Her Protector

- "What is your next stop?"

- Reluctant to answer, he observes me closely and says: "96th street but my mom will not wake up (while the scent of alcohol can be detected from far away)." 

- "I'm sure she was tired. Is she ok? Did she sleep last night?"

- "Yes, she slept last night." 

We both became silent.. We looked at each other and smiled because, in my mind, he is still a young kid and I can't help but think of him as one of my students. By now, he trusts the stranger sitting next to him. 

- "Was she drinking?"

- (Long pause)... "No she wasn't."

Three stops pass by and both, her son and myself, are trying to wake her up. He may have been 7 years old and was already taking care of his drunk mother and her belongings. The stop finally arrives. We both are trying to wake her up. He grabs her things while she grabs her purse the wrong way and everything falls on the floor. With seconds before the door closes, he says: "please help us. We will miss our stop". His face shows desperation because he needs someone to wake his mom and carry the bags they have.  Finally, I put everything in her bag and help her get out. She can barely walk. She laughs while rage is running through my body because of what I see right in front of me. 

I see this child and I think of the many things he may have to deal with, but at the same time, he already knows how to lie for his mother. He already knows how to protect his mother. He may even think he is the man of the house. Who knows? All I can think of his smile because not only he is a protector, but in the end, he is also a child. 

Summer School's Impact On Students

In this country, we offer students many chances to fulfill their requirements of responsibility. One of these second chances is summer school. As a student, I did not know what it felt to be in summer school or, in other words, summer school did not exist in my vocabulary. However, as a teacher, summer school is a word I hear every day. It is an idea our students rely too much on.

My first time teaching summer school was last summer. It was an interesting opportunity for me to go through because I was able to choose my subject, and also make a last impact on students who we know can do better than what they have achieved. 

As of February, 2016, every student I taught during summer school is either afraid of me teaching it again or have thank me for being their summer school math teacher. I am not offended by this because I know my expectations are never low, nor I took it as a "free money" summer. I was interested in the students' knowledge. 

Last week, one of these students came to me, in front of my Assistant Principal and said: "I'm sorry Ms. C. but when I was in summer school, I was not afraid you. I was afraid of Ms. G. (referring to me) because she made it clear that I would not be passing my grade if I was late or did not do my homework, but instead, I learned what I did not learn during the school year...Thank you Ms. G.". Her statement made me feel powerful. I have shown to them that it is important to work hard for good outcomes and that they should not wait until summer school to keep up their grades. 

This is just one of the many statements different students have made to me about their summer school experience. With this said, I am not sure if I would do it again but it was definitely an experience to remember. 

I love this profession regardless. Period!

- Ms. A

Paying it Forward

While walking home, this stranger holds my arm and with her frantic look tries to ask me where is 7th ave in Harlem area because she didn't know it (I was shocked since this is not very common in the city). I recognized her accent and knew she didn't speak English but Chinese just wasn't sure which dialect. I asked her in mandarin if she spoke it, immediately looked at me, held her chest and smiled while asking if I was Chinese and I could help her. I told her I wasn't Chinese but I would try to help her. She just gave me the note below and had no idea what it said until my brain somehow recognized characters (simple ones) to more or less understand where she needed to go. I told her I would take her there and again, held her chest and trusted me.. She arrived where she needed to go to. Her look was similar to the one I had when I had first arrived to Yiwu, China when I had no phone and almost cried until a group of elders lent me their phone, gave me some water, and told me it was going to be ok..

I was not sure when I would return the favor, but it seems I did already. :)