When I got married in 2013, it seemed everyone had advice for me and my husband. "Don't go to bed angry," "Get out and adventure," "Be willing to admit when you're wrong," and "Happy wife, happy life!" were among the phrases we heard often, and they're phrases I've heard over and over at most bridal showers and weddings I've attended over the years. It's age old and time tested advice we've all heard. And by this early point in the post I'm sure you're all thinking "UH first rule of an introductory paragraph is to let your reader know what you'll be talking about, so what in the universe does this have to do with co-teaching?"
Fair point, reader, fair point. Let me extend to you an invitation to approach co-teaching using those first two letters only: CO. When you're married or getting married, advice is usually related to those aspects of the marriage that have to do with doing things TOGETHER. CO-habitating, CO-parenting, CO-operating, and CO-mpromise (see what I did there?). Each of those areas of "togetherness" can apply to co-teachers as well. You share the same space, discipline the same students, while you both also manage teaching content and your individual professional requirements. Your job is to work with another human being in order to teach students, many of whom typically have diverse learning needs and have varying cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. If you read
Part 1 of this series, you know that each teacher brings their own "baggage" to a co-teaching relationship. Part 2 explores 6 conversations you should have to build a team dynamic between you and your co-teacher. So if you're reading this, share it with your co-teacher as well!
Typically, you're given limited time and minimal professional development about co-teaching prior to entering into a co-teaching situation. Maybe during the year someone will say "Oh, hey if you take a PD day during the year there's this workshop you can go to in order to learn about how to co-teach" and of course it will be in March, when you've already established all of your routines, habits, and a working (or not) relationship. So here are some suggestions for the start of the year, when you're all abuzz and ready for the new school year to begin, for how to build a little relationship with your co-teacher and get your priorities aligned before the students arrive.
Six conversations to have with your co-teacher in the days before the school year starts:
1. Share your strengths and weaknesses with each other.
Just like in any team relationship, you bring a particular set of strengths and weaknesses to the team. And let's call them weaknesses, not "areas to improve," not "deltas," or anything else, because it's important in a co-teaching relationship to acknowledge that there are parts of your job that you don't do as well, just like there are parts of your job that you do very well. That's totally normal. That's why workplaces have multiple people on projects, teams, and committees, because
everyone is not a superhero with all-encompassing abilities. You should not expect that of yourself as a teacher, nor should you expect it of your co-teacher, especially since you don't expect that of your students! Your co-teaching relationship is a chance to show your students what a functional partnership looks like, an example of cooperation, compromise, and, hopefully, friendship. Prepare to show off that teamwork with a conversation about what you each do best, and what you each hope to improve.
Guiding questions: In what areas of instruction are you most confident? What areas do you struggle with the most? What parts of the school year are your favorite? What do you enjoy most about teaching? What parts of your job do you dislike most and why? (red flag, if they say "co-teaching" maybe go see your administrator...)
2. Share your "why's" and your "what's"
We often hear that
research shows the more you know about a person the more tolerant you are of them. You're also more willing to compromise and
overall more accepting of diverse profiles in general. Take a few moments at the start of the year and get really serious about why you are in the teaching profession. It doesn't need to be TOO serious - bring some coffee and donuts or chocolate and keep it casual- but be honest in the conversation. You should both also share your "what" as a teacher. This is a term I've totally invented but relates to what it is that makes you feel successful at your job. For some it is appearance- the classroom, making things "look pretty," talking with parents, relationships with kids, etc. For others it is the meaning behind the scenes- creating assessments, analyzing data, checking off lists, PLC conversations. Often, though, it's a mix of both of these and
every teacher has a different combination of what makes them feel successful. Know what makes you feel successful, but also know how to support your co-teacher in feeling successful.
Guiding questions: What is most fun for you about teaching? What parts of your job make you smile the most or help you get through the tougher times? When you prioritize your tasks, what's most important to get done first?
