Better Together: Six Instructional Formats for Co-Teaching

The goal of the Better Together co-teaching series is the creation of more inclusive classrooms in Arkansas where ALL students have equal access to the general education curriculum as well as social-emotional learning. 

The second course in this three-part series focuses on the six instructional formats recommended for providing effective co-taught instruction. In this course, we discuss the uses of each instructional format and their potential benefits and challenges. Participants will gain a better understanding of how each format works in the classroom and will learn to choose the best format to use with various lessons.

The Learning Classroom: How People Learn

This program introduces the main themes of the course. Teacher interviews and classroom footage illustrate why learning theory is at the core of good classroom instruction and demonstrate the broad spectrum of theoretical knowledge available for use in classroom practice.

The Learning Classroom: Learning As We Grow

This program examines the concept of readiness for learning and illustrates how developmental pathways - including physical, cognitive, and linguistic - all play a part in students’ learning. Featured are a first-grade teacher, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher, and a senior physics teacher, with expert commentary from University of California at Santa Cruz professor Roland Tharp and Yale University professor James P. Comer.

The Learning Classroom: Building on What We Know

This course covers how prior knowledge, expectations, context, and practice affect processing, using information, and making connections. Featured are a first-grade teacher, a ninth- and tenth-grade mathematics teacher, and a special education teacher, with expert commentary from Stanford University professor Roy Pea.

The Learning Classroom: Different Kinds of Smart

This course delves into Harvard University professor Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and describes how people have learning skills that differ in significant ways. Featured are teachers who share a class of five- through eight-year-olds, including several mainstreamed special needs students, and a ninth- and tenth-grade social studies teacher, with expert commentary from Howard Gardner.

The Learning Classroom: Feelings Count

This course introduces ways to create an emotionally safe classroom to foster learning and to deal effectively with emotions and conflicts. Featured are a fifth-grade teacher and an eighth-grade band teacher, with expert commentary from Daniel B. Goleman, author of the book, Emotional Intelligence, and Yale University Professor James P. Comer.

The Learning Classroom: The Classroom Mosaic

This program discusses how culturally responsive teaching enables students to create connections, access prior knowledge and experience, and develop competence. Featured are a sixth-grade teacher and two ninth-grade teachers, with expert commentary from University of Wisconsin professor Gloria Ladson-Billings and University of Arizona professor Luis Moll.

The Learning Classroom: Learning From Others

Based on Lev Vygotsky’s work, this course explores how learning relies on communication and interaction with others as communities of learners. The program features a fifth-grade teacher and a ninth- through twelfth-grade teacher, with expert commentary from Tufts University professor David Elkind, Yale University professor James P. Comer, and University of California at Santa Cruz professor Roland Tharp.

The Learning Classroom: Watch It, Do It, Know It

This program demonstrates how teachers help their students develop expertise and accomplish complex tasks by modeling, assisted performance, scaffolding, coaching, and feedback. It features a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher and an eleventh- and twelfth-grade English and social studies teacher, with expert commentary from University of Michigan professor Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar.

The Learning Classroom: Thinking About Thinking

This program explores how thinking about thinking helps students better manage their own learning and learn difficult concepts deeply. The program features a senior English teacher and a sixth-grade teacher, with expert commentary from University of Michigan professor Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar and Lee S. Shulman, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.