Preparing for the New School Year

As I write this, it is the end of the school year and summer’s fair breezes are flowing through my window. My mind is far away from prep work for the upcoming year, which is my topic to write about this month; I am still trying to digest and review what has occurred these past nine months. But, it’s all a bit of a continuous loop of reflection of the past as well as planning for the future. They are symbiotic though I do need to take a mental break and simply dive into my garden and commune with the birds, the bees, my lovely flowers, and all forty of my vegetable plants for several weeks without a thought of work!

What I do know about my upcoming year is that I will be working yet again with a new partner who will split his time between the middle school and my elementary school. There will also be a third person coming just two days a week for one class each day. A positive is that I like both of these colleagues and foresee an amicable work relationship with each. Another plus is that each will bring new ideas to the table. I love to try new things as well as see how someone else teaches. I believe they too feel the same way so this will be a win-win for all of us.

For the past two years, I’ve worked with someone who is ready to retire and who has been teaching solely at the high school for the past fifteen years. I did most of the teaching of class content when we were together; he usually oversaw the warm-ups. He was appreciative of this as his pedagogy at the elementary level was pretty rusty. During his second year with me he was a bit more comfortable which was good because he had several classes on his own. I noticed that when we did not teach together at the beginning of the week due to vacations or whatever else, he would basically shoot from the hip with his single class. It was very helpful for him to see the lesson taught in the beginning of the week when we were teamed together, and then he would simply mimic the lesson on his own for his solo classes. He seemed to respect my style of teaching, which pleased and flattered me especially when I would hear my own words during his classes. In the past, I used to harbor resentment towards colleagues who “copied” me because I felt they were being lazy. As a more seasoned professional, I now realize that copying is perhaps one of the greatest compliments.

Several years back, I worked with someone with whom I clashed very badly. His teaching style and mine were not very compatible and he was the type of person who liked to show off in front of the students, pick favorites, call girls “sweetie,” and basically spend half the class time doing warm-ups and the other half playing a tag game. He was the total opposite of my present partner in so many ways. He would jump at the chance to demonstrate skills and more often than not do them totally incorrectly. He had a lot to prove and I took great pains to discreetly undo his poor instruction though he had no problem calling me out in front of the students with so-called improper squatting technique when I demonstrated how to be an elf for the cooperative group activity “Monsters, Wizards and Elves.” I bit my tongue many times.

So, for those of you starting your year with a new partner, or two, or perhaps even starting a position in a new school, here are a few tidbits of advice when working with others:

• If you are the newbie in town, try to ease your way into the system. Coming on too strongly is a turn-off, yet staying too far out on the periphery can look like you don’t want to be part of the team. Also, be humble and try to listen to the wisdom of your veteran co-workers. Your colleagues might look outdated but believe it or not, their experience is invaluable. And remember, someday YOU will be at that point in your career too!
• For the veterans, try not to be so stuck in your old ways. The saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” should be eliminated as your mantra. You will be pleasantly surprised to see that an old dog can learn new tricks. Let your new (and most likely younger) colleague explore and try to be a mentor rather than a dictator. Sometimes you will be right, but more often than not you will find refreshing new twists and strategies for engaging your students and making learning fun for all, including yourself.
• Do not argue with each other in front of the students. Unless something is unsafe, wait for a moment alone when you can tactfully discuss the issue at hand. If you can’t agree on a solution, then the next best thing is to let the students know that there are many different ways to teach and learn and that your way is just one method and they should consider both you and your colleague’s technique when practicing their skills.
• No matter how disastrous you feel your working relationship is, try to learn at least one thing from the experience. With a little introspection and honesty, there’s always something to learn about yourself. Maybe you need to learn to be more patient, forgiving, or understanding of others. Try to get to know the person better to gain a better perspective of where he or she is coming from. I know this works with students. You think a child is a behavior nightmare but then you meet the parents or hear the child’s tale of woe and it can shed new light on the situation and why students behave the way they do. As a result, your empathy increases and the situation can often become much easier to handle.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and have a great school year!