Cooperative Teacher Interview or The “Nuptial Conversation”
What are Co-Teaching Issues for Discussion and Planning?
Time for Planning: IT DOES TAKE MORE TIME TO PLAN INITIALLY!
Question 1: Where will we find the time that we need?
 My Co-Teacher and I plan to arrive at school 45 minutes early to discuss the day and keep each
other updated. We have discussed the value in communication and the potential sacrifice and
complications that arise when proper communication does not exist. Communication is a key in
our teaching philosophy.
Question 2: How will we use our time together?
 We also plan to meet during our prep period to review information and update one another on
class circumstances. During this time we can talk about classroom procedures and student
performances. We will also be able to reflect on my performance and my needs. At this time we
can make adjustments to our expectations of one another, if needed.
Question 3: What records can we keep to facilitate our planning?
 We plan to meet before the end of every book chapter. We will document the observations from
previous chapter performances. We will use our experiences and results to improve our teaching
strategies. Our meeting will discuss the upcoming chapter and our roles in the teacher the content
of the chapter. We will layout the assignments, homework and quizzes.
Additional question:
What will we do to debrief a chapter and how will we reflect on our performances?
 After each test we will meet with the other teachers in our department teaching our courses. This
meeting will give us the opportunity to reflect on our performances. In our reflection, we can make
changes that assist student performance.
Instruction
Question 1: How will we share teaching responsibility?
 On the first day of classes, we will introduce ourselves as the course instructors. I will give them
an explanation of who I am and what my role will be in the classroom. We will inform them of our
induction process. This will give students the opportunity to understand the classroom of Coteaching.
Question 2: How will the content be presented -- will one person teach and the other(s) arrange and
facilitate follow-up activities, or will all members share in the teaching of the lesson?
 At first, my Co-Teacher will teach the lessons. I will be responsible for reviewing the homework
the day after it was assigned. I will guide students as they correct their homework. I will not only
show them the solution, but I will assist them in any questions they might have. This will give
them the opportunity to see any errors they made and how to correct their process. We will
transition where I take over lessons as well as reviewing homework.
Question 3: Do we rotate responsibilities?
 As time progresses, I will be given the responsibility to write lesson plans and conduct lessons. I
will integrate a student introduction, required standards, my objectives, materials/preparation
needed, assessment plan, and a plan of differentiation, as I model and check student understanding
through guided and independent practice.
Additional question:
What will be my goal in instructing?
 Later on in the semester, I will not only write lesson plans, but I will be given the opportunity to
teach a review session before a chapter test. This is a critical time in teaching. Students might
understand the given material, but if students are not given a comprehensive review they could not
perform to their highest potential on tests and exams.
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Student Behavior
Question 1: If we could each have only three class rules, what would those be?

My Co-Teacher has already laid out student expectations in his rubric and clearly communicated
them to me. I completely align with these rules and expectations. Success is a key in our teaching
philosophy. Students are expected to be prepared, respectful, honest, responsible and attentive. We
will build are students up as they fulfill our expectations. When students fulfill these expectations,
they are headed toward success regardless of their academic standings.
Question 2: How will we be consistent in dealing with behavior?
 We will clearly discuss our expectations. Failure to adhere to the class rules will result in a
warning, change of seat, student conference, parent conference, detention, written assignment ,
community service, confiscation of electronic equipment or referral. We will keep each other
accountable and reasonable as we deal with students’ behavior.
Additional Questions:
What is one way we will regulate behavior?
 If a student were to be absent it is their responsibility to figure out the homework and complete
assignments before they return to class. Student can find the assignments online or through their
“study buddies”.
How will we encourage students’ behavior to align with the school’s expectations?
 Students are discouraged from being tardy. We will follow the school’s tardy policy. The course
moves quickly and covers a lot of material. We want to encourage our students to be invested in
their academic performance.
Communication
Question 1: How will we explain this collaborative teaching arrangement to the parents?
 I will be introduced to the parents on Back to School Night. This introduction will provide
opportunity for the parents to get to know me as it will permit communication between myself and
the parents of students. Parents will understand who I am and what my role is. As a result, when
students mention me, to their parents, I will hold a position of validity and authority.
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Question 2: Who will communicate with parents? Will there be shared responsibility for
communication with parents of students with identified special education and other specialized
needs, or will particular members of co-teaching team have this responsibility?
 My Co-Teacher and I will send out an email to update the parents on their students’ performances.
Parents will not only be updated when their students perform poorly. Parents will also be notified
when students perform well. When students are recognized for their performance, they become
invested in expectations that are placed on them and therefore execute all that is before them.
Question 3: Who will communicate with students?
 We will build relationships with the students. We both value students and where they are coming
from. We expect students to come to class balancing all of life. We want to offer ourselves and our
classroom to be accessible to students to support them and their endeavors.
Additional Question:
How will we respond if I feel overwhelmed?
