039: Co-Teaching, Organizing, and Managing a Large Upper Elementary Classroom with Tania Torres-Delgado and Gabriela Gonzalez

Trillium Montessori Talks

Co-teaching in a Montessori classroom can definitely be a challenge. And with so many differing opinions on how to best approach a co-teaching relationship, it can be confusing to know how to get started.

In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Tania Torres-Delgado and Gabriela Gonzalez, co-teachers of a classroom of 48 students at Guidepost Montessori School in Hollywood Beach, FL. They’re sharing how they work together and manage such a large class, what works well for them when it comes to everything from transitions to lesson-planning, and their advice for other teachers on how to successfully build an environment where students can thrive.

What’s in this episode:

The benefits and challenges of having a large classroom, and how Tania and Gabriela navigate keeping the space cohesive and functional

The systems they have in place for keeping such a large classroom organized and authentic to the Montessori philosophy, including student conferences and lesson planning

How they use silent transitions to keep the flow going between lessons, lunch, and breaks

How they divide responsibilities as co-teachers, the importance of constant communication, and how identifying each other’s strengths and weaknesses has made them more efficient

Why they do all of their planning together, and why they chose to divide their responsibilities by subject areas

The variety of interest and creativity that they see in a large classroom, and their advice for teachers who also have a large classroom, and why procedures help the students to be more independent

How their mentorship student program works, and how they pair up students with similar interests and choose leaders with strong executive functioning skills

For full show notes, resources, links and to download the transcript, visit:

https://www.trilliummontessori.org/

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

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