TL;DR:
- In order for students to thrive in meeting their fullest potential, teachers need to create a connection by being consistent, constant, and purposeful.
- In order to be consistent, teachers need to be available through regular communication. Find a consistent form that works for you and your community like a class blog, Microsoft Teams, email, or other platforms.
- Students need a constant = you and people at home to help build trust, set a routine and goals, and to support.
- A teacher’s purpose is to build a relationship in order to be a resource for each child.
Team-teaching is truly a work of art! It can be a collaboration like no other, with no boundaries of experience, if you dare go there! It can be an open forum to help students thrive within their learning space. With a focus on the whole child, it can be an unparalleled opportunity for all invested. My past team-teaching experiences encompassed the magic of educators bringing their expertise to the table. However, my current experience as a cyber instructor is off the chart. It is one of such diversity and complete vulnerability. As a result, I feel a new sense of meaning and understanding evolving with every day, redefining team-teaching as a whole.
We must be consistent, constant, and purposeful to help every child of every ability and background grow to their fullest potential. Click To TweetTeam-teaching Partners
As a cyber instructor, my current team-teachers are students, parents, aunts, grandparents, siblings, and friends of the family. If I am really being forthcoming, it is with Google too. In other words, if it can lend knowledge and support, it is a valuable resource for team-teaching. To combine what we know as educators with what we need as a community, we must focus on three components to afford the opportunity for every learner to thrive. We must be consistent, constant, and purposeful to help every child of every ability and background grow to their fullest potential. Let’s remember, co-teaching works best when the instructors serve as equals, so that leads us to ask ourselves, how are we bringing all voices and all investors into a space of equality?
Team-Teaching: Be Consistent
What should be on the daily? Communication. Availability. In other words, being available to communicate is the first step in being consistent. Do parents and students know how to reach you? Is there a way to connect in one form or another to create positive learning experiences for each child? Here are a few ways to get started without reinventing the wheel:
- Create a class website that becomes your class launchpad—a place students and parents can rely on for information and resources. Google is versatile and kid-friendly if you need a place to start! Feel free to view my cyber class website as an example: Mrs. Nan’s CyberSite
- Microsoft Teams is a safe space and can be used for both parents, students, large groups, small groups, and one-on-one instruction. It can be utilized for messaging and video conferences. You can even use Voice for Microsoft Teams if you want to use it as a way to increase collaboration between teachers.
- Email is essential and something that most families are familiar with, so you are creating a space of comfort and equitable access.
- There are many other platforms such as Class DoJo, Google Hangouts, Zoom, etc., but finding one that both you, your students, and “team-teachers” can navigate is of the utmost importance!
Team-Teaching: Be a Constant
Who is their constant? No doubt it is a combination of those at home and you at school, but how do you use this to bring about what each child needs in order to thrive? That is to say, they need:
- an opportunity to trust and be trusted.
- a routine—a way to thrive and feel accomplished.
- to set goals so they have something to strive for.
- support—in all facets of their life including family, educators, and friends alike.
Team-Teaching: Know Your Purpose
What purpose do you serve in their world—a world of learning, reflecting, and growing? As a current cyber teacher, I realize that I cannot expect every child to work with me, rely on me, grow with me, or find relevance to connecting with me if I do not redefine this team-teaching experience. In other words, what I now know is that I have to work even harder than ever before to gain a relationship with each child and their family. In turn, I will have the opportunity to become a powerful resource for them.
This is not a fixed moment, nor is it one that comes with the traditional routine of entering my physical space each day. That is to say, it is an effort on my part like no other. Therefore, I must show my availability and build a connection beyond a moment. The way to create this is by coming back to being consistent, constant, and purposeful. Never before have I valued so greatly the gift that the in-person working space has provided for both my students and me over the course of the years. It is now apparent just how much I must create a connection, show my heartbeat through a screen, and redefine team-teaching in order to provide the best experience possible for every child!
About Kristen Nan
Life is about choices… CHOOSE POSITIVE! After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education and Elementary Education (with an emphasis in Emotional Support) Kristen Nan started her career in Learning Support then moved into the regular classroom teaching 3rd grade at Hopewell Elementary, HASD, in Aliquippa, PA for the last 21 years. She is a dreamer…an optimist… a disruptor in education! Her mantra is empowerment at all ages. Kristen believes empowering students to make decisions builds strong character. She instills this with T.R.U.E G.R.I.T. Kristen was most recently awarded 2017 Week 1 Steeler Chevron Leader in the Classroom for innovative practices.
