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.