Empowering Co-Teachers with Google Workspace for Education
- Blanca E. Duarte
- May 6
- 5 min read
Updated: May 7
Co-teaching, when executed effectively, can transform the classroom into a collaborative, differentiated, and dynamic learning environment. Whether you're practicing station teaching, parallel instruction, or team teaching, successful co-teaching hinges on strong communication, streamlined planning, and consistent execution. This is where technology — especially Google Workspace for Education — becomes an indispensable partner.
In this post, we’ll explore how Google tools like Docs, Slides, Forms, Drive, and Classroom can facilitate both the administrative and instructional sides of co-teaching. With the right strategies, co-teachers can use these tools to align efforts, reduce redundancy, and elevate student engagement.
The Administrative Side of Co-Teaching: 4 Ways to Organize for Success
1. Use Google Docs to Co-Write Lessons
One of the most basic yet powerful tools in Google Workspace is Google Docs. For co-teachers, it serves as a collaborative canvas where lesson plans can be developed and refined in real-time. Whether you are in the same room or working remotely, both educators can contribute simultaneously, add comments, suggest edits, and co-develop differentiated tasks. Docs allows version history tracking, which is invaluable for transparency and iterative planning. It also allows for Tabs (a new feature) to be used as a way for teachers to separate their tasks while still working together. Teachers can note their individual responsibilities directly in the document, streamlining roles for upcoming classes.
Gemini Education and Gemini Education Premium both allow templates to be created on the spot in Docs, further easing the resistance to work together. Click here to watch our Gemini in Education webinar.
2. Use Google Drive or Shared Drives to Share Lessons
Shared Drives provide a central hub for all co-teaching materials. Unlike personal Drive folders, Shared Drives ensure that content is owned by the team, not individuals — reducing the risk of lost access due to staff changes or email transitions.
You can create folders for:
Unit plans
Daily lesson plans
Student data and observations
Resource libraries (e.g., videos, PDFs, interactive tools)
Educators using the paid Gemini versions of Google Workspace for Education like Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium, can generate differentiated lessons with a few clicks to give you a head start creating lessons and allow you to focus on personalized and relevant exercises.
3. Use Google Slides to Co-Create Presentation Materials
Google Slides is a versatile tool for building instructional content together. Both co-teachers can create slide decks that include visual aids, anchor charts, instructions, or embedded videos. When two teachers contribute to a single presentation, it becomes easier to build a cohesive flow that reflects both voices and teaching styles.
Slides are especially effective when co-teachers alternate presentation or model different perspectives. It also supports speaker notes — ideal for internal planning — and can be shared with students after the lesson for accessibility.
Some educators like using Canva, for example, because of the beautiful themes and images that can be created, but Google Workspace for Education using Gemini Education also allows for you to easily create lessons, presentations and images - no need for separate tools - and offers educators a more seamless experience.
4. Use Google Forms to Collect Observational Data
During instruction, co-teachers can take turns collecting real-time data on student engagement, participation, or behavior using Google Forms. These forms can be completed on a tablet or phone while moving around the room. Use check boxes, multiple choice, and short answer questions to track:
Who is participating
Which students need support
Behavioral observations
Group performance
The Instructional Side of Co-Teaching: 4 Ways to Engage All Learners
1. Use Google Classroom to Assign Differentiated Lessons
Google Classroom enables teachers to assign different lessons to different students or groups — a co-teaching goldmine. With two educators, one can tailor content for learners who need more support, while the other challenges advanced students. The Groups feature is a relatively new one so check it out if you haven't yet!
2. Use Google Classroom to Deliver Instructional Support Materials
Beyond assigning tasks, Classroom is an ideal platform for distributing supports.
These supports include:
Rubrics
Checklists
Instructional videos
Graphic organizers
Sentence frames
Co-teachers can build a library of scaffolds, allowing students to access the right tools when they need them. Create a Section called Materials, Resources or Help and organize materials under the section. Keep the scaffolds printed in the classroom as well so the students can find and grab what they need, regardless of whether it is in digital format. This makes it more likely that they will become go-to items in students' toolkits.
3. Use Google Docs Comments to Foster Feedback
When students submit work in Google Docs, co-teachers can use the comment feature to provide timely, targeted feedback. For example, one teacher can focus on content understanding while the other provides support on writing mechanics.
Tips: Use emojis when leaving a comment for a lighter and playful touch. And if you're using the grading tool in Classroom, use pre-made comments to make it easier to grade papers - especially when you have 150 of them to go through! You can also use shortcuts to leave comments even more quickly!
4. Use Google Forms for Instructional Check-Ins or Polls
Instructional Forms aren't just for data collection — they’re perfect for in-the-moment checks for understanding, warm-ups, or exit tickets.
Google Forms can:
Offer tiered questions based on ability
Include visuals or videos to support language learners
Branch questions based on student responses (adaptive questioning)
Tip: You can also use Google Classroom's Question feature and select Polls to quickly check for understanding. You can only ask one question in the Poll feature but it's still a great way to check for student progress, especially when students are working on their own and you need a better sense of where they are.
Why Google Workspace Is Ideal for Co-Teaching
What makes Google Workspace so effective for co-teaching is its integration, flexibility, and accessibility. Whether planning, instructing, or assessing, everything lives under one digital roof.
Plus, with features like voice typing in Docs, translation tools, Gemini Education and third-party extensions like Read&Write, co-teachers can better support diverse learners.
Final Thoughts: Co-Teaching, Reimagined
When co-teaching works, it creates an inclusive, high-impact learning environment that benefits all students. But effective collaboration takes more than good intentions — it requires shared vision, efficient tools, and mutual respect.
Start small. Pick one tool. Try one new feature. Then reflect and iterate — together.
We've mentioned the enhanced power Gemini Education can bring to co-teaching throughout our blog post. To learn more, you can watch our webinar about Gemini's uses in the classroom or schedule a free consultation with us.
At LogicWing, we do a lot more than just keep track of the latest and greatest Google Workspace features, we also migrate data, offer consulting, and can help you manage your Google Workspace for Education accounts with our Managed Services. You can schedule a free consultation with us to learn more about that, too.
