I can speak for most of my classmates when I say that we are here for the children. I genuinely love each and every one of these students and would do anything to make sure that they receive the full benefits of a public education. However, I was faced with a situation this week in which a parent crossed over the imaginary boundaries in which the student was not the primary focus. For confidentiality purposes I will not be going to deep into detail about this encounter, but I will share enough so that you can get the jist of why this encounter required me to look back and reflect on my actions. One of our students is in a home situation that is not ideal, and her parent feels that my CT should act as a therapist. She brings way too much confidential information bout herself into the classroom and not any concerns for the actual student. When my CT took this information to administration and they tried to set boundaries, the parent became angry with my CT and decided that instead of coming into the classroom with this information, that she would work around my CT by trying to go through me. She would come in every morning and call me out of the classroom to complain about my CT to me and also to once again make her private business a public affair. Even after my CT explained to her that I am only an intern and have no real pull in this classroom, she still sought me out and cornered me in other areas of the school. So I finally got brave and decided to speak up for myself. I told this parent that their actions made me uncomfortable and that I was a guest in this classroom and felt that it was inappropriate for me to get involved. I told her that my ultimate goal in this class is to learn and observe and do what I could to enrich the educational experience of the students, but that I would prefer if she took up any discrepancies she had with my CT, that again I am only a guest in this classroom. The reason this conversation warranted so much reflection was because I was worried that I would severe this relationship that this parent had with our class, where she obviously felt comfortable, and I certainly didn't want her to be less involved. I just wanted to make sure that our focus remained on the student and that my CT remain involved in this situation as much as possible. I thought about it for a week as I watched her come in and out of the classroom, and I truly believe I did the right thing. This parent is now respecting the appropriate boundaries and I believe that I've gained respect rom my CT for setting that boundary. It is so hard to sit back as an intern and think about how you would do this in your own classroom because you really don't know until the situation arises, however I do believe that in your classroom you should set certain boundaries for the students as well as the parents. Students and parents should feel comfortable enough to come to you when in need, but they should also know that our primary concern is that of our students. Our students well being should always be top priority and any other issues should be redirected to the appropriate resources.