Introducing a new resource for co-teachers and school leaders: the Co-Teaching Lesson Plan Builder! Designed for inclusive education and collaborative planning, it supports special educators and general education teachers with clear implementation strategies aligned to best practices in co-teaching.

To Co-Teachers and School Administrators:

Co-teachers understand that the collaborative potential is enormous, but the logistical reality is often stressful. Finding the time to plan together, determining who does what, and ensuring true parity, especially when the special education teacher may not be comfortable with the content, can be a huge barrier to success. Many educators are still unsure how to effectively realize the huge potential of having two licensed professionals in one classroom.

The goal of effective co-teaching is to move beyond mere presence in the classroom to create a dynamic, engaging, and highly effective learning environment that fosters rigorous learning in an inclusive setting.

We understand the complexity involved, which is why we created the Co-Teaching Lesson Plan Builder, a new tool designed to transform your collaborative planning sessions from chaotic catch-ups into strategic, outcomes-driven blueprints.

The Problem: When Co-Teaching Fails to Reach its Potential

Historically, co-teaching models, even the popular ones like One Teach, One Assist, have often led to the specialist or special educator adopting a subordinate role as an assistant. This happens particularly when clearly defined examples of how to implement the models are missing. Teachers struggle to use more than one or two approaches consistently.

For administrators, this common pitfall means you are investing in a co-teaching initiative without maximizing the talents and professional skills of the adults involved, an outcome that risks the entire program’s success.

The Solution: Planning Beyond the Basics

The Co-Teaching Lesson Plan Builder is built on the foundation of maximizing teacher strengths and ensuring parity through highly specific, ready-to-implement scenarios. Drawing heavily on dozens of detailed strategies outlined in leading best practices, this tool focuses on The HOW of Co-Teaching, providing explicit titles and clear roles for every adult in the room.

How the Builder Works for Co-Teachers:

• Eliminate Role Confusion: The Builder helps clarify exactly what each teacher does during the lesson, offering specific titles to minimize any doubt as to roles and responsibilities.
  
• Maximize Diverse Talents: Instead of defaulting to the specialist taking the assistant role, the tool pulls from proven, precise strategies, many of which do not require the specialist to possess strong content knowledge. For instance, it might suggest One Teach—One Summarize, where the co-teacher listens to the core content being delivered and then summarizes the information to enhance student comprehension using different language or perspectives.
  
• Drive Engagement and Rigor: The Builder suggests high-impact implementations designed to foster professional respect and parity. It will recommend powerful techniques like Two Teach and Debate, where both teachers challenge, present opposite viewpoints, or play devil’s advocate to make class discussion more exciting and foster critical thinking. Or, for review, it might suggest Teach Half Then Switch, allowing both educators to focus on smaller groups for targeted instruction on specific skills versus content rigor.
  
• Instant Accessibility: You receive a structured lesson plan outline that delineates who leads which segment of instruction, allowing you to bypass hours of painstaking co-planning and utilize your limited face-to-face time for adjustments and individualized supports.

Benefits for School Leaders: Intentional Implementation and Staff Maximization

When implemented correctly, co-teaching works, but it requires administrators to commit to correct implementation and support teachers in the process. This tool provides the necessary structure.

• Fidelity to Best Practices: This tool ensures that your co-teaching teams are making intentional choices about which implementation to use, rather than “punting” or relying on the common, but often ineffective, One Teach, One Assist model. The ability to vary approaches based on lesson goals, student needs, and teacher comfort level is essential for successful, well-scheduled co-teaching.
  
• Effective Use of Certified Staff: By providing a clear framework for specific implementations, such as those that require only minimal content expertise from the specialist, administrators can be confident that two certified teachers are fully utilizing their professional talents to support rigorous learning and student growth, rather than having one teacher acting as a “glorified paraprofessional”.
  
• Support for Collaboration and Parity: The Builder provides a common, structured language for planning, to enhance communication and foster mutual respect and parity between team members.

Stop losing valuable planning time struggling to coordinate roles and map out complex activities. Give your teachers the clarity they need to achieve high standards and show growth across all learners.

