Collaboration Part 2

As I was sitting and planning with two of my co-teachers this past week, it struck me how easy and lived in this relationship was. We have been teaching together now for multiple semesters and have a good idea of what each other brings to the table in our respective roles. I think this is one of the missing pieces that administrators don’t think about when scheduling co-teaching pairs. I know it is not possible to always have such a team. People move or or teach other things and sometimes it is not possible. However, I think that whenever possible, admin should really consider putting co-teachers together both for multiple semesters and for multiple periods throughout the day.

The first semester you co-teach with someone is often spent figuring out how both of your teaching styles are going to meld in the classroom and establishing a relationship. If that pair is broken up for the next semester, that foundation is for naught because it just has to happen again with someone else. Once you’re in your second semester together, you have an idea about your partner’s style and how you run a classroom together so it should be much more seamless than the first semester.

You can do all of the prescribed co-teaching models you want but if you and your co-teacher don’t have at least a civil working relationship, then it is not an effective co-teaching pair. When administrators ask us to fill out our preference sheets for the beginning of each semester, I usually write down the names of teachers that I feel I work well with. This is not an accident. I want to be as effective as I can be, and when working with these teachers, I feel that our classrooms are places where learning happens and is supported. So often, those preference sheets are ignored because of one reason or another. But if a teacher who spends most of their day co-teaching, as I do, writes down teachers that they want to work with, that should be paid attention.