Figuring out how to create an effective and efficient co-taught lesson was the challenge for me, as I’ve never observed or taught in such a manner, nor I have I ever been the student in such a class. Nevertheless, I think my teammate and I did a fairly decent job. We decided it would be more efficient to have one “main” teacher, with the other working as assistant (in role play, initiating drills, time management, introduction, and of course monitoring during activities). I had assumed the students would ask the main teacher all their questions, but as it turned out, questioning was distributed evenly between us. I interpret this to mean we achieved a successful balance of responsibility which resulted in equal authority concerning the material.
I by no means underestimated the abilities of the children to pick up the material (perhaps not being as far removed from sixth grade myself, partly because of my age but mostly because of three younger siblings) but I did not anticipate the lack of (authority? respect?) of teachers over their class. It’s a slight exaggeration to say I experienced a bit of culture shock, seeing as the children did not have chairs but exercise balls, went outside for a two minute run during class time, and were uncharacteristically rowdy (from what I’ve experienced, having attended private schools from K through 12, specifically, those run by Catholics).