STATION TEACHING: Why it is essential to an effective Co-Taught Inclusive Classroom.

Let’s talk about Station Teaching… If you are a co-teacher in an inclusive classroom or an ICT classroom you should have Station Teaching up and running by this time of the year. As one of the six Co-Teaching Models, Station Teaching is an essential part (and my favorite!) in ensuring you are providing the necessary and vital services to all students in your class. Let’s review the definition of Station Teaching: Two or more small heterogeneous student groups that rotate through two distinct teacher-directed complete lessons, as well as one independent activity as well. (Marilyn friend 2007). Essentially, Station Teaching is the heterogeneous, small group model that gives you the structure and support to provide direct instruction to students while attending to individual needs and differentiating for all your learners, while embedding the necessary multi-sensory AND “special education “ strategies that students in your class may need.

After all, you are teaching in an ICT classroom, right? Which means you must provide access to the general education curriculum while simultaneously addressing whole class and individualized instructional goals.

As an educational consultant, having supported dozens of ICT classrooms over many years, I have heard a range of concerns from teachers. Such as, they have one or two students each year they “cannot include in the lesson,” a student who is “just too needy” or “just needs so much support.” When we dig a little deeper into what those “needs” really are or what “support” would really look like, teachers often slide into a conversation about more restrictive placement for the student(s). That conversation sounds like, “Well, she/he needs… a smaller class…more direct instruction…someone to sit next to him… less students around her.” However, if we keep digging and we get to the real strategies that could truly support the students’ learning, then we end up talking about, “He needs hands-on materials,… she needs repeated practice, …he needs verbal prompting and visual cues,… she would benefit from close teacher proximity or a class buddy,… graphic organizers and modeling would support his understanding, …he needs the opportunity to say it aloud…, she needs direct, explicit instruction.” And together, we arrive at the realization that all of these needs could be met, all of these strategies could be offered and maintained in a small, heterogeneous Station group.

But when I ask if the teachers in the current class are using the Stations Co-Teaching Model, most often I find that this Model still feels too hard, too unfamiliar and seems like it would be too much work.

I am here to tell you that Station Teaching is your friend! And, it will support you to better address the individualized needs of the students in your class.

Basically, Station Teaching is the exact lesson you are teaching on the rug to the whole group, but delivered to a SMALLER group. Those lessons on the rug were already heterogeneous by default, because your whole class was together. And remember how hard that lesson feels, how frustrating and unsuccessful it can seem because you are struggling to manage all those students and concurrently engage and support each of them so they can participate? Of course you do!

Enter Station Teaching! Station Teaching is that same lesson, except you are going to teach it THREE times to three small groups. By making just this little change (from whole class to small group)- a whole world of opportunities opens up to you and your students.

(Hurray!) Just begin it imagine all the things you could do with a SMALL group that you could not possibly tackle with THE WHOLE CLASS! There are now so many different places to teach into the lesson (with less kids!) You can teach the lesson at a table, on walk or an investigation, in the library, or outside.

Consider the materials you can now more readily use because your group is smaller! More technology- iPads, laptops, etc. More kinesthetic materials- white boards, index cards, picture sorts, drawing, etc. More student participation- peer interactions, better partner talk, role playing, reader’s theater, etc. The possibilities are endless! Basically when you get into a smaller group you can do anything- sort, build, cut, paste, cook, dance, act, write… anything!!!

Keep in mind that other Co-Teaching models are strong as well but, for different purposes and strategies. For example, One Teach/One Support is your opportunity for direct support around an individualized goal for one or a few specific students. But, please, don’t waste your teacher resources and expertise in this model by using one of the teachers to teach the lesson and the other teacher to… wrangle students, beg them to “pay attention,” verbally over-prompt them sit still, raise their hands, eyes up front and hands to yourself, etc.

One Teach /One Support is an inclusive structure that allows you to have one teacher providing direct support towards a specific individualized goal, to support students to utilize personal adaptive or differentiated class materials, and/or strategies for any individualized goals. Goals like: sustaining focused attention on a speaker, identifying the big idea of a group conversation, utilizing self-regulation strategies in order to maintain active participation in a whole group lesson, using verbal scripting to respond to whole class questions, restating a peer’s statements in order to participate in a turn-andtalk, etc. The options are endless. In One Teach/One Support you can effectively and purposefully provide that direct one-to-one attention.

That being said, we need a plan to fade back from that much adult support- because that Model is not sustainable and it does not allow the student to be independent! After that initial one-to-one teacher support, we need to shift our focus to teaching the student to use strategies or a tool by themselves as much as possible; replace the direct instruction with supported practice, guided practice and then repeated independent practice. If we are still sitting behind a student one month later asking and verbally or physically prompting them to do the same thing then… Hmmm, shouldn’t we ask ourselves, “Is this working? Is this the most effective teaching plan?

Lucky for you there is Station Teaching!!!

Teachers- go back and address the needs of your students who continue to struggle in the big group by using Stations and notice if it allows you and the student to more fully utilize the strategies you were trying to teach them in whole-class.

During Station Teaching each teacher plans a fully differentiated, inclusive lesson. These groups should probably be somewhere between 6-9 students each, in order to provide this much-needed opportunity for small group instruction.

Lessons you can make in

1. You can create differentiated materials that are tiered allowing for varied levels of engage ment and even expectations. In a smaller group you will be able to sit close to, but not directly behind or next to, a student who needs teacher proximity and still be able to provide direct feedback and nonverbal cues while still teaching the group.
2. During Station Teaching you deliver the mini-lesson to the small group. There is an increased opportunity for multisensory materials in this model. In fact, all students can have materials in their hands, which allow them to actively engage in the content differently.
3. Each student will have a chance to ask or answer questions, respond to peers statements and contribute their own thinking to the conversation. Even if they are using alternative forms of communication- technology, pictures, verbal scripting, choral or peer-supported responsesthey will have the opportunity to contribute.
4. Each student can have graphic organizers or handouts that highlight or focus on their specific expectations during the lesson.
5. The Station Teaching lesson should be designed around student partnerships so each stu dent has a peer to work with.
6. The entire lesson takes place at one of the Stations so student are right for the turn and talk

Secrets of Station Teaching that can better support your students

1. Create a class visual showing the rotation and groupings/Station. This helps with self-regulation and decreases verbal directions from teacher.
2. Use the rotation and the visuals as an opportunity to teach into how to transition, find where you are going next, what materials you need and who is in your group.
3. Provide a preview or a prime for big ideas, key vocabulary or the structure of the activity by having students talk about what is “coming up” in the next Station. This helps with students that process at a slower rate, have anxiety or difficulty with organization.
4. If necessary, keep students in the same Station twice, possibly missing the independent Station. This helps students that may need repeated practice.
5. Add students who get pulled out for a lot of related services and miss content if lessons are in a large class model. Station Teaching allows you to have three lessons happening when they come back to the class. You can decide which lesson they should attend to first, instead of having missed content.
6. Collaboration and push-in support can be implemented, with the therapist pushing in and running a planned Station lesson or skill.
7. The independent Station does not have to be related to the other Stations!
8. Have fun! Station Teaching can be the opportunity to be creative and show your own indi vidual teaching styles and strengths!