1) Teaching is a rewarding thing.
In addition to working at the school four days a week, I am giving private lessons Monday-Wednesday to three girls who are cousins, all eleven to twelve years old. I had always imagined that tutoring and working one on one with a student in English would be very difficult and I thought it would be something I wouldn't enjoy, but I am finding the experience to be completely the opposite! Two of the girls I work with are at a high level. Learning English is something they enjoy and get excited about, which makes me all the more enthusiastic about their progress. While at times I find it difficult to explain our crazy grammar to them, it makes it all worth the while when I see that change in their facial expression, the moment when they go from confusion to the "Ah-ha!" moment. The third girl I work with seems to be a little slow. She struggles in English, doesn't like to study, and it doesn't seem that she is a strong student in any subject, really. Last week I quizzed her on eight vocabulary words (which she had "studied") and she only got two right. (The words were: who, what, where, when, why, how, whose, and which.) It was incredibly frustrating for me because my working with her is dependent on her studying during the week as well. This week she seemed to have made progress. not only did she know the eight words, but it was evident that she studied the verbs she was learning as well. Yes!! In sum, tutoring is going well and is definitely more enjoyable and rewarding then I ever could have imagined it to be.
2) What the students will remember most are not the facts you teach them, it's the way you make them feel.
About two weeks ago a girl in my fifth grade class came up to me with a very serious face and handed me a piece of paper all folded up. I thought maybe it was a note about her someone had written, but instead it was a note from her to me! Written in English, or at least attempted English, I had to laugh at the Halloween poem she had crafted and the letter that followed:
Halloween
Night Halloween is chilling.
A ghost walk night to ask for candies
and more sweets. Fear will. Phantom says
Candy will give you, fear you will spend it.
there are ghosts and witches at night.
For Emma Seño
I give this letter seño.
If you are a good teacher, I had to
have this letter with the help, but
that is not important. I wish you
a good course.
De Esther: Mi name is Esther
Tell me you didn't laugh, too? Frankly, later on, I didn't know how to react and I felt extremely awkward walking into class the next day. Today after class had ended, it became apparent that this child might be in need of a friend. From what I can tell, she hangs out alone most of the time and is probably the girl who is on the quiet side and super nice, but all the other girls don't want to be friends with her. She spends reccess alone and often eats lunch alone in the cafeteria. In hushed voices the girls argued with one another and eventually caught the attention of the rest of the class. The main teacher went over to Esther and talked to her, like a self-esteem boost, but also for the whole class to learn a lesson. It was one of those moments that, while watching, I realized would be one that she will remember forever. I could see it on her face that she needed to hear those things. I had to applaud the teacher for the way she handled the situation because everyone left smiling and talking nicely to one another, and a huge group of girls, including Esther, stayed after school for about ten minutes talking with the teacher and laughing together. I can remember moments like that from when I was about ten years old, and I hope Esther remembers that moment as well.
3) Never doubt that a young child might know more than an adult.
While walking home from tutoring today I saw an English couple asking a Spaniard (about eighteen to twenty years old) for directions. His English apparently didn't seem to do the trick and the couple had a confused look upon their faces. He stuttered and tried to explain the location in complete Spanglish, and then he turned to his younger brother, who was about eight or nine years old, and asked him, Cómo se dice 'al lado' en inglés? (How do you say 'next to' in English?). The younger brother looked up and said in a very cute accent, "next to," and then continued to chat with his friend. I smiled knowing that the younger brother had learned this in school, perhaps from an auxiliar, like myself. Although I did not know the boy, I was proud that he could translate for his older brother. Maybe that fuzzy feeling is the feeling all teachers get when they see a student excel.
