We Are A Team

Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.

-Mattie Stepanek

I will have teacher pages pop up on my Facebook feed from time to time. They are always links to articles about topics related to education and being a teacher. Sometimes the articles are really good. Other times, not so much. What I find most interesting, though, are the comments. They almost always reflect the worst possible version of a toxic teacher's lounge. I scroll and scroll trying to find someone saying something positive, but it just isn't there, at least not nearly strong enough or frequently enough to drown out all of the negative, and I can't help but feel sadness for our profession. I wonder what kind of interactions these teachers are having with students and parents when they carry so much animosity about their career. 

The most recent article that I came across was from a new principal sharing all of the things she has learned since becoming a principal. I will grant that it wasn't the strongest article. It lacked the kind of depth that I believe she could've revealed based on my experience as someone who made the same transition in the last 5 years. Instead, she glossed across the surface, and let me tell you, the teachers let her have it in comment section. For instance, one of her lessons learned is that many of our students are coming to school from some really difficult circumstances. She talked about trauma and poverty and homelessness. The teachers accused her of being very naive if she didn't already know that and wondered what kind of teacher she was if she needed to be a principal to find that out. I can tell you that as a teacher, I was aware of those things, but dealing with it from a principal standpoint is an entirely different level of awareness. I try my best to share relevant details with teachers who interact with students, but the fact is that not all of the details are appropriate to share, but I still have to know them. I still have to carry them home with me each night. Additionally, as a principal, I don't just know those things about the select students who are on my class roster for the semester or year; I have to know them about every single student in the building. When a student is in crisis, I don't get to send them somewhere else; they are sent to me. 

This is just one example that I wanted to use to illustrate what I observed in the comment section. Comments ranged from questioning her aptitude as a teacher to the tired tropes about "joining the dark side" by going into administration. The whole thing left me sad and frankly annoyed. Strong schools need strong leaders in order to flourish, yet there are so many teachers out there who seem to resent the mere existence of administrators. They will simultaneously bemoan principals giving directives and in the same post complain that their adminstrators don't listen to what they have to say. I don't understand how anyone who doesn't want to take direction from above should feel entitled to push direction up. I tend to believe things should go both ways, not just one. I don't understand feeling upset when administrators don't show support while not supporting administrators. Teams support each other. The difference between toxic teams and productive teams is reciprocity.

All of this is to say that the most overwhelming thing I feel when I read these articles and their comments is gratitude. I am so grateful that I work on a team. I truly believe that everyone in this building is working toward the same goal with mutual respect. When I ask this team to do something, you all do it, and you do it incredibly well. When you come to me with feedback or ideas, I do my best to have it reflected in the decisions I make. That isn't always possible because with any group this large, there are differing opinions and points of view along with considerations that aren't always known by everyone involved, but I believe that back and forth flow of information is important to a cohesive team, and I hope that every teacher in this building understands that when you come to me with ideas or concerns, I hear them, even if I can't always act on them in exactly the way you would like me to. I don't always get to act on my ideas or concerns in exactly the way I would like to either, but if we keep supporting and listening to each other, we will almost always end up in a good place.