Teaching with Another Teaching Artist: Styles and Best Practices

Explore different models for team teaching and pick the model(s) that will best meet the needs of your students and your lesson.

Teaching with Another Teaching Artist: Styles and Best Practices
Teaching with Another Teaching Artist: Styles and Best Practices
Back to All Resources
  • Planning
  • Classroom Partners

Teaching with Another Teaching Artist: Styles and Best Practices

When team teaching with another Teaching Artist, discuss how you want to work together in the Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classroom. This resource contains different team teaching models. Keep in mind that you may want to use multiple models in one lesson plan.

Quick Takeaways

Try

Be honest with your partner about how you are feeling, and where you are—mentally, physically, emotionally—that day.

Try

Celebrate and lift up your partner’s artistry and successful teaching moments.

Try

Assigning Roles in Transitions: Teaching Artists decide in advance who will lead the transition into each activity and then will ‘go with the flow’ within the activities.

Collaborating Teaching Artists

When team teaching with another Teaching Artist, discuss how you want to work together in the classroom. Keep in mind that you may want to use multiple means of team teaching in one lesson plan.

Once you figure out how you want to work with your partner, then consider how to incorporate the Classroom Professionals (General Education Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Paraprofessionals, and Related Service Providers).

Top Three Styles for Working in ICT

These collaborative teaching models are more conducive for differentiating instruction and giving additional attention.

  • One Teaching Artist leads an activity and the other supports. This support can include side-coaching students, modeling concepts, scribing, highlighting visuals etc.
  • This style works well when one Teaching Artist has specific expertise in the art form/concept or when the content of the lesson is complex and students may need additional one-on-one support or side coaching.

  • Teaching Artists split students into groups and each Teaching Artist leads a group. This can be done to teach two different things to each group, or to differentiate the way something is being taught. This style is often utilized in the ‘creation’ part of a lesson plan or a residency to generate or rehearse content. Parallel teaching could work well for students more comfortable participating in a smaller group.

  • Students and the content/tasks are divided into three or more groups. Each Teaching Artist (and any other Classroom Professional assisting with instruction) teaches one section of content, while the remaining sections are focused on independent practice activities. Students rotate between all of the stations.
  • This style is helpful for creating more student choice and is an opportunity for self-regulation. It may be difficult for students with sensory sensitivity as stations may feel chaotic compared to a typical class setting.

Other Styles of Co-Teaching

Here are some additional co-teaching options that may work for you and your partner.

  • Teaching Artists agree that they will be prepared to lead all parts of the lesson plan and will decide in the moment who will take the lead or who will be in charge of facilitating and/or supporting during each activity.
  • This style may be best suited for classrooms with a wide variety of needs where flexibility is paramount. This usually works best when Teaching Artists have taught together before and have built a strong relationship and understanding of one another’s teaching styles.

  • Teaching Artists will assign who will lead each section in advance, with an understanding that the other Teaching Artist may jump in to support, clarify, or model when inspired.

  • Teaching Artists decide in advance who will lead the transition into each activity and then will ‘go with the flow’ within the activities.
  • This model works well for lesson plans with many transitions or for Teaching Artists who want to provide a lot of flexibility to respond to the reality of the classroom but work well within a set structure.

  • Both Teaching Artists or one Teaching Artists is “in-role” as a character. This style of teaching allows for effective modelling and is also useful to theatricalize an artistic concept. If only one Teaching Artist is in role, the other Teaching Artist may be in charge of providing context, giving instructions, “introducing” the special guest, or hot-seating/interviewing the special guest.

Best Practices for Planning and Teaching with a Collaborating Teaching Artist

When planning, ask helpful questions of your partner:

  • What about this lesson plan excites you?
  • Is there anything that you are nervous about in this lesson plan?
  • Do you have any team teaching pet peeves?
  • What do you need from your teaching partner to feel successful and supported?
  • Do you have any teaching goals you are working on right now?
  • Do you have any artistic goals you are working on right now?
  • Do you have any specific needs that could be accommodated?

Be honest with your partner about how you are feeling, and where you are at.

  • e.g, “I am worried about having enough time to feel fully prepared to teach this” OR “I don’t feel very comfortable with this content” OR “Sometimes I have a tendency to take over if I feel like something isn’t going the way I planned and I forget to check in with my partner, if I do that, please feel free to make me aware,” etc.

Be understanding and graceful if something goes wrong.

  • Move forward in the moment and reflect on how you could have collaborated better after the fact. Try to let go of what came before.

Make eye contact while teaching.

  • Be transparent with your partner if your plan isn’t going the way you expected.
  • Say “I would like to try something new, is that ok?” OR “I wonder if we need to change course, let’s check in.” Don’t feel like you can’t do this in front of students or Classroom Professionals—this models positive collaboration and interaction for your students.

Celebrate and lift up your partner’s artistry and successful teaching moments.

Decide in advance who will be in charge, and share tasks equally.

  • logistical/administrative/teaching tasks

Breathe together, especially if things don’t go as planned.

Be kind, generous, and assume good intent.

Remote Teaching and Learning Tip:

Additional Questions to Consider when Preparing for Distance Learning:

  • Who will be in charge of what technical elements? (e.g., admitting participants into the room, spotlighting participants, sharing screens, assigning breakout rooms, playing music, monitoring the chat, posting instructions into the chat)
  • Will these roles change at any point in class?
  • What is each Teaching Artist’s personal tech set up? How is their internet connection?

Reflecting with your partner

Especially when team teaching, it’s important to make time to reflect on how things went. If this is built into your planning and post-teaching schedule, it can easily become a part of your routine.

  • Check in prior to teaching to make sure each Teaching Artist has time to reflect immediately following their classes. If there is no time, schedule a phone call or coffee date for the future.
  • When planning, share your goals. Start your reflection by checking in on whether those goals were met.
  • Give feedback by sharing one positive, one question and one suggestion.
  • Tell your partner one thing that you noticed about their facilitation that you loved.
  • Give specific praise instead of general.
  • Ask, “How could I have supported you more?”
  • Listen deeply.
  • Reflect on a moment in the classroom with inquiry.
  • If you think something is important to talk about, it probably is.
  • Use an “I” statement: “I felt this way when…”
  • Ask, “Was there a sticky moment?” or “Was there a moment that felt funky, strange?”
  • Ask, “If that happened again, how would we do it better/differently?”
  • Realize the reality of different “vibes” and personalities; it might not be a totally congruent fit with your teaching partner. How do you make the best of it and play to each other’s strengths?
  • Recognize and appreciate difference versus right/wrong.
  • Hold space for questions around culture and prior knowledge.

External Resources

book icon representing readable resource Station Teaching and Alternative Teaching: Two Effective Co-Teaching Instructional Models

Related Content

Planning Meeting Sample Agenda

Classroom Partners

Use this planning meeting sample agenda to have a productive residency planning meeting to learn more about your students…

Co-Generating Goals with Classroom Professionals

Classroom Partners

Use the goals of the Classroom Professionals you are working with to support or inform your lesson plans to…

Planning Meeting Preparation by Role

Classroom Partners

Plan for a productive planning meeting by understanding each person's role and the information they bring to the meeting