3. Talk about your classroom management styles. A LOT.
Class routines, structure, and discipline needs to be consistent between you and your co-teacher. For example, if your co-teacher hates having a messy room at the end of class, then you need to support that by enforcing student routines which leave the room tidy. Likewise, if you can’t stand students calling out, make sure your co-teacher knows to enforce student routines that have students speak out in an organized manner. If your school does not have a PBIS system, then what will be your classroom behavior management system? I will advise that good cop/bad cop is not a particularly sustainable option (it can be helpful in some situations, but not all, and leads to different levels of respect for each co-teacher). Make sure you have a system that works for both of you, because you both have to maintain it.
Guiding questions: What system of management do you use? What are you most comfortable with? Are there behaviors that you struggle to manage? What behaviors frustrate you the most? What is the most successful way you've managed that behavior in the past? What resources do you need to put in place to help enforce your system (Are you both buying candy? Do you need weekly prizes/reward ideas? Do you need to review rules for a token economy system?)
4. Talk about space- for both you and the students.
Most often, co-teaching takes place in one teacher's room. And, as all teachers know, you don't want to mess with a teacher's space. That's their sanctuary! BUT, as co-teachers, you have to share the space. So talk about what that will look like! If you are more laid back this might not be as big of a concern, but for teachers that are particular about their room habits, this can be a really big deal in the grand scheme of the school year. Have a conversation about the kind of space you each require, and then talk about how that will relate to your students.
Guiding questions: What will the teacher desk space look like (do both teachers need a desk? If so, shared space or separate for each desk?)? What functions do you need your classroom to have? Do you have small group space? Does each teacher have their own room? If so, how will you plan to utilize both rooms, or will you only plan to use one?
5. Talk about your respective specialty areas.
As a special education teacher, I always informed my co-teachers about my special education tasks and job requirements. Honestly, most of my co-teachers knew it was a lot of work but didn't know why it was important or how much work went into each component. Sharing the legal concerns, the background information, and even venting about the amount of work was helpful because my co-teachers saw my job as both essential to their classrooms and a valued need in the school system. It also made me brush up on some of the areas where I needed to continue learning (looking up state special education laws to explain their specifics to my co-teachers, for example, helped me stay abreast of legal information in a new state). Similarly, my co-teachers always kept me informed about content training they had completed, new initiatives in curriculum, and changes to pacing guides or district content standards. We learned from each other, and respected each other as professionals in our respective areas because of it. At the start of the year, talk about what expectations you have to manage in a school year.
Guiding questions: What expectations do you have for yourself this year, in regards to your professional role? What tasks do you complete when? What is your approach to completing your job requirements on your own, and how do you fit each other into those approaches? What knowledge will you want your co-teacher to share about their role, and what do you anticipate sharing with them in return?
6. Talk about where you both stand with regard to the content you will teach.
This last conversation is the one I hear is most often omitted. When preparation time runs short, this conversation gets lost in the assumption that "you're a teacher, you should know how to teach the content." And when there's time for the conversation, I've heard many special educators say that they don't want to admit they don't know content, or they say they admit they don't feel comfortable with certain content and then their co-teacher immediately dismisses them as a valuable colleague. To avoid this, have a conversation about the content- yearly plans, unit plans, lesson plans. How will you plan? What daily content routines will you feature (warm ups? daily informal assessment? daily prompts? weekly themes, like Minute Math Monday?)? Then, as you're talking about what's important to the instruction, fill each other in on the parts of instruction you each enjoy, dislike, don't feel comfortable with, want to learn more about, etc. It's important, again, to be honest as your plan ahead. It's also important to acknowledge that even if you aren't comfortable covering certain content, there are still plenty of ways for you to be an active part of instruction. I'll talk about that in Part 3, but for now, know you need to talk with your co-teacher about the content.
Guiding questions: What content area are you working on, and what grade level(s)? What do each of you feel most comfortable teaching? What parts of the content could you improve instructionally? What experiences do you bring to the team in this content area? How will you plan for differentiation of materials and what responsibilities will you each have in terms of planning content and assessment?
No cooperative relationship can happen without honest, open, and continual dialogue about the relationship and where it is headed! As previously stated, your working relationship is one that has to interact with each and every one of your students, so it is important to cultivate that team relationship to provide a functional example for your students to observe. The more students can observe healthy, positive, and successful adult relationships, the more prepared they are to deal with cooperative tasks in the future (and in your classroom!).
Co-Teaching from the Special Education Perspective Part 3: Types of Co-Teaching
