Dive Brief:
- Administrators who visit classrooms regularly to make sure teachers have what they need to accomplish instruction help teachers succeed and set a supportive tone for the school year, according to Edutopia.
- Good communication can help administrators foresee such issues as missing classroom equipment or confusion over required teacher training and meetings and devise solutions in advance to make the school year progress more smoothly.
- If teachers feel cared for and supported at the beginning of the school year, they will feel more equipped to support the students they serve.
Dive Insight:
Teaching can be a lonely profession at times if teachers feel stranded in their own classroom environments with few connections to the administrators whose role it is to support them. Though administrators typically ensure teachers that they are there for support, teachers may feel that coming to an administrator for help in solving a problem will be viewed as a sign of incompetence and weakness.
By visiting with teachers on a regular basis and offering support, administrators may allow teachers to feel safer about discussing their concerns. A teacher may be having trouble obtaining school supplies, for instance, and may be unaware that the school district has some donated supplies available for the asking. Teachers may be overwhelmed at the implementation of new teaching models or record-keeping strategies and may need to be connected to other school professionals who can streamline the process and prevent a case of teacher burnout.
Administrators need to be able to step into the mindset of teachers, understand their needs and find ways to support them, whether in the school or by advocating for support from lawmakers. By doing so, administrators can create a better school environment in which teachers can thrive. As they serve on the front line of instruction, teachers need to feel that the administration has their back.