Traditional Team Teaching

[glynnis]

I am wanting some information from teachers who are a part of the traditional team teaching model. In this type of classroom there are two certified teachers and two classes of kids. The teachers work cooperatively to teach. It is not like team teaching where you are departmentalized. Both teachers are in class at the same time with the same kids. If you teach like this, I'd like your thoughts on it and the pros and cons. Thank you.

[HZalaha]

My first year of teaching was the 2005-2006 school year. I taught in a traditional team teaching model for about 3 months. There is great potential with this system of teaching, however I experienced mostly cons. In order for team teaching to be successful there has to be a feeling of partnership with both teachers and an established set of rules and behavior management strategies that are agreed upon by BOTH teachers.
When my class was changed in October from self contained to team teaching with another class I aired my concern that even though it was my first year teaching that I have plenty of experience and ideas of what works in my class. I told the other teacher that I wanted us to work at partners and not have one dominant teacher over the other. She agreed at the time of course, but once we got into the classroom she changed all the rules and routines that my students had been used to for the past month and a half without discussing this with me first and would never sit down and talk about what lessons we would teach each day. There was no communication and she would get frustrated when she was trying to do a lesson and say in the middle of the activity "I can't handle this right now, Mrs. Zalaha. You need to take over" and then she would walk out of the classroom.

Not to say that most people would act this way, but that was my experience. In our situation the principal saw that this was not working and split our classes when we left for winter vacation. However, I did get a chance to see the potential for a great class set up. An extra set of adult hands to help out with projects, a person to discuss ideas with and work out some potential problem areas ahead of time, another adult to manage the class if you do need to step out of the room for a minute to use the bathroom, make a quick copy of an activity if you run short, etc. The biggest thing I would be wary of is making sure that the other person is someone that you can work VERY well with and that there is an open line of communication and respect.

[MissLindy]

My first year of teaching involved Team Teaching. There were both PROS and CONS to this. I will go ahead and give you the CONS:
I felt like one teacher took over (not me) while the other had to follow. My partner really did not value my input (since I was just a 1st year teacher) and that was very hard for me to deal with. She was very "stuck in her ways" and she did not want to try new things.

Parents did not know which teacher to go to if they had a concern. You must establish how you want to handle this at the beginning of the year. If you want parents to go to both of you, you need to make that clear and you must be strict with it. Otherwise, parents will play the "mom/dad" game and will go back and forth

PROS:
I did learn a lot from this teacher about things that did work in the class and I have since taken this info into my own classroom. Had I not taught with her, I may not have learned about some of the "tricks of the trade".

Two people means extra sets of everything! Plus we were able to set up a schedule where one taught, while the other prepared and so forth. That was so helpful my first year!

[MrsR]

This year will be my first year as a collaborative teacher (special education). I will be team teaching in 5 different classrooms throughout the day. When team teaching works it is awesome! There are some things to think about though: make sure the students look at both adults as teachers (not one teacher and one "helper") also, make sure that both people are teacher. There are a lot of classrooms where one teacher feels like a "glorified aide".

[eyd]

I did this with three different teachers. The first two teachers were great. We helped each other out. We discussed everything together. Curriculum, pacing, etc.

This last teacher is horrible. She wants everything her way or no way. She changes the classroom around to suit her and her group of 18. After two months she finally realized that her arrangement was not working for my group of 30. She refuses to follow the curriculm and uses one that she created even though we have told her that we have to use what the school is giving us.

Now she is angry because my students are beginning to read.
And hers are not. She believes that centers are working fine. Because she does not listen to me I told her to do what she feels is the right way.

I am a team player but I would like to do what the rest of the school is doing as far as following the curriculum. I believe in whatever works for the students is fine.

[mopar]

I have also been in this type of situation almost every year that I have taught. You really need to work on the dynamic of the staff and keep people together if they hit it of. One of my principals loved to rearrange staff to give everyone a fair chance!?! However, it can be a horrible mess if you place two teachers together that are not getting along or have different educational backgrounds that will not merge together. My experiences were a little different though. We didn't have different classes, the two of us were responsible for all the students in our class.... But it did work well when I worked with teachers who agreed that the school curriculum should be followed and that kids are expected to learn. I learned a lot and I know the other teachers I worked with learned a lot too. It is also great to have someone to co-plan with. Not everything falls on your shoulders.

[Boxcar]

I can see the benefits of team-teaching. At the preschool level, there is usually more than one teacher in the room. It helps out a lot. Still, there is only one head teacher, most of the time. This means that there is not the same type of give-and-take compromising. I don't think I'd like to team-teach, personally. I don't think I'd want to do all that sharing!

[mopar]

The sharing is hard, especially for teachers. However, if you find someone that you can share with it works very well. Team teaching is very similar to a marriage and almost needs to be treated like one!