Transcript [pdf] 

SHOW NOTES

What This Episode Is About

Co-teaching is powerful, and complicated. In this episode, we reflect on six years of co-teaching together while being very different people with very different working styles.

Whether you’re a general educator and special educator, a teacher and paraprofessional, or any two adults sharing responsibility for students, this episode explores how differences can become strengths instead of sources of tension.

Key Takeaways

• • Co-teaching includes any time two adults share responsibility for students, full day or partial day, in person or virtual.
    
  • Differences in personality, communication style, and problem-solving are common, and not a problem to “fix.”
    
  • Strong co-teaching relationships require trust, self-awareness, and honest conversation.
    
  • Parity isn’t about equal airtime, it’s about shared purpose and mutual respect.
    
  • Understanding how your co-teacher regulates stress helps prevent misunderstandings and conflict.

Episode Download / Handout

101 Ways to Get to Know Your Co-Teacher

This relationship-building resource includes 101 conversation starters and reflection prompts designed to strengthen co-teaching partnerships — whether you’ve been working together for 20 minutes or 20 years.

Inside the download:

• • Questions to build trust early
    
  • Prompts for navigating conflict and communication styles
    
  • Reflection tools for experienced co-teaching teams
    
  • Ideas for strengthening collaboration mid-year

     

Why download it?
Before we can share instruction well, we have to know each other well. This handout gives you simple, real questions that help build trust, clarify expectations, and surface the stuff that usually goes unsaid in co-teaching partnerships. If you want co-teaching to feel balanced and sustainable, not awkward or uneven, this is a really good place to start.

👉 Download at: inclusiveschooling.com/download66

Practical Co-Teaching Moves

• • Define co-teaching broadly 
  • Talk about differences early instead of assuming alignment
  • Normalize hard conversations as part of collaboration
  • Share how stress shows up for you, and what helps
  • Use relationship-building questions regularly, not just at the start of the year

Additional Resources 

11 Things Rocking Co-Teachers Do: This blog highlights key habits and practices that strengthen collaborative teaching partnerships, drawn from Julie Causton’s The Educator’s Handbook for Inclusive School Practices. The list emphasizes shared ownership of the classroom, equitable distribution of planning and instruction, intentional communication, and ongoing collaboration to meet all students' needs. It’s a practical, teacher-friendly set of guidelines for educators looking to build more effective and inclusive co-teaching environments. This resource serves as a quick reminder of core strategies that support professional teamwork and inclusive practices in classrooms.

30 Days to the Co-Taught Classroom: How to Create an Amazing, Nearly Miraculous & Frankly Earth-Shattering Partnership in One Month or Less: This book offers a day-by-day, practical roadmap for building strong, effective co-teaching partnerships. Written by Julie Causton and Paula Kluth, it breaks collaboration into manageable steps that help educators develop shared understanding, improve co-planning and instruction, and expand their teaching structures to better support all learners. Packed with tips, worksheets, templates, and reflective tasks, it’s designed to help teams grow more connected and intentional in just 30 days. This resource is ideal for co-teaching teams looking for actionable strategies to enhance collaboration and inclusion in their classrooms. 

Next-Level Co-Teaching: This interactive professional learning series from Inclusive Schooling is designed to help co-teaching teams move beyond simply sharing a classroom to practicing collaboration that is intentional, effective, and sustainable. Anchored in inclusive education principles and the 30 Days to the Co-Taught Classroom framework, the training gives educators concrete, immediately usable strategies for clarifying roles, choosing purposeful co-teaching models, and strengthening shared responsibility. Whether you’re a general educator, special educator, or part of a co-teaching team, this series supports real classroom challenges with tools to build confidence, streamline collaboration, and promote inclusive learning. It’s ideal for teams ready to deepen their practice and make co-teaching truly work for all learners.