randomness involved in teaching.

It has been quite a while since I last posted.

Between the craziness of school, grad school, and wedding planning, I am one pooped little girl! No kidding :) But, alas, I have enjoyed the past few months so much.

Today, I am just going to give you the random funny happenings inside the classroom.

Everyday is different; No two are the same! That is 100% for sure.



Here is one grand occasion that happened in my class:
My classes had to create persuasive essays for their assignment one particular week. For this particular assignment, I allowed the students to choose what topic they would like to persuade me on. Some chose normal topics like abortion or gay marriage; things that teachers read about all the time. Some students chose thought-provoking topics such as: safety in schools or how to change certain policies within the school.

Many did very well on this.

One girl decided to write her paper on the topic of sagging--how it should be outlawed and what could be done to prevent it.

This sparked a class discussion. As most of you know, NCHS is about 95% african american :) therefore sagging is the norm for many of my students. Here is the conversation below:

Girl--"Ms. Brandon, where did sagging come frum' any way? It's nasty."
Me--"Well, it did originate inside of the prison..."
Girl--"Um, why?"

I had researched this previously to this conversation so I would know how to respond...
Me--"Well...sagging was to started with inmates of the same sex to let them know who was "available" and interested. It was basically to let others know who was gay inside of the prison."
Sagging Victim #1-- "WHAT?!? You mean I bust a sag, and dat mean Im Gay?!"
Me--"According to the inmates..."
Sagging Victim #1-- "Awe manee... dats messed up.." (As he pulls his pants up and tightens his belt..)
Sagging Victim #2-- "Ms. Brandon, im not trying to be gross or nuthing, but how my booty suppose to breathe?"


Ah, some moments the words are taken right out of your mouth and you just dont know what to say... or how to response, but with laughter.

:)

enjoyment.

Students also seem to make my day brighter.

I hope that I will always continue to have this kind of outlook on them throughout the rest of my teaching career. I feel that if I do not, then that will be my time to step aside.

Overall, this week was a very good week. As with every week, we have our ups and downs; no week is an exception.

Here are a few memories of this week:

In our school system, we have a 30 minute class called: Tutorial. For this short class, we are suppose to basically give students a review of English or whatever subject they are in for tutorial. They change tutorials every 9 weeks to insure they get a "review" of all the subjects. This thursday was their switch to a new tutorial.

All the students knew this: it was announced on the intercom, told numerous times by myself in class, and even on their new schedules.

Yet, two sweet boys insist on walking into my room instead of their new tutorial.

"Ms. Brandon, we dont want to leave you."
"Please dont send us to another class."

Then they sat in their desks, acting like they were not going to leave. eventually they did of course so they would not get in trouble, but they made me smile.

makes my heart happy.

birthdays.

birthdays are not my thing.

never have been. i am not sure why, i believe it is because you get so much attention on that one day. it makes you think or have these expectations like: I must have a good day. maybe im just weird.

i just dont like attention.

but today, of course, you receive attention from all sides because it is the day of your birth. i guess in some aspects it is a day worth celebrating.

a teacher's birthday inside of a school can be compared to that of a celebrity in the real world. i feel that so many students look up to teachers as someone they care and strive to be like; therefore, their birthday is of importance to them.

today i had quite  a few sweet memories i would like to share:

two wonderful girls brought me a card this morning.
"ms. brandon we want you to have a wonderful day. we love you."

two of my classes sang happy birthday to me.

in one of the classes, the song was lead by the biggest trouble maker in the class. he was so excited to sing happy birthday to me. he was the loudest one of all. that touched my heart.

in the other class, one of the soulful african american males had to give me his solo of happy birthday. he sang quite well i must say; then, the entire class resang the song for me.

another student declared she was going to bring me a flower for my birthday. and that she did. a hand picked flower that was almost dead. so sweet that she remembered :)

and finally two more students bought me a pack of m&ms! thank God for chocolate :)


as many "bad" days i may have, or moments when i feel like i am not doing things right, i can look at this and remember why i am teaching.

i do love those students.

appreciation.

