I enjoyed working with the kids other teachers called "bad kids". One year, I had a new boy in my class and his prior teacher warned me not to trust him--that he was a thief and a very difficult child. The first thing I did when I met him was hand him my wallet with $20 in it and asked him to take it to the office for me. I told him he looked like someone I could trust. He took it to the office and I never had any problems with him in my class all year. If you show kids you trust and respect them, that you're on their team and believe in them, they often surprise you and live up to it.