Kimberly, your statements really ring true. Give respect to get respect but do not give negative energy back from negative energy you receive or you are no better than the ones give out the negative energy. As educators we need to always wear our armor of invincibility. Not trying to get a religious tone here but the golden and silver rules really apply in our profession. Paraphrasing here, do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Do not treat others as they may treat you negatively as this would go against the firs rule. Also, I am not advocating to accept negative behavior in your class, you need to be professional and remove the negative influence to ensure the rest of your class has a save and trusting environment within which to learn. You can however remove the negative influence in a calm and professional manner. If you lose your cool then the instigator of the negative energy wins and we do not want that to be our leadership by example. Right? : - ) James Jackson