TL;DR:
- Educators are always adjusting to changes to meet the needs of those they are serving.
- Support others by asking prompting questions and extending grace.
As educators, we’ve learned to be on our feet in case of last-minute changes. Two years ago, we learned to adjust when there were students out for Covid or quarantines. We had to adjust to teaching students online, being quarantined, or out sick ourselves. Last year, when there wasn’t enough sub coverage and most schools were back fully in-person, we were asked to cover teachers who didn’t have a sub pick up their absences.
Co-Teachers and Why They’re Needed
This year, I am still learning to be flexible. Currently, due to the district’s large influx of multilingual learners (MLLs), I transitioned to a coaching role in order to support the English language learner (ELL) teachers. I want to ensure proper implementation of the district’s co-teaching model.
I’m able to pull from my administrative and teacher coaching experience and many years as a world language teacher to work with teachers in co-teaching teams. The district has been using this model for over 10 years. But since it’s a large district, there are some schools that have a great co-teaching dynamic between ELL and core teachers. There are some schools where this isn’t the case.
In addition, there are many ELLs coming into our district this year, which is reflected across the country. While everything about co-teaching and how to implement it with fidelity looks great on paper or during district PD sessions, the day-to-day implementation may not run as smoothly.
A school doesn’t run itself. There are many moving parts and there are many people who are pieces of the puzzle. Click To TweetLast-Minute Changes: Roll with the Punches
While I am coaching teachers and providing (job-embedded) PD, some co-teaching relationships I’m noticing are strained. For example, there is a core-area co-teacher who is getting administrative internship hours completed and is usually out of the classroom 3-4 days a week to cover for when the dean or another administrator is out. This leaves the ELL co-teacher to take over the whole class instruction.
Some ELL co-teachers are happy for the chance to “take the spotlight” instead of being in more of a support role. Others are uncomfortable not being able to focus most of their support on the ELLs in the classes they co-teach. While this dynamic looks different than in the past few years when teachers were out due to illness, proper implementation of an effective co-teaching model can be difficult when one of the core area teachers is often not in their classroom.
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Respect for Where Everyone Is
A school doesn’t run itself. There are many moving parts and there are many people who are pieces of the puzzle. Something important to remember is that we don’t know what our colleagues have going on outside the student contact time.
Sometimes, our colleagues will share their needs with us. If there is trust developed, we can step in and help them out. A book I am currently reading for my Better Leaders, Better Schools Mastermind group is Inclusive Conversations: Fostering Equity, Empathy, and Belonging across Differences by Mary Francis Winters.
This is a book I highly recommend reading with staff. Not only does it address how to have important DEI work and hard conversations in the classroom, but it also addresses trust, grace, and forgiveness in chapter 7, which we recently discussed in our mastermind group.
When you’re supporting teachers who may be in a situation that can lead to conflict, as mentioned above, you can help them by asking prompting questions about extending grace and forgiveness to colleagues who may have broken their trust in one way or another.
Where to Look for Support
Just like teachers’ lesson plans change from day to day, depending on how much we cover during the lesson, there is the possibility for those in student support roles to be asked to “turn on a dime” and to take over as the main classroom teacher, as described above.
While it’s important to be flexible, this can also be frustrating if it happens often. Lean on others in and outside your building. Don’t backtalk a colleague who you’re frustrated with. While it may be tempting not to, you must stay in your lane.
If at some point, an intervention is needed, you can contact your supervisor, instructional coach, or HR representative.
Please reach out if any of these situations described above resonate with you. I’d love to interview you for my podcast Out of the Trenches if you’ve been through a difficult situation (or “trench”) with a colleague and want to share the outcome. Tweet or DM me at @danagoodier with #colleagues #relationships #lastminutechanges #TBBlogger
About Dana Goodier
Dr. Dana Goodier has 23 years of experience in education. She has taught World Languages and English and worked as a middle school administrator. She completed her doctorate degree (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership early 2020. For her dissertation, she researched reasons parents were opting their students out of high-stakes testing at middle schools and how that affected the district accreditation rating.
She often speaks at conferences, providing educators with techniques to minimize off-task behavior and to increase time on task. She’s the host of the “Out of the Trenches” podcast, which features educators who share their stories of resiliency. She is also the author of the book, “Out of the Trenches: Stories of Resilient Educators.”
Follow her on Twitter @danagoodier and visit her website at: www.danagoodier.com
