Do you have a teaching mentor? Is there a director of the program that you can speak with? Do you work with assistants or PARs in your classroom?

I have worked in programs for children with severe emotional problems and I know it can be very, very draining emotionally. In our program we had what we would call a weekly "debriefing". The teachers and support staff would meet with the program psychologist, along with each of the department heads to discuss the students, classroom management, etc. This helped to address the "what am I doing here?", "am I making a difference in this childs life?" "Can this child even be helped?" type of thinking and also allowed a give and take between professionals to help make you aware that you weren't in it alone. It made a HUGE difference in our outlook!

Please feel free to PM me whenever you need to talk. And know that you do make a difference in these students lives! They grow up and mature and realize that they can make choices, positive changes in their own lives and you will have helped give them the confidence to do it. I have run into many of my former students who have grown up to be caring, compassionate people. They are always appreciative of the belief that I had in them that they could do it! Did all my students turn out that way, unfortunately no. But not even all "typical" children do.

Again feel free to PM anytime!