My Students, Oct 6th, 2009

I just wanted to share a little story about my students. They made me so happy. On Friday we had chapel. Rudy and the 9th grade lead out in it. They had a skit in which these freshman act like teachers. The crowd has to guess which teacher it is. They did things like saying "This is awesome" and everyone knew that was Rob because he says that all the time. Nicole's was particularly embarrassing because this girl walks by and everyone whistles at her. Nicole is known as the "hot" teacher. Then this kid goes walking by with this slouchy walk with his head down. I had already been tipped off that they were making fun of me, so I figured it was me. A bunch of the kids go, "That's him!" and point at me because they don't know my name. None of the teachers know where they got that slouchy walk from, but somehow they think it is how I walk. I was a little puzzled, but it didn't bother me too much.

Today, Monday, I was talking to one of the other teachers. They said that after chapel some of the 8th grade girls were crying. They asked them, "Why are you crying?" and the 8th graders responded that they were crying because they felt bad for Mr. Brannaka because people were making fun of him. They said, "He should be allowed to go home." The teachers asked, "You mean the kids should be sent home for making fun of him?" "No," They responded, "He should be allowed to go home so he can be happy."It really touched me that my kids care about me that much. The other teachers were like, "I wish my kids would cry for me. They must really like you." My girls are really sweet and I've been able to connect with them. I'm so glad I got 8th grade. Even though some of them cause trouble sometimes and I have to stay on top of them about being quiet and being on time, I feel like I must be making a difference if I've been able to connect with them like that. It's very encouraging.