able to see all of the skills on a given concept across all grade levels. Each skill in a topic builds upon each other to create a well-rounded understanding of the content. This allows you to have students working on similar skills and concepts, but at the level that will be most conducive to their growth.
We know that effective co-teaching can have a huge impact on students’ abilities to learn and grow. With the many tools available to you on IXL, you can feel confident that you and your co-teacher can successfully implement any of these co-teaching models!
Looking for even more implementation ideas? Check out IXL’s implementation guides and other teacher resources.