I am often reminded of how stressful the job of a teacher is; too many times you are not just a teacher. You are a mother, a father, a friend, a mentor, a comedian, an entertainer, a disciplinary force, a provider, a helper, a listener... need I go on?

Without appreciation, I do not believe teachers could survive.
Last week was homecoming week, oh what an adventure it was too.

There were plenty of days that were stressful; students were allowed to "break the rules" and come dressed as whatever they came up with the previous night.

There was: twin/duo day, old & young day, sports/career day, class color day, and chief day.

The outfits were great and the students all had a wonderful time being their unique selves.

One student that touched my heart was on sports/career day. This sweet girl was dressed up, very nicely that day. As usual, I would ask who that person was portraying for that particular day and when I came to this girl, I was surprised by her answer.

"Well, who are you today?"
"I dressed as you today Ms. Brandon! I am a teacher!"

She even had my pointed toe, stiletto heels on. :)

Sometimes, ones greatest compliment is the soul who desires to recreate you. If only for a moment, they honor you, and she did.


While students should appreciate their teachers, teachers should also appreciate their students and recognize the amazing feats that they accomplish.

While the excitement of last week was crazy, the two girls who helped me in the emergency with the student deserved some recognition for what they had done. I decided to call home.

I did not receive any answer from either student; therefore, I left a message on the machine and went about my way.

The next day I was standing at the door waiting for all the students to enter class for first block when one of the girls who I had called home for came outside with me in the hallway. She began to explain that her mom had called her yesterday.

"Ms. Brandon, my mom called me and told me you had called. We talked about what happened, and I told her everything. My mom started crying and told me she was proud of me, and she told me she probably would have never been able to do what I did. But she just kept telling me she was proud of me the whole time.

Thanks for calling Ms. Brandon."


Appreciation says it all.

unsung heroes.

One of the great things you will learn about teaching is that no matter how many times you plan something, in one second your entire lesson and teaching methods can change. As a teacher, you must be able to adjust to the changes and continue with the status quo.

Today was one of those days. As a new teaching, I spend much of the previous night planning for the day ahead; last night was no exception. Today I come into class, get my materials ready for the day, papers copied, journal up, update the marker board, do everything I can before the bell rings.

My class usually goes pretty normal: come in, sit down, do your journal, and do not talk. I usually have the random students that have all the random questions as normal. Today, I had a special request.. A student asked to go to the health center today because she thought she was about to have a seizure. Now, usually I would have been informed about some type of health disorder; however, today I was not. Therefore, I went to get a health form pass to let her go; as a i was writing away, I noticed that she was getting worse.

Common sense told me to let her go, so I sent her with a student. As soon as she got up, it hit. There in the middle of my classroom she feel to the ground, shaking as if she was possessed. Poor, helpless girl was she. Scared, confused teacher was I.

What do you do in those seconds while emergencies happen? Throw all plans out the door.

I had two beautiful, strong young ladies help stay with the girl while I directed students to get help. Soon, two police officers, a teacher, two principals and those wonderful strong students were there helping. Finally, the nurses came and did their job.

As I watched them nurse her back to health as best as they could, I looked into my classroom at my students as they intently watched (some probably terrified). I looked at those two girls who were so brave to step forward. They sat there with the girl fanning her, holding her hand, helping her--as a friend; as a sister. As they were lifting the girl from the ground, one of my big, manly football players came over to help pick her up into the wheel chair. No one asked him to do that. The other students sat in their seats quietly, not saying a word. They were so well behaved, so respectful and understanding.

I was so impressed by those students. Today, they are unsung heros who will never receive recognition for what they did, but will always have a gold medal in my heart.  

Why & Some Amazing Happenings.

Finally, oh finally. I have decided to go through with this.

There is just way to much from the school day that could be missed in memory because it is not written down. Teens and kids are such a interesting topic. You never know what will come out of their mouth; everything thing is a surprise. Even through their randomness, there is a great heart in almost all of these students--a heart that many have never seen or care to see.

