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.