The Last Day of Collaborative Team Teaching (teaching)

For the first twelve years of my life, I did not have sisters. It was just me and my brother. Then, baby girl 1 came into my life. Two years and a little bit later, baby girl 2 was here. The past sixteen years have made it impossible for me to remember what it is like not to have sisters. They are a part of my fabric.

They finished school earlier than I did and have been excited to come to my classroom since we made the plans sometime around Christmas. For the past two days, they have been witnessing my world, helping in spectacularly amazing ways, talking with my students, making it impossible for me to hide my real age, and acting as my external reaction indicators.

Not surprisingly, my sisters and I have many similar reactions to things; we all think the same things are funny, we like similar hobbies, and we have similar moral compasses. Unfortunately, it was the moral compass part that was highlighted.

My coteacher made two children call themselves "terrible people" because of something they did to another student. Both my sisters' faces held the look of horror my face worked to suppress. When we talked about it, my oldest little sister said she wanted to talk with the principal about what happened. I told her I would take care of it. Other than telling both boys that I know they are wonderful people, my plan for taking care of it has about as much of a chance of impacting change than almost anything I have done in the classroom this year.

Normally, I would not be so explicit about something that happened in my class. I try to keep things vague so my students' privacy is protected. But, I think it might be important for me to have a record of this situation. I think coteaching has been an overwhelming struggle. I do not think I want to experience this type of struggle again. Being able to remember what happened yesterday will keep me from forgetting why I never want to be in this situation again.

I have so much to learn as a teacher.