So, here is why I am writing the blog. To show the realities of teaching, the every day life that happens inside the school, and the show the great students that I have (even if the things I write about may not be so great... they sure are funny)!  I am also writing this so I will not annoy every single person with my stories, and you can just read them here :)


Week of 9/19

This week for a new, young teacher would have been the most challenging week yet. For any teacher, even veteran, this week would have proven trying emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

This week our school recently lost two precious girls (who I did not know) in a car accident last saturday night.  I did not know coming into school Monday morning what exactly be like for my students.

While the majority of students were caught up in hype (which is obvious to spot from hysterically crying one day to perfectly fine the next), there were a couple who sincerely lost a dear friend. These two boys came into my class every day this week with a downcast spirit that was not normally there. I felt for these two as though they were my child. My heart broke for them as I could see them mourning some days in class. Grown men were they facing this. I believe any teenage boy that can sit and cry in class in front of his classmates is a true man, and thats what these two gentlemen showed me.

From experiencing the loss of my own best friend, I could relate to what these two gentlemen were experiencing. My heart is torn in two for those that mourn and I would love to take their pain away: "But sorrow may last for the night, but JOY comes in the morning!" (From a song called: Trading My Sorrows). That was the song that kept playing through my head this week, and I longed to express it with them. Even today (9/24--the funerals are now) my thoughts and prayers are with these two students especially, but the families that have been affected from this event.


Despite the tragedy of this week, there was an amazing event that took place inside the classroom---one that ONLY God could orchestrate. In my classroom, next to the door to exit (and enter on second thought) I have a small sized marker board that I write positive quotes or something encouraging on for the students to look at every day. It may be something simple such as: "have a great day" or some quote by a famous person.

I have often wondered if students read what was on the board. I did not know if it was a waste of time or what but I continued in hopes that some may.

The first incident with the board:

One student left their binder in my class. I saw it after the bell rang at 3:00 to dismiss the students for the day as they rush out of into the hall in some mad rage that they will miss what will happen for the entire day if they do not get home by 3:01. I always look around my classroom for things students may have left behind and saw this binder.

As any teacher would, I opened the binder to identify who it belonged to.. As I was looking, I saw a tab in the binder labeled: "Encouraging Words." Curiosity did kill the cat that day because I went to see what that was about: It was not one of the tabs I requested for my class. Everyday this particular student had written down what was on that small marker board. It touched my heart to see that she enjoyed and notice the thoughtful words that were placed there, and also encouraged me to persevere with the quotes.

The second, most amazing incident with the marker board:
Because of the events of this week at school, I felt like sharing bible verses with the students. I KNOW i cannot do this in a direct way or in any way that may influence a student's religious belief, so I decide to write a small phrase from the bible on the marker board. It was a phrase that had run through my head all week long found in Ecclesiastes--There is a time to be born, a time to die.. etc.

So, on the small marker board who's location has been described: I simply put the beginning of that passage from the bible: "For everything there is a season..." I did not put any quotation from the bible stating where it was from, so that made it legal :)

I had many questions that day about the quote: "What does that mean?" "Isn't that suppose to say: 'For everything there is a reason.'" "Who said that?"

Things like this broke my heart that these students did not know about Solomon's words in this book; however, it allowed me the opportunity to answer these questions. It allowed me the opportunity to say this was found in the bible, it was spoken by Solomon, it means there is a time for everything to happen in our lives.

My fourth block class is probably my worst class (but by worst they are not even that bad), but this was the moment that God showed me: This is why you are here.

I had a student ask: "Where did you find that quote?" So, I shared with here: It came out of the bible. It talks about the different seasons in our lives such as there is a time to be born, a time to die.. a time to laugh, a time to cry.. etc.. Do you want me to show it to you? Student: Yeah! please...

I have a bible in my desk, and I honestly forgot it was there. Luckily, I could pull it out at any time that I need to and for this particular day I did. I had the opportunity to read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 to one of my students.

While I did not think much of it, after I read the passage the student asked me: Can I write that down?
The student took my bible, wrote down the scripture straight out of the bible in class, and kept it for her own personal use. I was blown away and in awe that the opportunity even presented itself to me.

But that, my friends, was an amazing end to a rough, long week.

<3 till next time.