Co-Teaching, Managing, and Engaging, Part #4: Engaging

 Cheers to the final segment of the co-teaching mini-series! Engaging... this word brings to the surface many thoughts and even emotions. Thinking about engaging students in class can spark a sense of creativity in some, and others a wave of anxiety. While it's natural to feel anxious about how to foster engagement in your classroom, I encourage you (and your co-teacher) to use every opportunity to work together to develop a plan engaging your students, yourself and each other. 

One of my favorite educational influences Dave Burgess  speaks about how often we fall back on the idea that we "aren't creative" but then again, what defines creativity really? Of course we can put a definition to the term, but creativity isn't something we just wait for, we have to do it! My co-teacher and I spend a good part of our meeting time discussing ways we can engage our students in meaningful instruction. My co-teacher developed a concept "Ferny the Dragon" during virtual learning last year. Using a puppet he had of a dragon, we were able to engage students by having Ferny "visit" the classroom, lead vocabulary lessons, and even share out riddles for the students to solve. This was our "aha" moment that we were on to something special. 

Fast forward to this year, we have transformed our classroom into "Ferny's Learning Cave" and have ideas how to use our mystical character to keep our new students engaged. From bulletin boards, to theming the classroom (and virtual learning platforms,)  I truly believe our students this year will be intrigued with this character and want to interact with him. 

Creativity can be a simple idea that develops over time... use the small moments and notice what your students like and are interested in to help you develop these ideas, water them, and watch them grow! 

For us as educators, I'm a firm believer that we have to have a purpose beyond the classroom to keep us going. My co-teacher and I are working on an article about co-teaching we would like to get published, and we discussed developing a children's book. By engaging and uplifting each other, we figured out how we can keep engaged in the field in other ways, and continue to improve our craft. 

Putting it all together: managing and engaging are interconnected parts to co-teaching, and making the relationship work. In order to work on adding that "spark" to your classroom and increase engagement, you (and your co-teacher) need to start at the beginning with communication and trust-building, managing yourselves, and then your class, and then working on how you both can develop themes, activities, and even infuse technology to help engage your students. 

Final Thoughts: Keep the ideas coming! The more you share with your co-teacher, the more you'll feed off of each other's ideas and energy. This is also great for students to see how cooperative work is done! Keep working on your trust and communication- these are the keys to both managing and engaging. Keep working on side projects together that keep your zest for teaching alive and vibrant. There's no better feeling than accomplishing something for yourselves together to grow professionally because... keep in mind that teaching is lifelong learning! 

Best of luck to you and your co-teacher as you embark on your teaching journey together!

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