Apologizing

One thing I've had to get over is my feeling of "Us Against Them". My natural instinct is to never show weakness, never admit when your wrong...because if you do, the kids won't respect you anymore.
And you do have to be careful...but mostly to just be fair.
Today I had been short with a kid who is causing us alot of problems. He made the comment of how none of the teachers liked him now. Talk about a rough situation! So later in the day, when we had both calmed down, I went up to him and said I was sorry. And he smiled. I haven't seen this kid smile in weeks! I still expect problems, but at least he knows now I'll admit when I'm wrong. And that I do care. That may make the biggest difference.