A Co-Teaching “First Date”
Last year was the first time I co-taught Geometry with a Special Ed teacher. While originally hesitant to share my classroom (I definitely have control freak tendencies), I LOVED it! It was wonderful to have two professionals in the room to instruct, assess and care for our room full of kiddos. You can read a bit about my co-teaching reflections here.
While my experience was extremely positive, that might not always be the case for all co-teachers. For some, relationships between co-teachers can seem like an awkward partnership. Some are just “playing nice for the kids.” We can do SO much better than that!
In an attempt to get a jump start on establishing solid co-teaching relationships, the instructional coaches provided a Co-Teaching workshop on the first inservice day of the new school year. After a brief presentation given by my co-teacher Jeff and I, and our new instructional coach Emily (who is a huge advocate for co-teaching) we provided an opportunity for a co-teaching “first date.” The “first date” consisted of a list of conversational topics from persona
lity type to classroom management styles. The main objective was for teachers to find a common, workable ground for their classrooms.
I’ve included both the presentation and the “first date” discussion sheet. Perhaps you and your co-teacher might want to have a “first date” as well?
Best wishes to all those co-teachers out there partnering to provide the best possible experience for those sweet faces in their classrooms! Make this the #bestyearever .
rly require students to do a problem on a 1/2 sheet and turn it in. One of us can walk around to make sure students are on task and available for students with questions. The other can collect the sheets and offer quick feedback. We do this, typically at the beginning and end of class.