As many of you know, I am happily married to a co-teacher, Mrs. Wongtastic (formally referred to as Ms. Phantastic). This school year is our 4th year together and I can say that our co-teaching marriage is one that continues to grow and prosper with every school year! I think the reason why we work so well together is one, our personalities seem to be naturally very compatible with one another. In every sense, we are like a married couple. Mrs. Wongtastic is stronger in a lot of my weaker areas and we truly do respect one another in our classroom or shall I say marriage? Haha.
Not sure how many of my readers are co-teachers or know someone who is co-teaching but here are some do's in a co-teaching marriage (all based on my own experience and relationship of course!).
Do's
1) Do respect the other person.
Mrs. Wongtastic and I do get along but a lot of the getting along happens as we mutually respect one another and see each other as professionals. I completely respect my co-teacher and see her as an individual always growing and trying to better herself as an educator. A lot of my own inspiration comes from her!
2) Do share the workload!
Mrs. Wongtastic and I completely share everything we have to do in our classroom from grading, organizing, preparing, and teaching. I don't think one has MORE responsibilities over the other. We make sure that we share all responsibilities and it makes our life so much easier. For example, if we have tons of papers to grade we might split it in half. If I have to write up an I.E.P. (an individualized educational plan) for one of our students receiving special education services, Mrs. Wong will do something else that I had to do like booking a trip.
3) Do refer to everything as "OURS" instead of "MINE"
Whenever one of us is leading a lesson, we make sure that we ALWAYS address everything as OURS and include the other person. For example, I rarely use "I was thinking..." instead I always say, "Mrs. Wong and I were thinking", instead of saying "I am really happy about the writing assignments" I will say, "We are so happy about the writing assignments". It's something so small but it makes a HUGE difference in creating a collaborative atmosphere in our classroom.
4) Do show your appreciation for the other person
In our busy schedules, Mrs. Wongtastic and I will find little ways to show each other that we're appreciative of the other person from buying the other person a cup of coffee or something sweet to eat, or doing something the other was suppose to do as a surprise of even just bringing in something to share to eat at lunch.
5) Do find humor in the classroom
Mrs. Wongtastic and I are often laughing in the room whether it's because of something ridiculous that has occurred or an inside joke that we share. Sometimes there is nothing else you can do but just simply laugh.
This entry is pretty similar to one of my earliest entries on my blog,
if you're interested in reading some more on co-teaching marriages. :)
I'll be back with some DON'TS in the near future!
Have a great weekend, everyone.
XOXO,
Ms. Kimpop
