Thread: What teaching brnigs up

I'm not a new teacher, but I'll share anyway....because it sounds familiar. I've had students who had lives at home that, just say, were less than stellar. I can often empathize with them- my experiences when I was their age were not stellar in some respects either. Sometimes its a good thing. I had a student who was heading for being suicidal due to a situation at home with a deranged parent. That's a situation which for me was all too familiar, and it was hard, but I shared my experience with the student and I think it has helped a lot.

I had a few things happen to me in my life which I repressed and totally forgot about (kinda) and thought that they would NEVER EVER come back up. However, I have had them ALL come back up this year.

I'm not going to pry into your personal issues, but teaching does tend to reveal any unresolved insecurities or vulnerabilities. Kids are exceptionally good at finding those out. My advice- resolve those things you can resolve, and keep the students at a distance where you can manage what they know about you and still have a decent working relationship with them.

Has this kind of thing happened to anyone else?

I would think so... While it might not be the norm, it might be more common than people think- and I doubt it comes into words much.

Thanks JohnBoy.

It is quite a challenge at the moment keeping things separate, but at least I have a name for what is going on and read a book about it. Hopefully things will resolve themselves over the term break (starts at 3:25 Friday!!!) and I will be able to grow my little turtle shell back a bit and next term wont be as bad.

You are welcome. Always treat the previous year as a learning experience.