8 Simple Reasons Why You Need A Teacher Bestie

My first year teaching was basically a blur. I was hired (luckily) very early on in the hiring process at my university’s career day. I accepted a second grade position at a school in a town an hour north of where I lived. So, I moved to a new town- the town my parents lived in- and had a 30 minute commute to school every day. 

Being a first year teacher, I remember feeling so many different emotions. I was excited to have a job doing what I love. I was terrified of basically everything else. I mean, what if I don’t make any friends? 

I was fortunate enough though to find a teacher bestie. I think having a teacher bestie definitely helps you survive enjoy each and every day even more. 

Here’s why:

Disclaimer: I used the pronoun “she” in my reasons because my teacher bestie, Brooke, is female. Your teacher bestie might be male and the same reasons apply! 🙂

1. You will always have someone to laugh with about things that happen throughout the day. Every time something funny happened, I couldn’t wait to skip down to Brooke’s room to tell her. The important part was that she got it. Your teaching bestie lives this teaching life just like you do and so she gets it. She gets the humor in little Johnny tying his shoes together or Silly Sally’s fun little Go Noodle dance moves. More than likely, she knows all your kids and has witnessed them do silly things too!

2. When you need to vent, she is the perfect person to confide in. I know that all teachers love their jobs. However, just like any other job, there’s always something. It could be something small like someone ate your yogurt from the fridge or something a bit bigger like your teammate didn’t like your idea on how to teach a phonics lesson. Whatever it is, you can walk down to this teacher’s room, close the door, and let it out. She will listen to you no matter what, offer you advice, give you a hug, or maybe just give you a piece of chocolate. Whatever the case may be, you’ll leave her room feeling much better than when you entered. 

3. She will give you advice on whatever you need. I always loved being able to ask her advice on basically anything ranging from how to respond to a parent email, what to do when a kid did this, etc. Even if I just needed reassurance that I was doing the right thing, I trusted and valued her opinion.

4. You have someone to remind you of emails to return, deadlines, staff meetings, etc. Did you forget to sign up for the school carnival? Or that there’s a staff meeting right after school? I bet your teacher bestie won’t let you forget and I bet you wouldn’t let her forget either!

5. You have someone to lift you up just when you need it. When you have a true teacher bestie, she will do whatever she can to make you have a great day. And, the same will go for you. You will do whatever you can to make sure she has a great day too. You will have each other’s coffee orders memorized, favorite snacks down, etc. Plus, when someone has you for Secret Santa… Guess who they’re going to ask these things. Duh, your teacher bestie!

6. You have someone to share fun school events with! I don’t know about you guys, but I absolutely love the school carnival. And getting to volunteer with your teacher bestie makes it a thousand times better. My teacher bestie and I volunteered for the silly string booth at our last school carnival and we ended up volunteering the entire time because we had so much fun.

7. You have someone who helps you stay awake during boring very informative professional development. Professional development can be really great. I love to learn new things. However, there’s that PD that you just sit there and then 10 minutes later wonder to yourself if you just fell asleep or not. And then you’re thinking, “Did I snore? Is that drool on my sleeve?” However, when you have your teacher bestie by your side, she won’t let you fall asleep. She may even keep you entertained with funny faces or something.

8. You have a friendship that you can use as a role model to your students. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve referenced our friendship to kids when I’m helping two friends work out a little battle. I often say, “If I said something like that to Mrs. Kissel, how do you think she would react?” It’s always great to have a friendship so strong that the kids are aware of because they can look to you two as role models for friendships in their own lives.

And there you have it! And if you’re super lucky like me, then your teacher bestie turned into your real life best friend. Brooke is even my Maid Of Honor!

 During our school’s buddy walk- her fifth graders walked with my first graders and so obviously, we buddied up too!

During our school carnival, volunteering the silly string area.

To teacher besties everywhere!!

Who is your teacher bestie?