Listen "Interview with Dwana Cooper"
Episode Synopsis
Co-Teachers in Classrooms Getting Coffee (Season 2 Episode 3)
Meet Dwana Cooper, Coordinator of Specially Designed Instruction for the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). Listen to discover how Dwana intuitively developed an inspiring co-teaching partnership with an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher (common terminology from the 1990s) during her first year as a special educator. Among the many other topics that Dwana touches on during this conversation, find out about her vision for the new co-teaching teams that joined the Excellence in Co-Teaching Initiative and Dwana’s passion for the power of collaboration among educators.
Our next episode (coming in early November), will focus on co-teaching specifically for multilingual learners with disabilities. We plan to feature two resources related to this topic:
A chapter Dr. Wendy Murawski co-authored on Co-Teaching Models from English Learners with Learning Disabilities: A Collaborative Practice Guide for Educators edited by Richard Boon and Vicky Spencer
Collaboration for Multilingual Learners with Exceptionalities: We Share the Students by Andrea Honigsfeld and Audry Cohan
Follow this podcast so you won’t miss future discussions with distinguished co-teachers twice each month during the school year.
Please visit our website for links to additional resources related to co-teaching.
Subscribe to Co-Teachers in Classrooms Getting Coffee for bimonthly interviews with co-teachers brought to you by the Training and Technical Assistance Center at Virginia Tech. For a copy of today’s transcript, go to transcript.
Meet Dwana Cooper, Coordinator of Specially Designed Instruction for the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). Listen to discover how Dwana intuitively developed an inspiring co-teaching partnership with an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher (common terminology from the 1990s) during her first year as a special educator. Among the many other topics that Dwana touches on during this conversation, find out about her vision for the new co-teaching teams that joined the Excellence in Co-Teaching Initiative and Dwana’s passion for the power of collaboration among educators.
Our next episode (coming in early November), will focus on co-teaching specifically for multilingual learners with disabilities. We plan to feature two resources related to this topic:
A chapter Dr. Wendy Murawski co-authored on Co-Teaching Models from English Learners with Learning Disabilities: A Collaborative Practice Guide for Educators edited by Richard Boon and Vicky Spencer
Collaboration for Multilingual Learners with Exceptionalities: We Share the Students by Andrea Honigsfeld and Audry Cohan
Follow this podcast so you won’t miss future discussions with distinguished co-teachers twice each month during the school year.
Please visit our website for links to additional resources related to co-teaching.
Subscribe to Co-Teachers in Classrooms Getting Coffee for bimonthly interviews with co-teachers brought to you by the Training and Technical Assistance Center at Virginia Tech. For a copy of today’s transcript, go to transcript.
More episodes of the podcast Co-Teachers in Classrooms Getting Coffee
Interview with Kristy Hill, SLP
10/12/2025
Interview with Diann Eaton
13/11/2025
Interview with Dr. Jocelyn Washburn
22/10/2025
Chapter 1: The Co-Teaching Spokes Ranked
08/10/2025
Interview with Author, Toby Karten
24/09/2025
Rerelease: Interview with Dr. Wendy Murawski
10/09/2025
Interview with Candace Acousta
21/05/2025
Interview with Shelly Boggess
09/04/2025
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