 My Co-Teacher has been very comforting. He has high expectations of me. He wants me to grow
and learn. He has been honest with his expectations and reasonable in delivery. He has said, if I
feel I have too much expected of me, he will reorganize accordingly. Therefore, it is my
responsibility to communicate my needs throughout the various stages of the induction process.
Evaluation
Question 1: How will we monitor students' progress?
 My Co-Teacher and I will assess student performance throughout the lesson. In the beginning I, as
a Supportive Co-Teacher, will walk the room and assess student performance. If I see students
struggling, I will inquire about their understanding. Together we will work toward understanding
the material. Intentional and comprehensive teaching is a key in our teaching philosophy.
Question 2: How will we assess and grade student performance?
 Students will be required to correct their homework in pen. After correcting the homework, they
will turn it in. The pen corrections will allow myself and my Co-Teacher to see where and how
students are struggling with the information. We will share grading of the tests. He will grade the
first tests. As I transition in my understandings, I will be responsible for grading tests. We will
assess based on students on going performances. It will be great to have my Co-Teacher’s
perspective as we reflect on the results.
Additional Questions:
How will we periodically determine what students are understanding?
 Throughout each chapter we will assign quizzes. The goal of these quizzes is to keep students
comprehending the covered material for the chapter test. The quizzes will be announced.
Announced quizzes give students the opportunity to adequately prepare and therefore preform to
the best of their potential. Through the results of these quizzes we will be given a structured
understanding of what the students are comprehending.
How will students be able to determine their grade?
 Students will be able to follow their academic progress online. Students will see their grades. My
Co-Teacher and I are determined to post assignments to our online grade book as soon as we can.
As we keep our grade book up to date, we will have an idea of our students’ understanding. This
will also keep students interested in their progress.
What will we do if students continue to misunderstand information?
 My Co-Teacher and I are both interested in seeing students succeed. We are both willing to spend
time outside of class working with students one on one and in group tutoring. We will offer
students who are struggling with information our lunch and after school hours to work with them.
Logistics
Question 1: How will we refer to each other in front of the students?
 My Co-Teacher and I will refer to each other as equal contributors. We will introduce ourselves to
the students by our last names and will be sure to use those names throughout the class sessions.
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When working together in front of students we will respect each other’s input. We will allow one
another to interject as needed for clarification. This will reinforce our explination of Co-Teaching.
Question 2: How will teacher space be shared?
 We will share our space equally. I have received keys from the office to my Co-Teacher’s
classroom. I not only have access to his classroom, but to his filling cabinets. This access will
provide me with a least restrictive environment where I will be able to make the classroom my
own.
Question 3: How will the room be arranged?
 My Co-Teacher has arranged the room where the students face toward the white boards. This is
the most practical in a math classroom. Students will not have to turn their heads or desks to
follow the class lecture. This will provide the most structure and least opportunity for distraction.
Question 4: How will a balance of decision-making power be maintained among co-teachers?
 My Co-Teacher and I are looking forward to working with one another. He is excited to let me
take over the classroom. When I have shown and expressed my decision making attributes, he has
been supportive. Not only has he been supportive, but he has guided me toward making decisions
on my own.
Timeline for shift from CT to TC and “solo” teaching?
Additional Questions:
Question 1: How will we initially develop a positive learning environment?
 From the beginning, we will develop a positive learning environment by supporting one another.
My teacher will provide opportunities for me to interject. This will show students how to work
collaboratively. We will not interrupt each other. We will work toward building a co-dependent
relationship. This will allow us to use our strengths toward classroom procedures.
Question 2: When will we inform the students about the transition?
 We will inform the students about my transitions at the beginning of the semester. This will allow
transitions to happen naturally. When we are striving for a new personal achievement or
transitioning to further responsibilities, we will communicate with the students what we are doing.
This will prevent students from being surprised or caught off guard by any of our transitions.
Question 3: When will be our goal for me to start writing lesson plans?
 We are going to try to follow the calendar of progress and assignments given by the Single Subject
Handbook. This means I will be writing lesson plans by week 3. As this time I will not begin
teaching my lessons. This will provide opportunity for my Co-Teacher to evaluate them and
opportunity for me to develop them for later on in the semester when I am teaching lessons.
Other
Additional Questions:
Question 1: How should we make up for me not being in class on Mondays?
 We will explain my absence to the students at the beginning of the year. Students will not expect
to see me and therefore will not be disappoint when I am not there. Our goal is for students to feel
comfortable with both of our teaching styles. My Co-Teacher plans to be flexible with my
schedule.
Question 2: How can I help with the website?
 We will constantly post our assignments to the web. I showed my Co-Teacher how to embed links
to assignments on Google Docs. I will write a blog to keep parents interested and updated in their
students’ development throughout the semester.
Additional Prompt: Correspondence
Additional Questions:
Question 1: Will I have an email address where I can correspond with others around the district?
 Yes. We are working with my OSL(On Site Lesion). She will provide the directions and
procedures on how to set up a district email.
Question 2: Can we access students’ performance in other classes?
