Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the replies – and I’m sorry to have taken so long to reply!

To come clean about something: this student actually gave me her email (I didn’t ask for it). In my teaching context, dating an adult student isn’t that out of the question – our adult program uses a ‘FLEX’ program, which allows students to come and go as they please (this particular student came to class about 2 times a month – being a busy nurse). Honestly, I wouldn’t normally consider dating a student – and definitely wouldn’t if I were to see them every week – but I emailed her back, and we agreed to meet (also to note, there IS a teacher at our center dating one of the students, and it’s not an issue). After this class, she wanted nothing to do with me.

Some days I feel largely over it, and other days I feel shattered. Even though this is not a reflection of my usual ability in the classroom, it feels awful to have a student want nothing to do with you because of a class. Last night, it popped into my head, and I hardly slept (this is actually quite frequent)

Good points regarding not feeding into the behaviors of other people. I don’t really know what was going on in her head. What scares me is that I don’t exactly remember HOW the class went….I keep replaying it in my head. For all I know, I came off as a cold jerk (unintentionally from being anxious).

Some days, I find it really difficult to think about anything else – particularly my MA. I feel very unfocused and unproductive too. I’m becoming a little worried. I don’t know if situations like this can trigger depression, but I’ve certainly been off an on depressed for a while now because of it.

Again though, best I suppose not to absorb all the negative reactions from outside sources. Perhaps easier said than done when you live in a town that is not exactly a single man’s paradise. As a man and a teacher, it really does suck as well : /