I am a Pre-K teacher and I am also taking a class on Co-Teaching. I have been using my class and my aide to complete this class. However, I am trying to get some more ideas for my one assignment, The question I was given was how do you build community in your co-taught classroom. If anyone would like to share their ideas I would love to hear them. I used things such as be respectful, be equals, be able to adapt, flexible, but wanted to see what other teachers who are in a co-teaching environment use.
Taking turns acting as the "lead" so the kids see both of you as real teachers Making sure whatever one teacher says is also agreed upon by the other, so the kids respect both of you (ie., don't go behind their back) Treat each other as professionals but also as friends so the kids can really see you respect AND care for each other
I think this is huge. Unfortunately I'm only in the room for part of our co-taught science class so it's hard for me to take a lead but the gen ed teacher and I make sure we're both working with all students at least some of the time. As the special ed teacher, my biggest job is making sure my kiddos with IEPs and 504s are getting the supports they need but those supports can sometimes be provided by the gen ed teacher while I work with gen ed students. Or each of us can work with a mix of students. That way, like ChildWhisperer, all the kids see you both as their teachers and not just "those kids" teacher.
