by Elizabeth Stein

Teamwork is a word that succinctly sums up what successful co-teaching is all about. It’s one word that speaks volumes. Teamwork is the reason that co-teaching works — and it is the reason why it doesn’t sometimes. When teamwork is successful, everyone feels included. Students feel included. And the teachers feel included.

My writing partner Laurie’s most recent post was an uplifting example of how teamwork can create positive experiences. As I read, I kept cheering for her and the people on her team who work together in ways to make everyone feel included—students AND teachers.

As I read I also wondered: What about those co-teachers out there who do not feel included — who do not live the teamwork life? Was anyone frustrated because perhaps you are not experiencing a warm and fuzzy team approach?

There I go again, thinking about the next elephant in the hallway. How are you folks doing out there who do not have a collegial teamwork experience? My mind immediately turns to these questions:

How can (and do) we make teamwork happen? What can each of us do personally to create a positive team approach?

Keep reading this post—then please share your thoughts, whether you’re searching for a better teaming relationship or you’re already experiencing positive teamwork.

My teamwork history

My own experiences are varied. As I think about the many teachers I’ve worked with and the various teams I’ve belonged to over the years, it’s clear to me that the quality of the teamwork is always an important factor in the level of student success we achieve.

Thinking back year by year, I can isolate specific places along the teamwork chain that fell short. And when it comes to teamwork, I think co-teaching relationships are only as strong as their weakest link. Does this mean that the team is only as cooperative and collegial as its most uncooperative team member? What do you folks think?

When a team works well together, it’s easy to teach successfully. The links are strong — the teachers do whatever is required to consider the needs of all students and all teachers. And even if there is one weak link in the chain, the other strong links can pick up the slack a bit and keep the team strong. When a team does not work well together (c’mon…we know there are folks out there…) I think it means that the team members have not made enough personal investment in team spirit. Or perhaps other team members are just not strong enough to pick up the slack for their weakest link.

Here are possible weak links:

• One or more teachers on the team just are not into the cooperative and collaborative scene.
• There are not enough resources available to help teachers to implement the kind of instruction they need.
• There are too many scheduling glitches to foster a positive collaborative setting.
• There is not enough administrative support to make it happen.

Can anyone think of any other possible weak links?

The success chain

Here’s what I think all teams must do in order to be successful. Teachers must overcome any weak links and find solutions for teamwork to prevail.

• We must agree on what success looks like.
• We must have the hard conversations about how success connects to the quality of our teamwork.
• We must make and implement an action plan to work through any weak link issues.

Having a weak link can mean the difference between professional happiness and misery. It can mean the difference between student achievement and students struggling. And I believe the way we go about addressing our weak links distinguishes among indifferent teachers, good teachers, great teachers.

So how many of you are aware of your “weakest link”? Once you’ve identified who or what your weak link is, it’s time to then map out a plan to rise above and strengthen the teamwork chain. Have you done this in your own building?

Please share your stories with us! Laurie and I look forward to hearing your comments…

by Laurie Wasserman

I’m a special education teacher who co-teaches with several colleagues on my middle school grade level team. I thought it might be useful and interesting to readers in similar situations if I shared some of what we do together as a team.

Behavior goals: Each month, our team focuses on a specific behavior or set of expectations we want students to work on, and we arrange a special reward for the students who exhibit these behaviors all the time for the month.

In October it might be coming to class prepared with their agenda book, pencils, books, binders, and homework. The next month it might be coming to class on time or not talking out. Of course, these are all expected school behaviors for every student, but we’ve found that focusing on specific expectations each month makes change and improvement more manageable for the kids and for us. We hang up a sign in each room listing the month’s expected reward behaviors.

So, what is the special reward? Last month I had about one-third of the students on our team in my room playing board games, listening to the radio, and not having to go to their double block academic class. The kids loved it, felt special, and it didn’t cost anything! This month it might be going to the gym with our ELA teacher to play basketball. I’ll take over his class while the eligible kids are with him in the gym.

The goal, of course, is to make a big deal about the achievement of those kids who “did the right thing” and to encourage everyone else to improve and join the fun.

