It took me about a year to really fit in and get to know the majority of the staff in my building. I moved here from MI and it was my 8th year of teaching. I try to be involved and give back to my school through offering my time as a sponsor of a club.
Just be yourself and try to stay positive. Ask others for help and when someone offers advice, even if it's not something you think you'll use, be sure to thank them.
LeahIt also depends on the teachers in the new school. Some are open and great, and others are cliquish. Some girls who were bullies in elementary school still are that way as adults. And, some of them choose teaching.
You may find the following short article of interest:
and it is a great shame and quite counterproductive that schools are not places that leap to embrace new teachers. But schools are also places sometimes so bereft of any good feeling that if you come in smiling, it can go a long way with the sadly unsmiling and sometimes embittered older teachers.
Cultivate the art of the innocuous remark - "Morning" said demurely as you walk down the hall but walk briskly as teachers will fear you'll stop and talk. Be demure in general - older teachers are easily threatened.
Why is that? Schools are strange places. There is little if any advancement in schools - it's frustrating. Many teachers these days plain don't like teaching and youthful enthusiasm drives them wild. Each school has a pecking order and all schools are rife with adversarial conflict between administration and teachers parents and teachers.
Be a good listener - say little, smile warmly, walk briskly and avoid participating in the gossip mongering and the endless venting. Good luck!