This one goes out to the Teaching Tribes

It’s September 1st, and I’m reviving more than just my activity on this blog. I’m digging out my multicolored folders, setting up my classroom reading corner, and dusting off my impressive array of Expo markers. Over the past week, I returned to LCA to reunite with old colleagues and meet new ones, preparing for the waves of students about to arrive on our shores. And, much like every year, I am reminded of one of my most favorite and most important aspects of my teaching career: my Teaching Tribe.

I’m not the first to say it, and I certainly won’t be the last, but teaching is a team activity in basically every sense of the phrase. For good teachers to be and do their best, we need to be surrounded by a full and active support squad. That means friends and family willing to help lug school materials around, administrators that are excited about our new lesson ideas, colleagues who genuinely want to brainstorm classroom arrangements with you, parents looking to partner and work together, and school staff willing to wrestle the logistics to make the magic happen. No teacher is an island, and a teacher is often only as good as their Teaching Tribe.

Nothing to see here. Just a really supportive life partner stringing up lights in my classroom after a full day of work at his own job.

Everyone’s Teaching Tribe looks different, and there’s no wrong way to find your tribe. But find them we must! Personally, as I enter year 4 with a team of winners backing me up in ways I don’t really deserve, I can safely say that they are a BIG part of the reason that I’m excited to come back in the fall. They’re also a big part of the reason I am able to do my job well.

So this post goes out to you, Teaching Tribes around the world! From the spouses making the early morning coffee to the teacher friends armed with hugs and spare pens to the librarians ordering extra copies of the books you need to the facilities directors helping us get our window screens back on, you deserve your own appreciation day because you guys are the real MVPs!