Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have been practicing a little of that self care from Monday’s blog post. Today, I will be sharing another What’s Your Story? submission from one of our TEX trainers, Angela, and tugging on a few heart strings in the process. As teachers, we hear all the time that we make a difference in our students lives, but sometimes we get to see just how much. Read about how one teachers classroom became a safe space to grow for one of her students.
When asked to share a story of my students I do not really think it is my story to tell but theirs. I also feel like that I am just doing what any other person would do is teach them ESL, show some compassion, and help to guide the newcomers in my classroom through their new life in the United States.
I do have one student that stood out to me a few years ago. For the sake of privacy, I will keep him anonymous. This student came to me when he was in eighth grade. I did not really know much about his past, but I was told that he had come to the United States as an unaccompanied minor to be with his father. He was 13 years old. Jose (pseudonym) had a rough time in class. He was not used to being in an environment with a woman in charge and was dealing with emotional issues from his past (unknown to me). Throughout the year his father came to several conferences where we learned more about what happened to Jose. His father told us that Jose’s mom abandoned him as a small infant and his father raised him. When his father came to the United States he left Jose with family, but never saved enough money for Jose to come. So, at age 13 Jose came alone. He was detained at the Texas-Mexico border and sent to a detainment facility for 8 months before he was released to his father and then enrolled in my class.
As class progressed Jose learned English and began to talk with the other students in the class in
Spanish. I try to make my class a safe haven for students. A place to pour out their fears, worries, and
troubles, but also create a place for them to feel comfortable learning English and to navigate life in a
new country. Well, I think Jose liked my class because he was there whenever he could get away from
his other classes. He also began to call me mom. He never had a female figure in his life that actually
showed him compassion and guidance while remaining firm. Throughout the two years Jose was in my
class he grew and flourished in the English language. At this point he was transitioning to high school
and my position at the school had been dissolved. We had a very emotional goodbye at the end of that
year. I knew that he was prepared to continue to high school and even beyond.
A few years later, I was visiting one of the high schools in my school district to view student presentations. The next think I hear was “HI! MOM!!” I could not believe it. Jose was there as a 10th grader doing his presentation. He told me about his project in English without any problems. I had tears streaming down my face. He had changed so much and grown into a young man over the past years. His father was also there and thanked me for the first years that Jose was in my classroom. I was told that I was just what Jose needed after all of the things he went through to get to where he was at that point. I was privileged to attend Jose’s graduation from high school a few years later where he told me he was going to attend college to be an ESL teacher.
I know this story is supposed to be about success stories of our students, but this is an example
of why we teach. It does not matter if we teach for a living or as a volunteer, we teach to make a
difference in the lives of the people we touch no matter if it is a big or small influence. If we can touch
one life, then we have done our job.
What’s your reason for teaching? Let us know at info@literacyconnexus.org. We’d love to hear from you! As always, blessings and happy teaching.