How am I still alive?!

Bleh. I must get out of here soon (to deposit paycheck- yay!!), so I'll keep it brief. In a nutshell, today SUCKED. Really. Here are some "highlights":

1.) First thing in the morning, before school even started, I was talking to my assistant/mentor in my classroom. All of a sudden, we heard loud screaming in the hallway. Yeah, one of my students got punched in the side of the head. Awesome. That was how today started. From there, it was downhill...

2.) My usual defiant guy was back in action today. Before an hour into the day, he'd already earned a lunch detention. By lunch, he had gotten his spelling test taken away from him because of talking. I had to oust him from the classroom for being so disruptive.

3.) Another boy got his test taken away for talking also. As is usual for him, he shut down. He was seethingly angry for almost 2 hours, and when I talked to him, he put his hands over his ears. Thank God my assistant was nearby... During lunch (when the student stayed in the classroom, causing me to need to stay there for liability), he would not move. Eventually, my assistant/mentor (what do I call her?!) came in and talked to him. She calmly gave him the option of going to serve his lunch detention (which he had earned) or to talk to his parents and the principal. Angrily, he chose lunch detention. By the end of the day, he and another student got into a fight where they were hitting each other.

4.) Two of my male students were caught flooding the bathroom right after lunch. The principal, guidance counselor, special ed teacher, AND another aide were peeling my boys off the floor when I walked by. One was screaming hysterically; the other resisted little. Awesome.

5.) Toward the end of the day, the class sat with their heads down. It was supposed to be for 10 minutes, but each time they talked, we startd back at 10 minutes. Thirty minutes finally went by before we were able to move on. Bleh.

The day was just freakishly bad. The guidance counselor later remarked, "It feels like the last day of school already." I hear that.

After school, I talked with some staff members who were understanding, so that helped a great deal. Also, two women (including my mentor) came into my room, and told me about their days. Seems it *can* be worse than what I've got going on here. Man. Reminds me of the time when I worked in the group home. Geez. I'll be happy if I (physcially, mentally, and emotionally) survive the year. That's all I'm really hoping for at this point. Adieu. I'm off to put my HARD-EARNED money into a near-empty bank account.