2 Southside teachers work as a team

Southside Elementary School kindergarten teachers Ileana Manzano, a veteran at the school since 1988, left, and Danielle Sobolewski, entering her fourth-year of teaching, instruct their class of 30 on Tuesday where the team-teaching model is one of two at the school.

Published: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 2:44 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 2:44 p.m.

SARASOTA - They sense the wiggling coming. The uncontrollable urge that causes 30 kindergartners to fidget in their seats.

They call in reinforcements — Lou Bega and his Mambo No. 5.

Before things must get serious with morning reading, teacher Danielle Sobolewski leads her students in a dance. Kiddie aerobics.

"A little bit of Savannah makes me your man!" Sobolewski says, freestyling her students' names into the song lyrics.

Nearby, a second teacher, Ileana Manzano, coaches the children to throw their arms up in the air.

Sobolewski, 27, and Manzano, 58, are a formidable pair, an alter ego known as Mrs. Mansobo.

They write their lesson plans together, switch who is the lead teacher and feed off each other's energy.

Across Southwest Florida, there are only a handful of classrooms like this one at Southside Elementary where two teachers work side-by-side in a single classroom. For the school, where there are no empty classrooms, the combination takes advantage of a bigger space to hold more students. With two teachers, a class can legally hold up to 36 children instead of just 18, according to the Florida class size amendment.

But for the two educators, co-teaching is a valuable partnership, almost like a marriage.

"We're here to inspire these kids," Sobolewski said. "And hopefully, we're here to inspire each other."

"Mega classroom" concerns

Beside the kindergarten room and another second-grade class with 35 students at Southside, there are only two elementary schools that use the co-teaching method in the district.

Driven by space needs, the co-teachers are in a kindergarten class at Emma E. Booker Elementary and a K-1st grade split class at Taylor Ranch Elementary, said district spokesman Scott Ferguson.

At Manatee County Schools, Steve Valley said no kindergarten classes are co-taught but the district spokesman was unsure about the other grades.

Not everybody is on board with idea.

Last school year, a parent complained about the noise in what he called a "mega-classroom" at Phillippi Shores Elementary School.

"I'm concerned with overcrowding; 27 8-year-olds in one classroom is a lot of noise," Michael Dooley said at the time, in September 2012.

But the Southside duo say it works.

Typically, teachers on a team met to share ideas and collaborate for professional development.

"When you're locked up in your classroom, you get the 40-minute period once a week," Manzano said. "That's not enough."

Principal Steve Dragon said the key to success is that Manzano and Sobolewski volunteered for the co-teaching assignment.

"I would never want to say, 'You two go in there and do this,'" Dragon said. "You have to talk to the teachers. When they want it as much as I want it, the kids win."

"Everything has a place"

The wiggles are gone and the 30 5- and 6-year-olds are focused.

They spread out in small groups. Some children practice their letters on the computers while others write in their workbooks.

Two boys sit on the floor, spelling words that rhyme with alphabet magnets.

"Good job, Joaquin," Manzano says as she walks by.

On the other side of the room, Sobolewski leads four students in a book discussion on shapes.

They sit at a kidney-shaped table — an unusual shape for the children to learn, no doubt — as they identify geometry in their classroom.

"Shapes are all around us," she says.

The children, still at that age when school is exciting and new, get louder and more animated.

"Let's use our inside voices please," Sobolewski says. "We're getting excited because we're awesome."

With two teachers in the room, it's easier to keep their students on pace.

If Manzano teaches math, for instance, Sobolewski grabs the students who are struggling and pulls them aside for extra help. Same for the students who are excelling and need more advanced work.

Manzano started at Sarasota County Schools in 1988, 2 1/2 years after Sobolewski was born.

The seasoned teacher knows how to run a classroom and keep everything organized.

Their class is 1 1/2 times bigger than a regular kindergarten room, but they don't have space for one teacher's desk, let alone two.

Manzano motherly places a hook on a spare bit of wall not covered by posters, so Sobolewski won't lose her car keys.

Co-teaching exposes Sobolewski to a veteran's tricks.

"Everything has a place," Sobolewski says. "That sounds so silly. I can't tell you how many times I heard that from my parents growing up."

With Sobolewski, there is a new electricity in the room as she incorporates songs and visuals to get her point across.

"I love that energy. You learn a lot from the young teachers," Manzano says.

Taking turns, improvising

What makes the Southside kindergarten run so smoothly is the teachers' chemistry.

In the mornings, Manzano hugs her students when they come into the class.

Sobolewski throws in handshakes.

They know when to step in and lead or when to take a step back and let the other teacher instruct.

The daily lesson plans don't spell out who leads what. The teachers improvise in what turns into a seamless transition as they weave through the class during small group time.

For both, their passion is teaching, especially kindergartners.

Sobolewski laughs as she recollects a moment last school year when she was horrified to find a group of boys talking about drawing the "F word."

That's not school appropriate, she sternly told them.

Until she realized they wanted to draw fish.

"The kids are so genuine and innocent," Sobolewski says.

"They're like sponges," Manzano adds.

"And they're sweet," Sobolewski finishes.


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