MiSantito
04-19-2008, 02:19 PM
The school I teach at is over 1/2 hispanic so we have several ESOL teachers. One of the teachers just had a baby and ask me to watch her class one afternoon this week so she could go for her checkup. She always gets me to translate for her and read the notes the girls are passing that are in Spanish so she knew I wouldn't have a problem with it.
We were doing a review powerpoint for the upcoming state testing and with about 10 minutes to go until home time I let them take a break. They all gathered around the computer watching people dancing on youtube. Some of them were making comments in Spanish when one of the boys told them to watch their mouth because I understood what they were saying.
One of the girls ask how I knew and he said because her fiance is Mexican. She looked at me and said "You have a boyfriend that is Mexican?" I replied, "Yes." She said, "Why do you have a Mexican for a boyfriend. You are a white girl?" I was telling her that color didn't matter to me that we were all human....blah...blah....when the boy said "Well, why do you want a black boy for a boyfriend?"....LOL....You talking about shutting up really quick!!
Most of the kids think I am a "cool" teacher because I have a Mexican fiance. They have been able to relate to me since I know what is going on with them. I take the time to talk to them about their life and share some of my personal experiences with them. They find it amazing that I can speak Spanish and that I can cook Mexican food. I have even had some of them bring me tamales, pozole, and other food for lunch. You have to be good to kids and let them know you understand where they are coming from, but of course you always get the comments like the one above.
We were doing a review powerpoint for the upcoming state testing and with about 10 minutes to go until home time I let them take a break. They all gathered around the computer watching people dancing on youtube. Some of them were making comments in Spanish when one of the boys told them to watch their mouth because I understood what they were saying.
One of the girls ask how I knew and he said because her fiance is Mexican. She looked at me and said "You have a boyfriend that is Mexican?" I replied, "Yes." She said, "Why do you have a Mexican for a boyfriend. You are a white girl?" I was telling her that color didn't matter to me that we were all human....blah...blah....when the boy said "Well, why do you want a black boy for a boyfriend?"....LOL....You talking about shutting up really quick!!
Most of the kids think I am a "cool" teacher because I have a Mexican fiance. They have been able to relate to me since I know what is going on with them. I take the time to talk to them about their life and share some of my personal experiences with them. They find it amazing that I can speak Spanish and that I can cook Mexican food. I have even had some of them bring me tamales, pozole, and other food for lunch. You have to be good to kids and let them know you understand where they are coming from, but of course you always get the comments like the one above.