Most schools have two teachers working in the M&R role. They rely heavily on each other, sharing the trials and frustrations of the position. At several schools where the M&R teachers were interviewed, they divided the class equally at each grade level. For example, in one school serving Grades 1 to 5, each M&R teacher took responsibility for two of the four classes at each level. They said this keeps each teacher involved with the whole curriculum of the school. It also permits them to work as a team on curriculum questions, and substitute for each other if necessary. The teamwork includes frequent discussion of perspectives on individual cases and appropriate instructional strategies:
We share the work. That way we can talk back and forth and compare what we’ve done with different students. Maybe something I’ve done would be useful to her and vice versa. Teachers know which M&R teacher they should go to, but sometimes in an emergency they talk to whoever they meet. We take care of it. We often discuss assessments. It’s nice to have that back up, someone who can confirm what you see. It’s also great because we’re both familiar with all the kids and there are times when we have to sit in on a meeting for the other M&R teacher.
In some schools M&R teachers work out of the same room and discuss things on an informal basis. In other schools, they have formal meetings once a week where they discuss problems or issues. This seems more prevalent at the high school than at the elementary level. One of the high schools reported formal meetings each week that are attended by the three teacher’s aides as well as the two M&R teachers. They feel this helps them discuss and resolv student and scheduling problems and deal with organizational issues.
