The Drama Continues

This week has been a bit of a mess. After my one student got suspended for bullying, my class splintered. A group of five students decided to take it out on me and file complaints about me with the administration. I heard about it from other students and people started taking sides. I feel hurt that they went around me instead of coming to me with their concerns. I'm upset by the attitude several of them have about wanted to get me fired. I'm scared about how my job could be impacted even thoug I have done nothing wrong. I tried to speak with each of these students individually to determine what the problem was. There are rumors going around that I have been talking smack about certain students to other students. I don't remember doing that and tried to get to the bottom of it. One student has decided that I'm lying to her no matter what I say and is the one leading the drama. Nothing I say seems to have any effect; she is angry and is sure that all the rumors are true. Never mind that the rumor mill at this school is insane. For example, last year I had a kidney stone that required two surgeries to remove. Even though I told my students what was happening and why I missed so much school, half of them thought I had a kidney removed. At the end of the year a parent told me her daughter said I had cancer. Our building got hit by lightning last year and a few periods later I heard that someone had gotten hit by lightning and died even though no one was hurt during the lightning strike. Despite the fact that students know rumors exist, they insist on believing them over me. She is sure I said all kinds of things I never said.

I had a meeting with my principal about the complaints and was able to tell my side of the story. Everything he told me to do I am already in the process of doing. I've spoken with several students and seem to be fixing the relationships with some of them. But it has been very anxiety inducing. I haven't slept in two days because of the stress.

Some good things have come out of this though. There is one student that I have not been fair to. He doesn't behave differently then my other students but often gets the brunt of me getting upset about talking or cell phone use. He expressed that he felt hurt and picked on and I apologized. We've been getting along much better; I've been noticing the good things he's been doing and letting him know and he apologized for going to the admin instead of coming to me. Being able to fix that relationship has meant the world to me.

I've also been able to stay much more neutral when I deal with things. Several of my students have mentioned that they feel I am unapproachable. I don't want to be that way. I've apologized to the class about giving that impression because I really don't want to. So I've been trying really hard to keep my tone light and give criticism in a neutral tone. I'm happier when I do that and I feel like I'm connecting with my students.

I still need to have some parent meetings. There are a couple of students that I may not be able to establish a relationship with. And this week has been sucky and I never want to deal with this kind of drama again. And I learned a lot from it.