Team calendar: Each month I update our team’s calendar in the hall display case where student projects are also displayed. I write upcoming project and test dates, field trips, early release days, report card/progress report dates, etc. It’s a way for all of us to know who is giving a test and when, so we can adjust our schedules and make sure kids aren’t “over-assessed” on any given day. It’s also an opportunity for the kids to look at their month or week at a glance when we line up for lunch!

Team Fun Day before holidays: All teachers know what the day before Thanksgiving or Christmas break is like. It’s hard to have a ‘regular day.” So we take the opportunity to build spirit and team cohesion. We designate the day before a school vacation as Team Fun Day. Typically we do the following:

• Homeroom Breakfast: Kids sign up to bring in something packaged (to avoid food allergy concerns) such as muffins, bagels, granola bars, fruit, juice, chips, cups, plates, napkins, and so on. We have (when money permitted) purchased bagels and cream cheese or donuts, but lately we’ve come to depend on the kids to purchase the food. If kids don’t have the resources to participate, I’ll bring in an extra package of granola bars, etc. It’s about doing something special before the break that the kids really enjoy. Many times we give the kids who have large families or may have financial difficulties, the extras to take home, and somehow there’s always plenty left over. One year in particular we had so much leftover food I was able to donate it to one of our city’s food pantries. They were elated as they often don’t have baked goods, cookies, etc.

After breakfast, the kids are divided into 3 groups of approximately 30-35 students for the following team activities:

• Finals of the Ancient History Trivia Contest: About 28-35 kids (approximately 7-12 from each section) who have earned top scores in our history colleague’s weekly trivia question activity compete with students from other sections. Prizes are awarded in June during our team award ceremony on the last day of school (more on that later in the year). The kids enjoy competing with their fellow history buffs, and for several kids who aren’t good with paper and pencil activities, it’s an opportunity to demonstrate their strength in oral/auditory skills.

• Facts in Five: We base this on a board game from the ’60s-’70s. The kids are divided up into teams, usually groups of  6 or 7. They line up outside the room and are handed a card with the corresponding team #. Each team then picks a spokesperson to share their team’s answers to each question. The questions are created by the academic teachers, and we also have some random mixed-bag questions. The board looks like this:

Each subject teacher creates a variety of questions related to what the students have been studying for the past term. The harder the question, the higher the point value. Mixed Bag could be anything: name a famous person from our city, for example. One of my favorites is to list all the neighboring towns and cities that touch our city. It drives the kids crazy because there are 6 and they can’t be sure of all of them.

The questions are erased as they answered correctly; but if they aren’t teams can answer the question when it’s their turn. We try to come up with prizes that don’t cost us any money, such as a pass to sit in the teacher’s chair for a class period (a big hit), giving one homework assignment of their choice for a teacher to complete (always funny when one subject teacher has to complete another teacher’s homework!) and an extra day to pass in a project. Some kids will hold onto those prizes all year, waiting for just the right moment, and end up never even using them.

When we have had kids from self-contained classrooms where students have cognitive weaknesses, or social/emotional/behavioral disabilities, I always consult with their teachers to incorporate questions they feel their students are capable of answering.

• Curriculum-related film: The third group of kids (who switch with the Facts in Five group) watch a film tied into ELA or Social Studies: e.g., Prince of Egypt when we study Egypt, or a “Coming of Age” video to tie into our reading of Crash. Or it may be simply an important movie for kids to see — like Radio  with Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a mentally challenged young man who helps the school’s football team (based on a true story).

Finally, I wanted to share this picture of Paul, my ELA co-teacher, demonstrating a physical challenge for the kids during a novel review game. They have a chance to win bonus points if they are successful, and the students love it because it’s so goofy. It gets them moving, and the whole class encourages them.

Note the headset Paul is wearing; we have two students who have hearing losses and it projects his voice for them. Accommodations are just a natural element of the teamwork we do together. It’s a dream team, really.

In a future post, I’ll share some other ways we work as a coordinated teacher team, including how we help kids who are struggling academically and socially.