Co-taught Classrooms
At Atlas, we believe all students should receive the personalized instruction they need to thrive. In order to set our kids up for success, each of our classrooms has roughly 25 students and are co-taught by two educators. This allows us to have flexible groups to more effectively support our students and meet their individual needs. Below are a few specific scenarios of what this looks like at different times throughout the day:
- Both teachers co-teaching the same lesson with all students working on a similar project or task
- One teacher supports two or three students while the other teacher leads the larger group
- Students working in four groups of five or six students while each teacher supports two groups
- The class is split into two groups of roughly thirteen students, and each group is taught by one of the teachers
- One teacher leads a whole group lesson while the other teacher circulates the room offering support where needed
- Both teachers pulling an individual student or small group while all other students work on an independent assignment
Our co-teacher model allows for more flexibility and enables our teachers to personalize instruction and ensure all students are actively engaged in the learning. We're able to provide both enrichment and remediation within the classroom and do so in a way that maintains the dignity of all students. It also allows us to support our students with special needs in an environment that is more inclusive and without stigma.
Here’s what Ms. Ashley, one of our first grade teachers, had to say about co-taught classrooms. "Atlas’ co-teacher model is incredibly beneficial to both teachers and students. With co-teaching, we are able to collaborate and share ideas and best practices within the classroom. This model also reduces the student to teacher ratio, providing more opportunities for us to strategically plan for and facilitate individualized instruction for our kids. Having two teachers in the room also allows us to prioritize supporting students from a social-emotional standpoint. There is always a teacher readily available to take care of each individual child’s needs."
