Build your own teacher support group online to enhance your real-life team. Use these resources to help you connect and share ideas with other teachers.


Not all teachers are lucky enough to have supportive coworkers and administrators as their teacher team. Luckily, the internet offers a whole world of educators looking to connect and share ideas. This article provides sources of support to help you fill in any gaps in your real- life teacher team.

During my first year of teaching, I felt isolated and unprepared. In New Jersey, special education teachers weren't required to have mentors during their first year. I was tired, stressed out, and had no clue what I was doing.

I needed a teacher team, a group of people that I trusted and felt comfortable asking questions. I needed my own squad of like-minded educators that I could discuss my teaching wins and struggles with.

Teacher Facebook Groups

There's a Facebook group for everything and everyone and teaching is no exception. Facebook groups are great because you can find your niche topic and a group of people all interested in the same things you are.

If you're looking to connect with teachers on Instagram, there's a Facebook group for that too. Join Instagram Connection for Educators find over a thousand teachers looking to connect with you.

Teacher Twitter Chats

I mentioned this in a previous post on my Exceptional Thinkers blog but it's worth repeating because many teachers don't know about it. #edchat is a conversation on Twitter that takes place on Tuesdays at 7pm EDT. It's an organized Twitter discussion that anyone can participate in or just follow along.

There are many other weekly education-related discussions on Twitter. A few of the most popular ones are #NTchat (new teacher chat), #edtechchat (education technology chat), #elemchat (elementary teacher chat), #mschat (middle school teacher chat), #kinderchat (kindergarten teacher chat), and #sschat (social studies teacher chat). If you're interested in an education topic, chances are, there's a chat for that!

Teacher Blogs

In addition to my Exceptional Thinkers blog (which you should most definitely subscribe to), I'm also a member of this collaborative blog here, Conversations From the Classroom. We're a team of teachers who have come together to share our teacher tips, activities, and other teacher topics. There are lots of teacher blogs that offer advice and stories about teaching. The teacher blogs are out there and you can find information on almost any teaching topic.

This blog is a good place to start because many of us here have our own teacher blogs. Together we offer a variety of tips and ideas for teaching, but most of us also provide more specific advice geared to our individual niches. My blog focuses on special education, while others are centered around certain subject areas or grade levels.

We're looking to recruit more teacher bloggers for this collaborative blog, by the way. If you're interested in joining our team and are able to submit monthly posts, contact us at conversationsfromtheclassroom@gmail.com. We're all about supporting and lifting teachers up so if you have experience with blogging and social media and would like to apply, drop us an email. We'd love to hear from you!

Or, if blogging isn't your thing, just read along with us. We'll share all our best tips with you!

Teachers Pay Teachers

When you need a pre-made unit plan or a quick activity for your observation, TPT can be a life saver. You can find a ton of freebies and resources for almost any topic or level. Teachers Pay Teachers is the ultimate teacher team website.

And since we're chatting about TPT, lemme go ahead and mention that I have LOTS of special education resources in my TPT store and some of them are free. Take a peek!

Donation Websites to Support Teachers and Classrooms

Many people and companies are willing and able to support teachers and schools. Allow them to be part of your supportive teacher team! If you're in need of classroom materials, there's no harm in asking for it on a donation page. Generous donors contribute to these websites everyday! You'd be surprised how many businesses are happy to help you #clearthelist. Here are a few of the top websites for classroom donations:

• Donors Choose
• AdoptAClassroom.org
• Gift A Teacher
• TpT ClassFund

Free Online Professional Development for Teachers

I wrote a whole post about how teachers feel unprepared for teaching students with disabilities on my blog. Teachers overwhelmingly report that they need more support not only in the classroom, but also before entering the classroom. Some educators feel that the professional development they receive is not focused on the topics they need or are interested in. These teachers find themselves searching online for support in those areas.

In that post, I put together a list of websites that offer free professional development and resources for teachers. Did I mention that they're all FREE?

• Google Teachers Tribe: Podcast series with practical ideas for Google tools in the classroom.
• Illuminate Education: Professional learning resources for teachers on remote learning (free during quarantine)
• Teacher Closet Monthly Webinars: Video series with corresponding lessons, resources, and articles.
• Alison's Free Online Courses: Online teaching courses with the option to obtain certificates and degrees.
• ASCD Webinars: Comprehensive archive of free teacher webinars.
• TeachersFirst OK2Ask: Virtual workshops for teachers.
• Education Week Webinars: Collection of free and premium virtual broadcasts.
• EdWebinars: Free webinars on a variety of topics regarding education.
• Truth for Teachers: Angela Watson's podcast covers topics to help new and seasoned teachers
• Exceptional Thinkers TPT Shop: My online Teachers Pay Teachers store. Lots of freebies there!
• Teaching Exceptional Thinkers Blog: There's a bunch of tips and freebies on my blog too. I'll be adding lots more posts and free goodies, so be sure to subscribe. Start off with my Free Small Group Instruction Tools.
• Conversations From The Classroom Blog: Find ideas and resources from teachers from around the world right here on this blog!

Teacher Forums

A forum is sort of like a virtual discussion, where someone usually posts a question or topic and others chime in to respond with their thoughts. You can find questions that other teachers have asked along with responses from around the world. Feel free to jump in with an answer, post a question of your own, or just read through the threads. There are tons of forums for teachers but here are a few of the most popular ones to get you started:

• A to Z Teacher Stuff Forums: A to Z Teacher Stuff Forums 
• ProTeacher Community: http://www.proteacher.net/
• Teacher Chat Boards: https://teachers.net/mentors/
• TES Community: https://community.tes.com/
• Virtual School Forum for Teachers: https://padlet.com/pbowman7/77sv18bk3up7

Do you feel supported as a teacher?

Here are a few related items you may be interested in:

by Christy from Exceptional Thinkers