Summer "Ehs"

When I created my Twitter account, one of the purposes was to use it for professional development.  I began by following scientific accounts, like NASA and Scientific American.  I also followed a few educational accounts, like Retrieve Learn and Cult of Pedagogy.  It took a long time, though, to build a community of other teachers (because you can't search Twitter by profession).  I am, however, now at the point where I spend a fair amount of time interacting with other teachers on Twitter.  This week, I had a lovely conversation with this lady.

First of all, let me say that I am so grateful that there are young teachers who were willing to begin their careers during the pandemic.  This lady likely did her student teaching virtually or hybrid and entered her first year in the year that most experienced teachers will tell you has been the most stressful in terms of student behavior and attendance and has seen more teachers exiting the profession than I have seen in my career.  So, God bless her for not being put off by these challenging times.  

I also love that she was willing to put this out there.  A lot of young teachers are scared of feelings they didn't expect to have.  The first year of teaching is filled, not only with the challenges you expect (learning to time things properly, writing test questions, creating projects, dealing with classroom management, etc.) but also with things you don't expect and might be a bit frightened by (the feeling of not liking a student, nightmares about the first week, the words you wish you hadn't said out loud, realizing you spent a lot of time explaining something incorrectly).  It is a wise teacher that reaches out to a mentor, but if you don't know those things are normal, you might not be inclined to.  

Reading through the replies to this young lady showed Teacher Twitter at its best.  It isn't always encouraging to see what teachers are sharing on Twitter.  I remember being warned about the teacher's lounge before my first year.  It's where teachers share the thoughts they don't share elsewhere, and that is sometimes dark.  Fortunately, I was in a very positive environment my first year, so I didn't have to deal with anything particularly negative, but I know it can be awful, and teacher Twitter is a worldwide teacher's lounge (with the difference being that you don't know is trustworthy and who is crazy, who just complains about everything and can be brushed off and who is actually telling you something important).  I have often wondered how some people keep their jobs after the things they say on Twitter.  This post, however, was only responded to by one or two Negative Nancies.  She was given lots and lots of encouragement.  She was encouraged to know that these feelings are common and given tons of advice on how to cope with it.  It boils down to the difference between the school year in which a teacher is scheduled and feels a sense of purpose, and the summer in which they decide their own schedules and feel a little useless.  

Just before I began writing this post, I went back to her profile.  She is grateful for the love and advice, and the original post now has 285 replies and nearly 2000 hearts.  

Experienced teachers, this is how we should be using Twitter, to encourage each other, especially our youngest colleagues.  New teachers, you may not be ready for this level of interaction.  I cannot imagine if social media had existed at the end of my first year, and I got 285 pieces of advice.  If you would be overwhelmed by that, text the teacher you were next door to last year.  Have lunch with an experienced teacher.  Send a quick email to a trusted administrator or even one of your former teachers or professors.  They'll be able to give you perspective and help you feel known.  As teacher tea has said here, you may "need a reminder you're not alone."