Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

I have this one kid who just THRIVES off of getting into trouble. He is plain old MEAN!!!!!!!! And as much as he causes me grief, he is my student so I care for him. Today, he was mean, straight out mean to two children. I saw him do these things and was so puzzled because these things were FLAT OUT INTENTIONAL!!!!!!!! Then, he lies to me. He accuses me of marking a test question wrong when he changed his answer when he got his test back.

I was crying over this. Not because I felt like a failure as a teacher and the kids were too much to handle, but because he won't get it through his thick head that he doesn't need to be mean and I continuously try to show him that I care and he just got me today.

As cruel as he can be, he broke my heart today.

Message edited 3/9/2006 7:51:24 PM.

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

yes
my first year teaching, I was telling my students about how my brother was a Marine because tehy were going to write letters to the Marines for a project. One boy raised his hand and told me "I hope your brother gets killed and never comes back"
I was in shock and didn't react at first. After the period was over, it registered and I was telling another teacher about it and I burst into tears. She brought me immediately to the principal, who brought the boy into her office with us.
She had a little chat with him that afternoon, his parents the next day, and he was removed from my class.

I did feel badly for the kid becasue he was very unhappy, and he clearly just said that to make me as sad as he was. But still - just thinking about it now, 4 years later, brings tears to my eyes.

to you
Hopefully, tomorrow, someone will make you cry happy tears

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

the only time so far I have cried in school was the day that one of my students had a seizure. the other students - who are notoriously immature - handled the situation so well it made all of us cry! they came together so well and showed so much compassion, that we knew under all the teenage BS and their "gangsta" exterior, they were good kids!!

and of course, I want to cry right now - because I am grading quizzes and the average grade is a 40 . Luckily the two glasses of wine have taken the sting out!

Hugs to you!!!!! It is so hard to get through to some of them - you just keep going and going and hope one day it will finally click!!

Message edited 3/9/2006 8:24:54 PM.

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

One of the best things a mentor ever told me was that you may NEVER know the profound affect you have on a student's life and if you got into teaching to KNOW you made a difference, then you are in the wrong business. I just try to remember that when I am dealing with difficult kids (which is all I worked with at my first job, emotionally disturbed teens). You may not think you are reaching him, however, he probably hears what you're saying and is just not ready to process it. Just remember that you are doing the right thing by trying to guide him NO MATTER WHAT.

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

Thank you! It is just so frustrating because I know there are times when I'm tough on him, essentially because he doesn't do work which he needs to do (duh!). But when he does something, I let him know with pride!!! Even my principal has seen me praise him and when she saw that, she said it stuck with her because of the problems I've had with him.

My mom, who isn't a teacher but just about the nicest person ever, told me that he needs me in his life for one reason or another. So I'm just trying to be something good in his life, although at times, I get angry with him. But today was like the last straw. He was mean and sneaky and no matter what, it's just not in my nature to just say "To he11 with him" like other teachers may say after awhile.

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

Posted by MissJones

Thank you! It is just so frustrating because I know there are times when I'm tough on him, essentially because he doesn't do work which he needs to do (duh!). But when he does something, I let him know with pride!!! Even my principal has seen me praise him and when she saw that, she said it stuck with her because of the problems I've had with him.

My mom, who isn't a teacher but just about the nicest person ever, told me that he needs me in his life for one reason or another. So I'm just trying to be something good in his life, although at times, I get angry with him. But today was like the last straw. He was mean and sneaky and no matter what, it's just not in my nature to just say "To he11 with him" like other teachers may say after awhile.

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

I am not a teacher and am not sure if I'll ever have the patience.. but I wanted to give you some

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

I know with my students, a lot of them will respond when you are tough on them. They just don't get the attention at home, and on some level I think they appreciate us looking out for them! Of course at 12, they will never admit that! But I find with even my toughest kids, if I am tough on them one day, the next day they step up to the plate 1000%!!

Re: Teachers? Have you ever had a kid make you cry?

One student used to come and cry to me about how his mother used to beat him. He would have bruises all over his body. At the end of the year he gave me a dozen long stem roses. He brought me to tears a million times...