NYC Educator: When Students Step Up

NYC Educator: When Students Step Up:

When Students Step Up

When you have a co-teacher, a lot of things are different. You can immediately deal with a student issue by taking that student out in the hall and discussing whatever there is to discuss. Immediately things get better. Or worse. Or stay the same. But hey, at least you tried. Forgot that handout? You can go get it. Sent a student to the nurse's office and you suspect he's walking the halls having big fun? Go check.

There are some things that you do, and some things your co-teacher does. You develop a routine. You write a lesson, and she makes it look more Danielson than you would. Is that a good thing? Who knows? But if it's Danielson it's better when someone is observing, even if Danielson herself doesn't buy into that train of thought. Maybe your co-teacher decides she should take attendance, and maybe she does it better than you would. Maybe much better.

But if you're gonna be absent, you have to alert your co-teacher. You can't just leave her hanging. Are you the one who wrote the plan for the day? Will she be the one hanging in the wind when the Part 154 police come to make sure you're doing whatever the hell it is they want you to do? Regardless, you have to be careful. I haven't actually been absent this year, though I've had a few times I thought I would. But as chapter leader I have to go to meetings all the time, so she's been on her own on more than one occasion.

On the other hand, I hadn't taught solo since last year. I was actually pretty nervous one day last week when my co-teacher didn't show up. I didn't tell her that, of course. Don't worry, everything NYC Educator: When Students Step Up: