Emotional Punch to the Stomach

So I have had a post I've been working on all week that I intended to turn into my Five for Friday, it was full of all these wonderful things this week including my husband's birthday, Back to School night with parents, and our awesome Writing Workshop. Then today I had my first formal observation. I have a number of informal ones from other staff, admin, and my supervisor but this is the formal one that determines my mid-term grade. Don't worry, I got my grade back immediately and I did fine. Great actually.

But here is the thing guys, I feel like I've been run over by a train. Twice. Maybe even three times.

See I have one of those students in my class. He's got a shady background, a less than stellar support system at home, and really struggles all around. He is a kiddo that really really needs some love and support. But gosh darn it he takes everything out of me! For some reason, today he decided to multiply his behavior by 10 during my lesson. Which sucks because it really was a fun hands-on lesson about rounding. 

Did I mention the principal stopped in to also watch and observe my lesson? Because of course he would stop by at the worst moment and add to the stress! My kiddo's behavior was so terrible that the principal called him out of my class after the lesson. Of course, that only made me feel even more upset because the principal witnessed my attempts to reign him in and still thought his behavior was unacceptable.

So what did this kiddo have to say to the principal to defend himself? "But she's just the student teacher."

*Cue: emotional punch to the stomach.*

You can bet that got him an earful from the principal about respecting adults, student teacher or otherwise. Now, I'm not so worried about classroom management techniques. I have developed my own ways that work well with 99% of my students and I can always search blogs to get more ideas or talk to colleagues.

What I desperately need from you veteran teachers are those words of encouragement and advice that help you deal with those kiddos who leave you feeling mental beaten down. Don't get me wrong, I have love these kiddos and I will be right back at it Monday to support them and fill their little heads with knowledge but sometimes it helps to have those positive words at hand for when a student throws a mental punch at you.