I am ready to change the world….so I landed a job as a ‘co-teacher’. What is that you wonder? It is a special education teacher who works with teachers in public school to support identified children. Great idea in theory but not so great in practice. This particular district had not prepared or offered any trainings for co-teaching before my start date. The first year was quite the challenge. Many of the teachers did not want another “teacher” in their classroom. Also, the district had me bouncing around from class to class all day. The ideal co-teacher should be assigned to one class ALL day. After all, special ed students do not become typical functioning students when support staff leaves the room. My experiences ranged from teaching side by side ☺to being asked to take “my students” to work in the back room with them 😞 (um-segregation anyone?). Overall, this first teaching job proved to be both challenging and frustrating. I only stayed at this job a few years and then got a job as a Special Ed teacher in my own classroom.
See blog part III.
teacherlaurablog 
It sounds like it turned out to be a stepping stone for your next endeavor. It is interesting how these frustrating experiences early on can lead to better opportunities to make a difference.
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Yes, you are right about early experiences leading to better ones. I really like where I work now.
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It sounds like your days as co-teacher gave you a means to finding where you belong and where you can make more of a positive impact. I am sure you still made a difference in the daily lives of those children.
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Yes, it made me realize that I would only consider doing co-teaching if I was in the same classroom ALL day. Otherwise, prefer to have my own classroom.
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Time to re-vamp how they do co-teaching in certain districts. 🙂
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Yes, needs to be General Ed. & Special Ed. in same room ALL day long to make an impact in student learning.
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