Co-Teaching, Managing, and Engaging, Part #2: Communication and Trust

 In my first post on co-teaching, I provided a glimpse of what my co-teacher and I discussed in our webinar on this topic. At some point, most of us educators will work with a co-teacher, or a support teacher or paraeducator. You might ask yourself, "where do we even begin?" This is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of interest and caring. 

From our experience, the first place to start is communication and trust. As with any relationship, this takes time to develop, however investing the time (as often as you can) to learn about one another personally and professionally will establish that foundational layer of trust early. Then you continue to build from there. My co-teacher and I always have our calendars out and daily schedule to plan times for meeting and debriefing (more of that to come in the managing post!). We use every opportunity we can from prep time, before/after school hours, lunch, and even weekends to discuss the class, student needs etc. Through these conversations we've learned to integrate personal ones as well. For example, we always use lunchtime to talk about a shared favorite tv series, share photos, and laugh. Keeping humor is a vital lifeline to developing your co-teaching relationship! 

My co-teacher and I also have shared interests professionally outside the classroom that have benefited us inside the classroom. I will share these in more depth in the engaging post, but generally speaking we are both passionate about writing articles, a possible children's book, teaching reading and writing, and presenting. Having these commonalities allows us to think "outside the box" and generate ideas we can integrate into the classroom. We even have a whimsical twist that has truly elevated our work. We also have learned to understand each other and now seamlessly feed off of each other while teaching, brainstorming, and of course... with our energy. Working on "side projects" allows us to work with each other beyond the classroom, and further builds our communication and trust. For me, personally, I wouldn't present a webinar with just anyone! My co-teacher adds a different dynamic than I do, and the balance makes our presentations truly unique. Discuss with your co-teacher ideas outside of the routine work that you can work on together. It'll be a great icebreaker in the beginning, and as you continue to work together, a link that helps you connect with one another, and have something to look forward to professionally to build together. 

I'm excited to leap into both managing and engaging with you in the next few series posts, but for now...

Keep the communication going; communication keeps us connected! Keep building the trust, keep in mind that a well balanced co-teaching relationship takes a while to establish, however keep working at it together, it's worth if for you as educators and of course the students!