job share--long!@ :o)

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Home : 2003 : January : 26

job share--long!@ :o)
By sharing teacher

I have job-shared for 3 years in a split classroom. I LOVE it, I teach the language arts and social studies cirriculum, and my partner the math and sciences. Our parents are fine with it, they know that we both are able
to give 110% while we are there, and I whole heartedly believe that I would not be as good of a teacher if I had to work full time.
I would caution you though, I've had two partners, my first partner and I got along beautifully, I was switching grades so I switched to her discipline plan, and let her lead in regards to the cirriculum (she'd taught a 3/4 before). The first year we switched

full days, and that left us both feeling...unfulfilled, she was never unable to finish a project, and I ALWAYS did the finishing...not the teaching (I would do the end of the week tests etc.) We switched to half days after that, and the problem was solved.

My second partner and I have had some rocky times, our discipline plans were different, expectations for behavior were different, and the communication was just not there. I would say that Communication is the key to success. Now we leave notes everyday in a notebook, so I am sure that she has the information that we need about the kids. Things are much now, but it was hard on the kids until everything got worked out.

When my first partner and I initally decided that we wanted to job-share, we wrote down a proposal and presented it to the board. We explained why we wanted to (the educational benefits for the children) and how it would benefit the district. One very significant factor was money...the disctict saved some (they would have had to lay off a teacher), so that helped alot.

hope this helps! Sorry it's sooooo long! :o)

sharing teacher