A colleague recently shared this common experience from the beginning of her teaching career:
“When I first started teaching English at a public high school on the west side of Chicago, I had tons of resources at my disposal. There were the piles of grad school texts on my desk at home, the teaching portfolio I had diligently organized in advance of my interviews, and ideas from friends already teaching English. I was also clear on my job description - the curriculum I should pull from, what ELA standards applied to what quarter, and where to get a teacher’s edition of the textbook. I knew that lesson plans for the week ahead were due every Friday and would be reviewed by one of the assistant principals. And that the English department would be meeting every week on Thursdays during our common planning period.
“However, despite all of these teaching resources at my disposal, I felt very, very lonely on the job. At 24 years old, I could practically feel the naivety emanating from my first year teacher's skin; some days I felt more like a student than their teacher. As I watched more veteran teachers chat in the hallways or interact with students or head out of the parking lot five minutes after the dismissal bell, I decided that they all must be experts. They had an air of confidence about the work that I just didn’t feel in myself. But instead of walking up to any of them and asking to eat lunch together or talk about a challenging teaching scenario, I recoiled. For most of that first year I ate lunch at my desk, stayed in my room long after school ended and wallowed in figuring teaching life out alone. I couldn’t bring myself to spark the dialogue with the experts surrounding me, and they had no way to know that I needed them.”
Belonging is an innate human need. What this story and so many like it illustrate is that transitioning to any new job, especially one as demanding and consuming as teaching, can be made smoother by intentionally helping new teachers build connections.
Below are five tips for school leaders that can help intentionally connect new teachers to others in the school community. Connection can be about work of course, but it doesn’t have to be. Creating space for all teachers to get to know someone beyond a hallway wave is a foundational step so that when a challenging situation arises, teachers are there to support one another. And, as the story above illustrates, it’s about building bridges so no one feels alone on their island.
Create a lunch buddy schedule. This benefits new and old teachers alike by prompting them to step away from their desks. It’s simply an ask to eat in community once a week or once every other week on some sort of a rotating schedule. Authentic connection is often built at the table over food. Even if you only have 20 minutes to eat lunch like I did, it’s nice to pop into a lounge or classroom to talk to colleagues during quick breaks.
Create a schedule for new teachers to observe strong teachers in the building. While this can require a bit of more logistical planning like sub coverage, it doesn’t have to be complex. Set up opportunities for teachers to see their peers in action and in doing so creating a common experience for them to discuss. Seeing a colleague using Total Physical Response techniques to engage a classroom of energetic teenagers immediately shifted my view of what to strive for as an educator and gave me immediate action steps to try in my own classroom.
Build a quick check-in routine. The earlier we can celebrate teachers’ strengths and work to address challenges, the more comfortable we can all become with the idea of growth over time. We recommend school leaders do weekly or biweekly “pop ins” to all classrooms to see how things are going. The discussion afterwards can be brief and rooted in one or all of the following: 1. What were you trying to accomplish? 2. What went well? 3. What do you want to improve on? This practice gets teachers in the habit of self reflecting while also providing a place for their voices to be heard.
Discuss working styles and communication preferences. Consider the team your new teacher will be working most closely with (co-teachers, mentors, department or grade level teams). Build in time to discuss working styles and communication preferences to improve communication and a sense of belonging, and to prepare folks to talk through conflicts when they arise. Be sure to provide a structure for the conversations including questions like: How do you prefer to communicate? What motivates you as a teammate? What is your lesson planning style? When you feel stressed at work, what do you need most from those around you?
It’s never too late. If you’re a school leader reading this and wishing you had put something in place at the beginning of the school year to help build connections, it’s not too late! While the tips above may be different from how you’ve been operating, they can be implemented at any time.
What’s most important is that we do not put the onus of “making connections” only on new teachers. They have more than enough on their plates to figure out. Creating space for one or two of the tips above can help ensure all teachers - including the brand new ones - feel part of the culture and ultimately invested in the school’s broader vision.