I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom.

It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.