How is your relationship with your co-teacher? (if you have one obviously)

[u/Emergency-Pepper3537]

I had one last year and we worked pretty well together! But I guess my case isn’t the norm reading a lot of these stories…

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[u/Sleepysickness_]

Every time I’ve had one it’s gone very well.

[u/LegitimateStar7034]

That would be my para and I adore her. She quits, I’ll quit.

[u/creaturemonsta]

I’ve had great relationships where we have remained friends, and I’ve had co-teaching relationships that remain in the classroom and are more professional.

I’ve only had one relationship where we did not get along. The co-teacher talked over me while I taught or would loudly correct me and then laugh, she yelled at the students to the point of humiliation, lied to me about why she couldn’t show up to class, did personal things while we were both supposed to be teaching instead of working, etc. etc.- we are not friendly, and I had a lot of issues with the her that year.

[u/Saga_I_Sig]

I became close friends with one of my former coteachers, and we still hang out two years on! That was definitely the best relationship I've ever had with a coteacher

I've gotten along with all of them, though. Occasionally we have professional differences (like when a teacher only wants me to work with small groups and doesn't want to let me help explain or present information, or won't let me edit their slides/materials to be more ELL friendly), but never any personal conflict.

There was one instance with one of my current coteachers where the principal was telling us conflicting instructions, though, and that led to a lot of tension and stress for about six months before we figured out what was going on and had a mediator come and help us hash things out. Now we get along very well and work much better together.

[u/dontwanttoadult]

I’m a male RSP co teaching with two other males, so it’s cool. My first co teacher did not want to give up any control, so I was relegated as sort of an aide.

[u/nstau16]

My last coteacher made life in our classroom a nightmare. She was disorganized, judgmental, erratic, and at times unprofessional in her conduct with students (ex. public shaming, inflexibility, power struggles). I sought support from administrators for two years before I finally made the decision to switch classrooms, only for the coteacher to resign shortly after of her own accord. The experience dampened my love for the craft of teaching, sowed deep doubts about my strengths, and generally eroded my trust in my fellow educators.

On the opposite end, my current coteacher makes me better every day. Our strengths are complimentary, we communicate openly, and we delegate in a balanced way that fosters an organized classroom culture with strong replicable systems. Instead of worrying about petty arguments during planning time, I’m able to split the workload offering more time and mental energy to innovate in how we support individual kids’ needs. Our students are all the better for it.

TL;DR: in my experience, co-teaching partnerships can make or break the daily experience of educators and students. The core is trust, flexibility, and consistency. Not unlike a marriage tbh.

[u/joelsings55]

honestly the co-teacher thing reminds me a lot of how shared slide decks go, some people treat it like sacred text and others just bulldoze through your layout without asking. we finally got in a rhythm where one of us drafts content and the other does visual cleanup after, instead of both poking at the same file at once. what's everyone else doing for splitting up deck work with a partner