I did it again. An angry, irresponsible Mom called me this morning at 7:55 informing me of every reason under the sun that I am a horrible teacher. I dealt with this last year and read a lot about how to come off conqueror this year. I told myself all about how angry people need validation. They are angry for a reason and I need to show empathy. I need to remember that they, like myself, have this poor kid in mind when they turn on the spigot of ignorant and unkind nonsense that pours freely out of their mouths speak. Yet, when I picked up the phone and listened to insult after insult, my defenses kicked in and that kind, validating woman I'd hoped to be hightailed it out of there. The sassy, "oh no you didn't" version of myself came out and I couldn't stop myself from thinking horrible things about this woman whom I have never met. I tried to make it through the conversation calmly, especially since my entire class was listening to my end of it. I then a