Ready to maximize your co-teaching potential and save crucial planning time? Discover how the Co-Teaching Lesson Plan Builder supports inclusive classrooms, special educators, and co-teaching teams with step-by-step planning tools.

Frequently Asked Questions About Co-Teaching Planning

Q1: What is the primary purpose of effective co-teaching?

Effective co-teaching is defined as two or more certified teachers working together to provide instruction, typically in a heterogeneous inclusive setting. Its main purpose is to create a dynamic, engaging, and highly effective learning environment that promotes rigorous learning in an inclusive setting. When co-teaching is implemented correctly, it works significantly better than other teaching models to accelerate the achievement of all students,.

Q2: Why is the traditional “One Teach, One Assist” model often ineffective or discouraged?

While the “One Teach, One Assist” approach requires minimal co-planning, it is considered the least effective co-teaching approach and is often discouraged,. This model frequently results in the specialist or special education teacher adopting a subordinate role as an assistant. Consequently, students may consider one teacher the “real” teacher and the other teacher as the teacher’s aide. Furthermore, the supporting teacher often becomes distracted from the core lesson, dealing with student behavior or helping students who are off-track.

Q3: Does a co-teacher need to be a content area expert to successfully co-teach?

No, a co-teacher does not always require strong content expertise to be effective. Many high-impact co-teaching implementations, such as One Teach—One Summarize or Two Teach and Debate, are specifically designed so that the specialist does not need strong content knowledge,. For instance, in One Teach—One Summarize, the co-teacher only requires the ability to think and be a good listener to summarize the content.

Q4: How do specific co-teaching implementations differ from general co-teaching models?

Co-teaching models have evolved and, without clearly defined examples, educators often struggle to use more than one or two approaches consistently. The focus shifts to defining precise implementations, often called “The HOW of Co-Teaching,” which provide highly specific titles and scenarios to eliminate any doubt about each teacher’s role during the lesson. This shift helps fully utilize the talents of all adults and foster professional respect.

Q5: How important is dedicated planning time for a successful co-teaching partnership?

Dedicated co-planning time is essential and should be considered sacred. If co-teachers do not carve out time to plan together, their instructional effectiveness is minimized. Without this time, it is difficult to implement a successful co-taught classroom that incorporates state standards. Teachers need time to determine appropriate accommodations and adaptations. That said, The How of Co-teaching Lesson Plan Builder saves hours of co-planning time. The dedicated time you have can be as efficient as both of you coming together and deciding what strategies in the generated lesson plan you’ll use or not use. Have the discussion and move forward from there. It’s a huge time saver.

CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of co-teaching strategies and resources to maximize student success!. Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Best Practices in Co-teaching and Collaboration: the HOW of Implementing the Models

The post Why Co-Teaching Often Falls Short, and How to Fix It appeared first on Susan Fitzell.

Introduction: 

Teaching fractions to third graders can be a dynamic and engaging experience when co-teaching strategies are thoughtfully implemented. Co-teaching offers a powerful way to reach diverse learners by leveraging the strengths of two educators working collaboratively. This lesson plan integrates two highly effective co-teaching approaches—One Teach, One Summarize and Teach Half Then Switch—Skills & Rigor—to ensure that all students develop a strong foundational understanding of fractions. These strategies not only enhance student engagement but also allow for differentiated instruction that meets the needs of learners at varying levels of readiness.

In the One Teach, One Summarize approach, one teacher delivers the primary instruction while the other teacher listens actively, takes notes, and then summarizes key points to reinforce learning. This method strengthens student comprehension by allowing them to hear the information twice, in two distinct ways. Teach Half Then Switch—Skills & Rigor divides the class into two groups, with each teacher delivering instruction focused on a specific skill or concept. After a set time, students switch groups, ensuring that they receive well-rounded instruction in multiple formats. This approach allows students to interact with both teachers and engage in different types of learning experiences.

