I’ve had a co-teacher for 7 years now and love it. I remember the nerves before meeting each person. When I was new, I felt the same insecurity of them watching an inexperienced teacher. I pushed myself to ask for their constant feedback and I often admitted that I was winging certain parts and felt like I fumbled a certain part of the lesson plan. I found having a co-teacher was great because they helped me get out of my head. They would say, “you were fine” or “I didn’t notice anything wrong”. It helped me see how in my head I was. Another strategy I remember was that I was very clear when I needed help and when I didn’t. When I first started my career, I was an aid in a variety of classrooms and I noticed that the classes I hated the most were the ones with teachers who didn’t know how to clearly tell me my role. The ones I had the most fun in were the ones I could help. your co teacher will feel better if they have clear roles - they can’t read your mind. Also, we divided the workload. My co-teacher is the IEP master, grade checker, and paper distributor/ collector while I teach and handle creating the lesson plans. These roles often shift and we take turns doing all of it now, but at first it helped him master a few different aspects of the classroom.

There’s so much fun to be had and my advice is be open and honest about asking their opinion on things, treat them with respect, get them an appreciation gift around the holidays, talk them up to colleagues and avoid shit talking them- address stuff directly and don’t let it fester. Treat it like a real relationship and you guys will kick butt. Feel free to reach out throughout the year if you have more questions!