Like everything else, my relationships with other teachers have improved since last year.
Whereas the other teacher have always been accepting, even warm, like every relationship, we started off a bit cautious of each other, and I was essentially an outsider.
The change probably is mostly due to the change in my relationship with this place as a whole. Though I’m not planning on doing it, I can understand how people spend their whole lives here. While this has never been just a job for any of us- it is really the center of our lives right now- that has become even more true for me this year, as I have begun to truly value the relationships with others at the school.
Again, all this constitutes a shift from last year. While there were certain students who would come to me to talk and certain teachers I felt comfortable with, it was always as much of a stressor as anything else. I had to make sure to say the right thing to the students, and I never really invested much into the relationships with the other teachers.
Maybe it’s because I actually showed up for a second year, but the other teachers have been warmer, even welcoming, and I find myself reciprocating. Again, I can understand the appeal of a small town environment. There are four teachers that I feel particularly close to in my school, not including teacher corps teachers, and I am comfortable with pretty much all of the others. They help me get through the day. It’s nice to feel supported at your school. We give hugs in the morning, talk a little after school, and just generally offer support.
Two final pieces of this equation. One is that I live essentially alone, since my roommate and I interact very little, which has lead me to lean on others at the school more, I think. At least, I don’t feel isolated from them in a separate little group, like the one we had last year. In a way, having a house of five teacher-corps people actually made it harder for us to start fitting in and accepting and loving the culture here.
Second is that state is in our school. I think there’s more than a trace of the uniting against a common enemy thing going on.