4 FAST Ways to Develop a Stronger Co-Teaching Relationship Today

Quickly improve your co-teaching relationship by engaging in these four fast and simple strategies today.

How many times have you heard someone say that co-teaching is like a marriage?

In my seventeen years as an educator I’ve heard it said so many times that if I had a dollar for each time I’d heard it, I’d be rich. Well maybe not rich, but you get my point.

It’s used way too much, especially since in my opinion, it simply isn’t true.

How can the co-teaching relationship be equated to a marriage when the majority of teachers are never given an opportunity to establish a relationship with their co-teacher prior to being tossed into a classroom to co-teach with one another?

My hubby Mel and I are coming up on our fifteenth anniversary and even though we had a whirlwind courtship that only lasted six months before we said ‘I do,’ we still took time to communicate and develop a relationship prior to walking down the aisle.

Open, honest communication is vital to developing a strong relationship with your co-teacher.

Now while you definitely won’t have six months to get to know one another and it’s very likely that you won’t even have a day before the school year starts, it’s important for you to sketch out some time to begin establishing a strong, collaborative relationship with your co-teacher.

Easier said than done, right?

I know that with lessons to plan, data to collect and papers to grade, your time is extremely limited, which is why this post equips you with four FAST ways that you can begin developing a stronger co-teaching relationship today!

1| Focus on achieving ONE #relationshipgoal

Coming in at over 14 million posts on Instagram, #relationshipgoals are officially a social media phenomenon but when it comes to co-teaching, they’re much more than that.

Co-Teaching #relationshipgoals are the co-teaching relationship goals that you and your co-teacher strive to achieve everyday. I highly recommend that you work to achieve only one co-teaching #relationshipgoal at a time.

In order to identify what that ONE co-teaching #relationshipgoal will be you must have an HONEST conversation with your co-teacher.

Here’s a simple way to make this important conversation happen today in less than 30 minutes:

1. Individually, you and your co-teacher are to rate yourself on the statements below using the following scale (Always, Sometimes, Rarely, Never):

• We have identified each others strengths and weaknesses & keep them in consideration as we make instructional decisions.
• We are able to openly and honestly provide feedback to one another regarding our co-teaching practice.
• Our relationship is so in sync that I can easily read the nonverbal cues of my co-teacher.
• When we don’t see eye to eye, we resolve our differences respectfully and productively.
• We take time to celebrate our co-teaching successes.

2. Use your ratings to identify 3 areas within the co-teaching relationship that you would like to work on.

3. Prioritize the 3 areas that you chose in #2 above from 1 (greatest) to 3 (least).

4. With your co-teacher, discuss your co-teaching relationship priority list and agree upon an area that you both will focus on improving.

5. Create a co-teaching #relationshipgoal. Keep in mind that your goal should be easy for you and your co-teacher to follow through on, quantifiable and within your control.

2| All teams have a name & so should your co-teaching team!

The one thing that all teams have in common is that they have a team name. So in order to make your co-teaching team official, you must choose a team name.

With the One Team, One Dream activity, you can’t just go around choosing any old name. While it may be cute to have a combined name like Brangelina or Bennifer, we all know that those relationships rarely last so we’re not going to go that route.

Instead, you and your co-teacher are going to discuss your dreams for your co-taught classroom and then create a name that reflects that dream.

Here’s How to Complete the One Team, One Dream Activity:

1. Take a few minutes to individually reflect upon and jot down your response to the following question:

“If your principal were to walk in to your co-taught lesson and observe your best lesson ever, what would she see?”

2. Discuss your co-taught classroom dream with your co-teacher and identify common elements between them.

3. Create a name that reflects those common elements

A few examples of One Team, One Dream Co-Teaching Team Names that have been developed during our workshops or in the Show Your Co-Teacher Some Love Challenge are:

• Believers & Achievers
• Insanely In Sync
• Bright Sparks
• The Mindbenders
• High Expectations

I’d love to hear the co-teaching team name that you chose. Here’s how you can share it with me: Snap a pic with your co-teacher. Share the pic and your co-teaching team name on social media and Tag @ericaterryco on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook

3| Show Your Co-Teacher Some Love

You and your co-teacher are going to be spending a lot of time with one another so the relationship that you establish must be one that is real and authentic. It must go beyond that of the everyday, hi-bye, professional working relationship.

One simple way to begin developing a real, authentic relationship is by participating in the Show Your Co-Teacher Some Love Challenge. In this ten day challenge your mission is to do exactly what the challenge name says you will do, ‘Show Your Co-Teacher Some Love!’

Here’s a few activities that you can engage in to Show Your Co-Teacher Some Love:

• Co-Teacher ♥ Challenge 1: Give Your Co-Teacher Some Love with a Shout Out: Snap a selfie with your co-teacher & share it on social media with a positive statement about why you love co-teaching with him or her.
• Co-Teacher ♥ Challenge 2: Co-Teaching Theme Song: Choose a theme song for your co-teaching team that motivates, inspires and gets you pumped up. Create a Flipgrid video of you & your co-teacher dancing to your theme song and post it to Flipgrid using FLIP CODE: 9c087512
• Co-Teacher ♥ Challenge 3: Positive Impact: Think a specific example of how your co-teacher has positively impacted a student in your co-taught class. At some point during today, verbally commend him or her for this.

4| Talk about Expected Roles & Responsibilities

Last, but not least, you can begin to develop a stronger, more collaborative relationship with your co-teacher by simply having a conversation. The questions below will empower you to have a deeper conversation that will allow you and your co-teacher to get in sync with one another and quickly establish roles and responsibilities. Take some time today to answer them for yourself and with your co-teacher.

1. How do you envision your role in our classroom? How do you envision my role in our classroom? *Be as specific as possible in your descriptions
2. How will we ensure regular open communication with each other?
3. Discuss roles and responsibilities for enrichment
4. Discuss roles and responsibilities for providing content instruction
5. How will the responsibility of carrying out discipline/consequences be distributed? Will it be shared or divided?

By taking the time today to build a collaborative, co-teaching relationship based upon a shared vision and goals up front, you’ll save yourself tons of headaches and stress later. Plus you’ll be on the same page at all times and this is going to make a ton of difference when it comes to the impact that you’ll make in the lives of your students.