Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 157: Two Teachers, One Classroom: Your Complete Guide to Co-Teaching That Actually Works

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Ep 157: Two Teachers, One Classroom: Your Complete Guide to Co-Teaching That Actually Works · New Teacher Talk

Welcome to the latest episode of New Teacher Talk where we
discuss issues that are important to aspiring and early
career educators.
Whether you are in a rural, suburban, or urban setting,
we are here to provide insights, advice,
and support to help you thrive in your teaching journey.
Hello, welcome to New Teacher Talk.
My name is Nicole Heaver,
and I am a middle school STEM teacher.
Hello, my name is Joanie Thrush.
I am a fifth and sixth grade teacher.
We both teach at Central Intermediate School,
which is a fifth and sixth grade building in Ottawa,
Illinois.
Today we're going to talk about embracing and surviving co
-teaching.
I have had over 15 years experience with co-teaching.
I've co-taught reading classes with the same co-teacher.
I've co-taught math classes and even a science class.
I have taught in a sixth-grade classroom where I co-taught
with a special ed teacher for eight years and then about
six years ago I found myself in a new role where I get to co
-teach with the science teachers in my building.
So I bring about 20 years of experience teaching and most
of them being in a co-taught situation.
Our goal today is to share our tips to teachers who may
find themselves in a co-teaching role.
This may be something that you planned on doing or
something that somebody planned for you.
So as much as it is a gift to have somebody in a classroom
with you providing that extra support,
there are definitely challenges and hurdles to overcome
that we would like to give you some tips to help you out.
We have five tips for you today to survive and embrace co
-teaching.
Our first tip is communication is absolutely crucial.
It's important that communication not only happens before
but also during your teaching.
You'll find the other person you co-teach with a lot of
times has a different communication style.
So it's important to mesh those two different styles.
I have found sometimes it's a lot easier if I type out
notes and then send them to my co-teacher to look at
beforehand so then they can kind of digest what I'm
thinking and planning and then we can come together and
communicate.
Our next tip definitely falls under that communication is
respecting different teaching styles.
I have found that I am definitely more of an out of the box
type of teacher and when I have teachers in my classroom
who like to fall inside of that box,
they often look at me questioning really what my agenda
is.
So it is important for me to meet with them in the middle
and help them to understand my end goal as well as allow
them the freedom to teach the way that they are comfortable
also.
As someone who has also taught with Nicole,
I know she and I have very similar teaching styles so it's
a lot easier to flow and teach together because we're okay
with doing things on the fly.
Some other co-teachers that I've had are not comfortable
with that so you have to adjust and not push your co
-teacher out of their comfort zone too quickly.
I think time sometimes is the best gift that you can give
you and your co-teacher because it's going to take a while.
You can't expect for you to click right away.
You could click away but sometimes it might take 15 years
for you to really get on the same page.
Yes and I think some of our best lessons have happened when
class starts and I look at Joanie or she looks at me and
we're like hey let's try this we've never done this before
let's see how it goes but having that similar teaching
style definitely helps.
Our third tip is role definition.
When you are co-teaching with another person,
you both can't be the leaders all the time.
Sometimes that's hard if you are that type of person.
I think most teachers do like to take the lead.
That's why we are teaching.
So that's why co-teaching initially can be a little bit
difficult.
So defining those roles, I think,
and knowing those teaching styles are going to help us to
establish a flow.
Yeah,
so I know when I would co-teach with my reading teacher,
that's an ELA class, so that would involve writing,
that would involve reading,
and so over the course of a couple years,
it changed especially.
I took some maternity leaves and she would be there full
time,
but we kind of got into a flow where she always took the
lead when it came to the writing,
and I took the lead when it came to the reading.
And again,
you have to be comfortable with changing those roles
throughout your time,
depending on how long you co-teach with that person.
And also, we'll go back to that communication, too,
if there is something that is happening when somebody
assumes a specific role.
It's hard to speak up and say,
I don't think this is what's best for the students,
but that is what probably needs to be done sometimes.
All right, our next tip goes with,
I think this encompasses everything with flexibility as
your best friend.
We know as educators that the students make the days
unpredictable.
The things that happen around us make the days
unpredictable.
And when you have another adult in the room,
you are also bringing in emotions.
You are bringing in different background and baggage and
all of these different situations that your co-teacher
could have had a real rough night and you were hoping they
were gonna come in and take the lead today.
But being able to communicate and be flexible with what
your daily situations are going to be are really going to
be what is gonna be most effective for your students.
My co-teaching experience,
especially in my math co-teaching,
often my co-teacher would take some of my struggling
learners out to another room.
But often, as you know, as teaching,
sometimes they have to leave and they don't get a sub.
So you have to be flexible with not even knowing if your co
-teacher may show up sometimes.
So definitely some flexibility there.
Also, because you are meshing two different personalities,
sometimes tensions can get high and you can get frustrated.
So not only being flexible,
but being patient with the other person and making sure,
again, going back to that communication,
that you communicate when you are frustrated or you need
something different than what those rules were that you
initially established.
Alright and our last tip is to give your co-teacher a space
to land.
My goal and my hope is always that anybody who comes into
my classroom to work with me has a landing space.
I have a podium in my classroom that I like to try to keep
open for teachers to put their computers on or establish a
teacher desk or a student desk.
Giving them that space will help them to feel comfortable
and I hope that it helps them to realize that yes my name
is on the door but technically you know this is a space for
all of us to share what we do.
Yes, I do the same thing.
I know with my co-reading teacher she'd always have extra
papers,
and I was noticing she didn't know what to do with them so
I made sure to put out a basket for her so she had that
space and she knew that that was hers.
I had another teacher to make sure that she had her own
desk in the room because she was there every day and just
making sure that not only your co-teacher feels like they
are part of that classroom but then the kids know that it's
not one lead teacher,
it's both lead teachers and they can go so it's not a let
me ask mom I'm gonna ask dad situation which the kids will
definitely do try and trick both of you into what they
want.
Absolutely.
So as we look at these tips,
we hope that these are going to be beneficial to you as you
roll into your school year here.
Thank you for spending a few moments with us.
We know your days are busy.
Our bottom line really is this idea that when you approach
co-teaching it should be as a partnership and not as a
competition.
That's a wrap on today's New Teacher Talk.
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