Open House
One of my favorite students walked into 9th period today and said "Hey Señorita! How come you never tell us jokes in class? You were so funny last night at open house!" The only student to accompany the parents to open house last night had witnessed my hidden hilarious side... the side that only comes out when I'm on stage and nervous and have extra time and don't know what to do with it... so I make fun of myself. I'd asked the parents if they had had any questions, and of course 20 solemn faces stared back at me and not a word was spoken in the awkward silence."Isn't there anything you want to know?" I prodded. "Like, where I learned Spanish, what my background is, what I do for fun or even if I have a life outside of teaching?" Well I found out quickly that brought a lot of laughs and loosened up the silence and one parent would be brave enough to ask, "so why did you become a Spanish teacher?"
This leads me into my new favorite story, a true story from this summer that grabs their hearts and, if they didn't before, makes them fall in love with me.
I love languages and traveling, but most of all, its the reward of being able to communicate with so many more people, and having opportunities to make a difference in someon'e life, just by being able to speak their language. This summer I was stuck at La Guardia airport in New York City for hours because of a storm. The woman sitting next to me was Colombian and didn't speak any English. She was so confused by the delay announcements that kept coming on over the loudspeaker and had no idea of what was going on. I was able to translate for her and help her change her ticket. She kept me company for hours, as I was traveling alone, invited me to stay at her place 10 minutes away if things got bad, and gave me a bag full of homemade bañuelos. It's a simple everyday opportunity like this that makes it all worth it. =)
Labels: communication, school, spanish, students, teaching
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