rough day By Cathy-Dee

To bring it up to your students would only confirm to them that you can be "gotten" which will egg them on in their attempts to get to you. Never let them know they can push buttons, especially in those middle grades.

As far as your colleagues - you may have misinterpreted their laughter - perhaps it was not at what the students said, but how they were acting, or perhaps it was something completely different. Regardless by bringing it up chances are you will just end up feeling more alienated from them.

I do think it was good you reported the secretary, but also remember she was probably feeling really frustrated to with all the changes, being Friday, etc., and perhaps had a really bad day as well. She probably should have used a nicer tone and since she's done it in the past as well, hopefully your administrator will talk with her.

I don't know how long you've been teaching, which shouldn't really matter, but sometimes it does. When you are new to the staff it sometimes takes time to really fit in with staff who have been there for years. And you've mentioned race as a problem, which indeed may be. I work in a community where I'm the minority, although on staff we are about equal in the division of cultures. It can be difficult working within a different cultural setting. I tend to overcompensate at times trying to fit in or do things the way I think others want me to do it. But after being in my school now for 7 years, I have found that although we have our diagreements from time to time, we inadvertently can hurt one another's feelings, we are also great friends and are almost always very supportive of one another.

Sometimes it feels good just to vent as you did, hopefully by morning you'll feel better and perhaps things won't seem as serious as they do tonight.