By incorporating these co-teaching strategies, we create a lesson that is not only structured and effective but also fosters collaboration, active engagement, and a deeper understanding of fractions. This lesson is designed to support educators in making fractions meaningful and accessible for all students, while also strengthening the partnership between co-teachers. Whether you are a general education teacher or a special educator, this lesson plan offers practical strategies to enhance student learning and create a supportive, interactive classroom environment.

Lesson Plan: Teaching Fractions in a 3rd-Grade Classroom

Lesson Title: Understanding Fractions Through Co-Teaching Strategies

Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Standards:

• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NF.A.1: Understand a fraction 1/b as one part of a whole divided into b equal parts.
• CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NF.A.3: Explain equivalence of fractions and compare fractions by reasoning about their size.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will understand the concept of fractions as parts of a whole.
• Students will identify and represent fractions using models and number lines.
• Students will compare simple fractions and recognize equivalent fractions.

Co-Teaching Strategies:

1. One Teach, One Summarize
2. Teach Half Then Switch—Skills & Rigor

Lesson Sequence:

Warm-Up (10 Minutes) – One Teach, One Summarize

• Teacher A presents a short introduction to fractions using visuals (e.g., pizza slices, fraction bars).
• Teacher B listens and takes notes to summarize key points.
• Teacher B then provides a concise summary of what was just taught and checks for understanding through student responses.
• Quick question prompts:
  • “What is a fraction?”
  • “Can someone describe 1/4 using an example?”
  • “Why do we need fractions in real life?”

Direct Instruction (15 Minutes) – Teach Half Then Switch

• Class is split into two groups.
• Teacher A teaches one half of the students using visual fraction models.
• Teacher B teaches the other half using number lines.
• After 10 minutes, students switch teachers and learn the other method.
• Mini-checks for understanding: Students solve a simple problem related to each method.

Guided Practice (15 Minutes) – Teach Half Then Switch

• Teacher A leads a hands-on fraction activity with half of the students using fraction circles.
• Teacher B guides the other half in a comparison activity using fraction strips.
• After 7-8 minutes, students switch groups and complete the alternate activity.

Independent Practice (10 Minutes) – One Teach, One Summarize

• Teacher A provides students with practice problems to reinforce learning.
• Teacher B walks around to check for understanding and takes notes.
• At the end, Teacher B summarizes the main takeaways and provides quick review questions.

Closure (5 Minutes)

• Review key concepts as a class using a fraction quiz game.
• Ask students to reflect on their learning: “What was easy? What was challenging?”
• Assign a simple take-home activity: Draw a picture representing a fraction and write a sentence about it.

Assessment:

• Informal assessment through teacher observations and questioning.
• Exit ticket: Write one thing you learned about fractions today.
• Review independent practice work to check understanding.

Materials Needed:

• Fraction circles, bars, and strips
• Whiteboards and markers
• Chart paper for visual modeling
• Printed fraction number lines
• Small dry-erase boards for quick checks

Differentiation Strategies:

• Provide extra support with manipulatives for students struggling with fraction concepts.
• Offer challenge problems for advanced students (e.g., introducing mixed numbers).
• Use visual aids and interactive activities to engage all learning styles.

This lesson effectively uses co-teaching strategies to maximize student engagement and comprehension of fractions. By implementing these collaborative techniques, educators can create an inclusive and supportive learning environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed. With thoughtful planning and execution, co-teachers can build a classroom that not only strengthens mathematical understanding but also fosters a spirit of teamwork and shared responsibility for learning.

CLICK HERE to discover a wealth of co-teaching strategies and resources to maximize student success!. Bring Susan to your campus! Featured seminar – Best Practices in Co-teaching and Collaboration: the HOW of Implementing the Models

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It happened again…

…and it only took until March!

Reflecting on my 20 plus years of coaching co-teaching teams, I’ve recognized a pivotal trend: the trans-formative power of ongoing, long-term, collaborative coaching for co-teaching pairs. 

Today was another reminder. I was working with an elementary school. I spent the day observing co-teaching pairs and debriefing with them afterwards. It’s March, and I saw the best co-teaching today that I’ve seen since September. Co-teaching implementation almost always shifts from the  One Teach, One Assist model to more effective implementations by March when co-teaching teams have ongoing coaching.

