Comments on: Weak Links Break Teams

By: Kiki

Kiki — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:49:21 +0000

“What are we doing today?” is the worst way to initiate collaboration. I have been teaching for eighteen years and have worked with some amazing special educators and some effortless ones. That question magnifies that you are unprepared for class. As a co-teacher what were your plans for the lesson? How can you possibly differentiate your lesson as you are walking in at the same time as the students. If I was the regular classroom teacher in that conversation, I would respond, “What are you doing today to meet the needs of our students on standard X. To truly be collaborative both teachers need to plan accordingly. This does not mean you need planning time for 45 minutes every day to accomplish this goal (another complaint that is a pet peeve.) You both are expected to know the standards and expectations of the curriculum, and don’t say “well I don’t know the content.” That’s like the regular teacher stating, “I don’t know what’s on their IEP.” Both of these comments are irresponsible. True co-teachers must be responsible for planning, instruction, and differentiation.

By: Laurie Wasserman

Laurie Wasserman — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:14:06 +0000

Elizabeth, you have written a post that took me back to many difficult team situations I have been in. One in particular was a team with many weak links. It made working together very challenging and we weren’t a team, just 5 people stuck working together. As a co-teacher it can be difficult manuevering through a different set of circumstances every 45 minutes. One strategy I tried was sharing something a teammate did in his/her classroom with another. I worked with one teacher who never wrote anything on the board. I often walked in her room and was as clueless as the kids as to what we were doing each day. We didn’t have co-planning periods then, and I think even if we had it wouldn’t have helped. I gently suggested we try writing the agenda on the board along with the homework as Mr. So and So did. It helped me know what we were doing, and in turn, the kids. There were moments when this teacher resisted, but I initiated the agenda when asked, “What are we doing today? I’ll write it on the board.” What are other folk’s ideas and strategies to help strengthen the links in team’s chains?