msleahhbic:
I only had to teach fifth grade today. I didn’t need to use my planning periods, so I stayed with them through all three after school classes.
Things are getting better. It’s still hard. They hate being there. After a 6 hour school day, they have to be at school for four more hours for enrichment (i.e. babysitting with a better name).
I’ve got to find ways to make them buy into this. Part of that has to be building relationships with them. With the exception of two students who are African American, the entire class is latino. Mostly Dominicana. Once some of the girls discovered that I speak a little Spanish and definitely understand the things they’re whispering, they seemed to have a bit more respect and interest in me. Things just kind of took off.
This is definitely going to force me to improve my Spanish. I know I *should* be encouraging English, but it’s after school and I’d rather they wanted to be in class with me. I am the only white teacher these students have ever had. I’m serious. I need to find a way to help them buy into being there.
They’re definitely skeptical about me, the two male students outright distrust me. Whatever connections I can make are important. One student N, has become my little friend and likes to pretend to be my Spanish teacher. She’s been making me translate English into Spanish on the fly, which is very difficult for me. I can read and understand spoken Spanish very well, but speaking it and writing it myself always makes me too nervous.
We didn’t get as much work done today as I would have liked, but I feel like I have a better grasp of who they are. And for the most part, they don’t seem to see me as such a stranger anymore.
Have you thought of studying Dominican culture and history and doing some art around that? My kids love studying Mexican art and have a deeper connection to artists like Kahlo and Rivera because it is part of their culture. They also love when I learn alongside them and show a genuine interest in their culture. It is so fun to share those experiences together and it builds a connection we can all share. It is one of the reasons I am so adamant about teaching North America and not just the U.S. regions because our learning is so rich and the kids have immense background knowledge to share and use as a jumping off point for deeper conversations.
Also I have to say I think it would do a disservice to the kids to not speak in Spanish sometimes. It is so frustrating to me when people try to say that kids should only speak English in school. It is like looking at the kids and saying that their native language, the only language many of their family members speak, isn’t valuable or good enough. It creates a further divide between home and school when we really need to be fostering that connection. Students who have both languages are far better off academically and socially-emotionally. When a student and I can talk about the similarities and differences of Spanish and English it is invaluable. They start to see connections between the 2 languages in addition to viewing both their languages as important pieces of who they are. I love brushing up on my Spanish and being able to ask my kids how to say something in Spanish. It is such a great relationship builder and is me saying, “I don’t know everything, and you have something you can teach me, so can you help me?”
/soapbox
I think it is great that you’re looking for ways to connect with these kids and engage them more.
