Last week I was prepping a lesson for a group that another teacher and I run together on Fridays. As I put it together I noticed some small changes in what I was doing, little things but important things, and I realized that the reason I was making these changes was because of how much I was learning from that other teacher. That other teacher is a first year teacher and a graduate student and I am lucky enough to be her "cooperating practitioner". She is supposed to be learning from me (and I hope she is), but I know that I have have learned from her.
Special eduction can be so isolating for teachers. You are often the only special education teacher serving your population in your building, sometimes in your school district. This year I am in the same corridor as the graduate student teacher I am supervising and another graduate student teacher across the hall. Even when I taught in a special school I never had a community of special educators teaching similar populations who were able to work together so well. We share ideas and lessons, we get a chance to decompress together after a hard day or laugh together after a great day, but most of all we have a chance to become better teachers by learning from each other.
Thanks for the insight. As a grad student in a special education program I am always amazed at the number of organizational and data keeping tasks that teachers must do. It can be so intimidating trying to integrate all of the various aspects on top of creating lesson plans that effectively reach all learners. It's good to know that it is not always a one-sided partnership.
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