HAHA.....I read this really fast and I thought it read, Mt Mushroom! I had never heard of that! It sounds like fun but some people have mentioned not opening things up. We certainly know enough e-mail addresses, FB, and myspace that we could get in touch with most of the people here.
Anyway, I just read about what happened over the weekend. I feel so sad for Hardy #2. I know how sensitive he is and of his love for animals. I'm sure that this has left him very shaken and traumatized. Thank goodness BH was there for you guys!
About the student. Much good advice here. Just make sure that however you handle it, make sure that at no time are you alone with him or left for things to be misinterpreted.
If there are issues with that student I am guessing at least some of the other teachers also have issues. Is there a school counselor you can talk to? Are there any red flags in his file? Do they have home rooms? Or a HR teacher who might know more? Or any of his teachers from last year?
Just brainstorming here. Also, he is still a kid in many ways and he just may be socially awkward and might not realize the effect he is having on you or others.
SG
Survival Goddess "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." -Alice Walker
Good first step. You also might request an "observation" from a VP or someone. They can look for signs if they are off to the side of the room, rather than sitting in the back.
Remember the scene in Indian Jones, where the girls wrote messages to him on their eyelids?
I'd say to blurt out, I'm gay!, but that might take the interest even farther
Or you could give him the No F*cking Way, mean look that stops them dead instead of smiling. He may be mixing up his own reading of your signals.
They aren't very sophisticated...he might not get the laugher AT him rather than with him thing. Or he might get it but be too embarrassed and get angry at the rejection.
Stern mom/teacher might work better...? The Authoritarian.
Probably creeps the girls out, too (unless he is REALLY cute...) - I wonder if one of them would talk about it....
Oh, and the trip - I would love to get together with the kiddos.
With a big enough group, we might even get a discount at an amusement park like Disney, or smaller like Six Flags (there is one in NJ near the Jersey Shore). Niagra sounds good, too.
I think many of us are teachers or in the service industry....wonder what that says about us. Aren't we supposed to be the Good Guys? The UNDERPAID Good Guys?