Schools often approach me to deliver comprehensive presentations on co-teaching, usually lasting a day or two. These training sessions are packed with content, strategies, and collaborative insights. Following these, I’m typically asked to engage directly with co-teaching pairs and provide them with personalized coaching. Initial requests usually involve having me observe a class and then offering a single coaching session, post-presentation, aiming to reach as many teachers as possible. 

One visit is rarely enough

However, I’ve consistently observed that this one-off coaching approach rarely leads to tangible, lasting improvements. It’s akin to those one-day workshops that offer no subsequent support – both are insufficient for fostering genuine change.

Schools often end up disappointed, witnessing their educators struggling to fully adopt and implement co-teaching implementations. They mistakenly conclude that co-teaching and coaching are ineffective. They don’t realizing that the real issue lies in the lack of continuous support.

In my early years as a consultant, I would accommodate a school’s request to have me observe and coach different teams every time I arrived in their district. I was so disheartened when, at the end of a year of coaching, I realized that the majority of the teams I worked with had made no progress. However, when there are teams, in those same school districts, whom I coached every time I visited, I saw growth. Often, this happened because those co-teaching teams demanded that they see me every time. They told their administrators that if they were going to co-teach they expected me to be there to support them. Because of these outspoken teachers, I have seen the difference ongoing, long-term coaching makes in comparison to one-off coaching.

A new approach to promote success

Several years ago, I began informing schools that I wouldn’t coach teams “only once” over the course of the school year. I explained my reasons, sharing that it didn’t feel right to accept their money knowing that the approach they requested would fail to result in the change they sought. This decision might have cost me some coaching jobs, but I could not, in good conscience, do something I knew wouldn’t deliver the results the schools wanted. I prioritize delivering real value to my clients, supporting teachers, and ensuring all students, especially those struggling, receive the support they need. 

From my perspective, the key to success in co-teaching lies in sustained, ongoing coaching and support, particularly when schools select co-teaching pairs who are both willing and in need of guidance. 

Focus on those who are willing

Instead of focusing on the most resistant pairs, targeting the more receptive teams for regular coaching – ideally monthly or at least every six weeks throughout the academic year – can lead to significant progress. It’s a process, and sometimes it’s not until March that we start to see the fruits of our labor. It takes that long for co-teaching pairs to truly embrace a range of strategies, improve their collaboration, and begin to deliver more effective instruction to support student growth.

This journey has reinforced my belief in the critical importance of ongoing, embedded coaching. It’s about more than just a single touchpoint; it’s about building a foundation of trust, continual learning, and adaptation. Schools should prioritize depth over breadth to ensure that each co-teaching pair receives the focused, consistent support they need to evolve and succeed. 

This commitment can transform the educational experience, foster a collaborative environment where teachers grow together, enhance their effectiveness and, ultimately, enrich the learning experiences of their students.

Bring Susan to your campus!

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Sometimes it’s hard to know how best to work together in support of students when you and your co-teacher seem to be so different.

There are almost always things that you can do, or ways to make the co-teaching relationship work, even when you and your partner appear to be operating from different planets.

In this podcast episode, I share a story about one such team and how we found ways for them to work together and support each other in ways that still helped all the students in the classroom.

Bring Susan to your campus!

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#13 Both Teach Half—Same Objective, Same Way – The HOW of Co-teaching

This implementation clearly describes the Parallel Teaching co-teaching model. Each co-teacher takes half the class and instructs the students, using the same methods, to teach the same content. They are working together in parallel.

Listen to learn more.

Specialist expertise required: Depends on the goal of the co-teaching implementation. If the specialist is facilitating review or discussion, moderate content understanding is necessary. If the specialist is teaching concepts critical to understanding the lesson’s objective, then the specialist will need a solid understanding of the concepts he or she will be teaching.

Planning time required: This implementation requires planning time. Planning can be done face-to-face or in the cloud. Teachers need to plan together to ensure they are both teaching the same objective in the same way. Communication is essential to ensure they both agree on what they are trying to achieve as it relates to the curriculum.