 Yes. The district uses an online resource called Ares. This resource provides the ability to access
and configure student grades, attendance and class schedules. When we notice student patterns we
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can look on Ares to see if they are falling into some kind of consistency or inconsistency. This will
give us a better understanding of their performance outside of our classroom.
Materials from or adapted by Dr. E. Garza from: Villa, Thousand, & Nevin (2008) A guide to co-teaching:
Practical tips for facilitating student learning (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
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Sample “Nuptial Conversation” Issues for Discussion and Planning
Time for Planning
 How much time do we need?
 Where will we find the time that we need?
 How will we use our time together?
 What records can we keep to facilitate our planning?
Instruction
 What content will we include?
 Who plans for what content?
 How will we share teaching responsibility?
 Who adapts the curriculum and instructional and assessment procedures for select students?
 What are our strengths in the area of instruction and assessment?
 How will the content be presented -- will one person teach and the other(s) arrange and facilitate follow-up
activities, or will all members share in the teaching of the lesson?
 How will we arrange to share our expertise? How can we arrange to observe one another and practice peer
coaching?
 Do we rotate responsibilities?
 How will we assess the effectiveness of our instruction?
Student Behavior
 If we could each have only three class rules, what would those be?
 Who decides on the disciplinary procedures?
 Who carries out the disciplinary procedures and delivers the consequences?
 How will we be consistent in dealing with behavior?
 How will we proactively addressing behavior?
Communication
 What types and frequency of communication do we each like to have with parents?
 How will we explain this collaborative teaching arrangement to the parents?
 Who will communicate with parents? Will there be shared responsibility for communication with parents of
students with identified special education and other specialized needs, or will particular members of coteaching team have this responsibility?
 What types and frequency of communication do we each like to have with students?
 Who will communicate with students?
 How will we ensure regular communication with each other?
 Who communicates with administrators?
Evaluation
 How will we monitor students' progress?
 How will we assess and grade student performance?
 Who evaluates which group of students -- do team members collaborate in evaluating all students'
performances, or is each team member primarily responsible for evaluating a subset of students?
Logistics
 How will we explain our co-teaching arrangement to the students and convey that we are equals in the
classroom?
 How will we refer to each other in front of the students?
 How will teacher space be shared?
 How will the room be arranged?
 Who completes the paperwork for students identified as eligible for special education?
 How is the decision made to expand or contract team membership?
 How will a balance of decision-making power be maintained among co-teachers?
Materials from or adapted by Dr. E. Garza from: Villa, Thousand, & Nevin (2008) A guide to co-teaching:
Practical tips for facilitating student learning (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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Cooperating Teacher Interview Rubric
Criteria
Approaching
Response to Questions Provide answers to 6
of the prompt
or Prompts
themes.
Added Questions or
Prompts
Induction Plan Clinical Practice
Timeline of Activities
Evidence of
Developing a
Collaboration
Provide a list of the
questions or prompts
and expand on the
ones provided in
sample.
Provided questions
are correlated
beneath each prompt
theme with
additional questions
to follow.
Make reference to
the induction plan –
the transition to lead
teacher.
This is answered
under the Instruction
Prompt throughout
the four answered
questions(p.1-2).
Articulate the
foundation you are
creating as a team.
This is answered
under the Timeline
Shift prompt,
question 1(p.3).
Meets
Provide answers to
all 8 prompt themes.
Provide the prompts
& responses an
additional 5
questions/prompts
beyond the sample.
Eight of my nine
prompts contains at
least one additional
question.
Provide evidence of
how you and your
teacher will provide
a variety of supports
for the different
stages of the
induction process.
This is answered
under the Timeline
Shift prompt
throughout the three
answered
questions(p.3-4).
Articulate any
strategies that will
be used for a
successful
collaboration
(communication,
planning,
management…).
This is answered
under the Time for
Planning prompt
throughout the four
questions
answered(p.1).
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Exceeds
Provide rich detail
for the 8 prompt
themes.
I provided rich
detail for each of the
8 prompt themes by
filling in an average
of 4 bullet points.
Organize additional
prompts &
responses with the
themes of the other
prompts or create
new themes.
I created a new them
called
Correspondence.
Articulate how you
and your teacher
will assess the needs
of you as a team in
the different stages
of the induction
process.
This is covered
under
Communication’s
Additional
Questions(p.2).
Cite each of the
three areas on how
your approaches are
grounded in your
philosophy.
This is cited through
our time for
planning(p.1,
question 1), student
behavior(p.2,
question 1) and
evaluation
process(p.2 ,
question 1).
Organization
Self-Evaluation
(1 point will be
deducted
if not included)
Each question is
recognized with a
different font (italic,
bold, colored…).
Every question is in
bold.
Interview is
organized so the
questions/prompts
are easy to identify
not only by font, but
also in the context
of the writing.
Yes, throughout
document.
Visual
representations are
provided to
communicate the
foundation of the
collaboration of
your team.
Provides a copy of
the rubric …
Yes
& highlights the
criteria for each
component…
Yes
& provides evidence
for each criteria
marked.
Yes
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