Ep 219: Finding Your People in a New Building

Finding Your People in a New Building Guest: Samantha "Sammi" Katschke In this episode, Dr. Beth and Dr. Anna present Samantha "Sammi" Katschke, district band director and music teacher at Chadwick-Milledgeville, about a challenge new teachers rarely get warned about: loneliness. You can know your content cold and still walk into a building unsure of who to turn to when a lesson falls apart or a day feels like too much. Sammi lays out where that support actually comes from, and how to build it on purpose. In this episode: Why new teachers can feel isolated even surrounded by colleagues, and why nobody hands you a map for who to ask Staying connected to your undergraduate cohort, and why those relationships often become your first call when a lesson fails What formal mentorship programs are actually for: gradebooks, technology systems, and the daily operational questions nobody else has time to answer Why proximity matters: building relationships with the teacher next door or the colleague who shares your prep period The case for face-to-face connection over purely online ones, and why some conversations need someone across a table Building a network beyond your building: connecting with teachers in the same role across other schools and districts for repertoire, ideas, and perspective The friendships from outside education that Sammi undervalued in college and now counts on Staying in touch with former cooperating teachers and practicum mentors, and how those relationships can grow into long-term mentorship Why this whole network isn't a nice extra, it's protection against burnout and a direct benefit to your students Key takeaway Finding your people in a new building doesn't happen by accident. It takes deliberate effort across several circles at once: your cohort, your mentor, your neighbors, your role-alike network, your non-education friends, and your former mentors, and building that support system is part of the job, not separate from it. #FindingYourPeople #NewTeacherTalk #TeacherSupport #NewTeachers #TeacherPD #TeacherWellbeing #TeacherLeadership #K12Education