Educator advice
I work with children and had a difficult session that I’m feeling really ashamed about. But also happens every now and then and I end up feeling terrible.
This time. I was already overwhelmed from supporting a child who was distressed for around 30–40 minutes. Later, another child became verbally aggressive and made a threatening gesture, and I froze because I wasn’t sure if they were going to hurt me. After that, I felt really overwhelmed. During group session when a different child ignored expectations and left the group to play, I reacted too out of anger, it got the best of me and handled it in a way I’m not proud of. Resulted in me throwing the toy in the bin
I apologised to the children, corrected myself, told my manager, and I know what I should do differently next time. But I still feel disgusted with myself and scared that families will see me as a bad educator.
I’m looking for support around anger regulation, shame after mistakes, and how to pause before reacting when I feel unsafe, ignored, or overwhelmed. Has anyone learned practical strategies that helped them stop the “switch” before it takes over?
I’m also confused because most of the time I can handle a lot of challenges and behaviours and then there’s some days where I feel like I react angrily and I become firm or do something like ^ throw a toy in the bin.