Storm Before the Calm

I meant to write yesterday, but I couldn't gather my thoughts well after the way the school day ended. The whole day had been fine up to the last five minutes of the day. One of the sixth graders had had enough picking and just exploded: full on yelling, crying in rage, then storming out to the coatroom to collect herself. In between, she flipped off one of her classmates (the one who had been poking her buttons all day, but he wasn't the one who broke the camel's back as far as I could tell). After she left, the whole class was so quiet you could hear a pin drop on our carpet. No one knew what to say. No one knew what had set her off. So I asked the class to do their highs and lows while I talked with her out in the coatroom. It was so sweet; one of the 5th graders asked me to share my high and low before I left.

This poor girl. The first thing she said was, "I already texted my mom what I did, so you don't need to tell her." I could tell she was beating herself up for blowing up. I also know that she has some family stuff going on and that her computer/testing didn't work for her this morning. Lots of little things adding up. So we talked. It seemed like we left it in a good place. She wrote her classmate an apology letter and left school out a different door so she wouldn't blow up at him again (both her ideas). I need to find tools to teach her to manage her emotions in a more healthy way. A friend is helping me with that. 

This student's best friend was in tears as well and didn't want to share. She stayed after school for volleyball, so I checked in with her after the rest of the class got on the bus. Yes, she was fine. Yes, it had to do with her friend yelling and the other classmate always picking on each other. We talked through some things as well until it seemed like she was doing better.

Sigh. I wish I had more knowledge of what to say and how to say it! I think I did okay, but I know there's always room for improvement. 

Thankfully, today was a much more peaceful day.