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#8 One Guide Tech and One Facilitate Discussion – The HOW of Co-teaching

In this implementation of the co-teaching models, one co-teacher presents instruction and leads discussion based on student real-time responses.

During the discussion, the other co-teacher monitors the computer, interacts with students, responds to student participation, uses questioning techniques to foster critical thinking, and provokes responses from even the most challenging students.

Listen to learn how.

Specialist content expertise required:
• The level of content understanding required directly correlates with the academic level of engagement with students via the technology.
• Strong content knowledge may be required to facilitate discussion.
• Co-teacher guiding technology must be comfortable with the technology and understand the apps and programs used.

Planning time required: Minimal to substantial, depending on the topic, understanding of the technology and software, and lesson objective. For instance, if using Kahootz or a game app, time is involved in creating the questions or finding ready-made games. If backchanneling, minimal prep time may be necessary. However, the time required depends on multiple factors.

Bring Susan to your campus!

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Ella and Manny, a co-teaching team at a middle school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, found themselves in just this situation. I brainstormed with them and we came up with a variation on “Teach Half, Then Switch” called “One Review, One Run Lab.”

During the class period, Manny took half the students and reviewed a topic that was essential to the curriculum but that did not need lab time to understand. This could be a direct-teach type of review. Sometimes, Manny would play a PowerPoint version of Jeopardy to go over the forensic techniques they were learning.

At the same time, Ella took the other half of the students and ran the lab. To make sure enough stations and materials were available, she had the students group in triads rather than in pairs.

The next day, Manny’s group of students switched over to Ella and the hands-on lab portion of the lesson, while Ella’s group of students switched to Manny and the review session.

Teach Half then Switch: One Review, One Run Lab can be used not just in science classrooms but in any class where a hands-on practice is essential to understanding the lessons. Culinary arts, electronics, programming and web development are a few examples. Not only does it help manage larger class sizes and limited materials, it reduces the teacher-student ratio during an activity that requires more focus. Safety is increased as is the opportunity for deeper learning.

Tips:

• Plan ahead for this co-teaching variation: Will you need more than one classroom for this activity? How long will the split session run—one day or two, or more? Which co-teacher will handle the hands-on activity? Who will handle the review session? Make sure both activities align with the goals of the lesson and curriculum.
• Divide the class into mixed-ability halves so everyone learns equally, but do so strategically: in the lab portion, those with lower ability can be paired with those of higher ability. Or, if two students tend to play off each other, place one in each group.

For Ella and Manny, this variation of Teach Half, Then Switch helped them to make sure all of their students got hands-on lab time with the materials available. It also gave them the opportunity to work more closely with and support their students.

Explore even more tips, tools, and resources for collaboration at TheHowofCo-teaching.com!

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One Teach and One Interpret – The HOW of Co-teaching

It is very possible that a specialist in the classroom, who knows little about the lesson content, may use his or her teaching skills to provide instruction that reaches more learners and is increasingly memorable. This co-teaching implementation supports the specialist in learning the curriculum. It is a win-win for everyone.

Specialist content expertise required: Minimal to moderate, depending on content.

Planning time required: Minimal. Can be implemented quickly and informally without preparation.

Bring Susan to your campus!

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One Lead and One Student Support – The HOW of Co-teaching

Many of us are familiar with the One Teach, One Assist co-teaching model. An implementation named One Lead and One Student Support may appear to be just another way of saying the same thing. It’s not. This co-teaching implementation shifts mindsets, expands thinking, and takes co-teaching up a level.

Specialist content expertise required: Minimal to moderate, depending on content.

Planning time required: Minimal. Can be implemented quickly and informally without preparation.

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One Teach – One Collect Data – The HOW of Co-teaching

This co-teaching implementation makes data-driven decision-making seamless. Co-teachers decide in advance which types of information to collect, how to collect that information, and how they might use it to adjust the lesson. Then, they use this effective co-teaching strategy to make it happen!

Specialist content expertise required: Minimal to moderate, depending on content.

Planning time required: Minimal. Can be implemented quickly and informally without preparation.

Bring Susan to your campus!

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