Things I wish I could say in Spanish.

I have several ESL children this year, four of whom speak little English. I have no idea how I’ve managed to find myself in my 20th year of teaching without ever having a student that speaks so little English. My previous students have been more than able to communicate. These 4 are precious, sweet, smart, and will learn English in no time. However, it’s just really weird to look at their little blank faces and big brown eyes staring at me when I’m trying to glean the most basic of information. So, this blog post is devoted to the things I found myself wishing I could say in Spanish, this week alone.

*Just because I learned the word mochila from Dora the Explorer does not mean I have a clue what you’re trying to tell me.

*Guess what. I still don’t have a clue what you’re trying to tell me. And in 3 minutes, I won’t have a clue then, either.

*We don’t use scissors to cut hair or clothes. Your Mama would be very upset.

*Huh? WHAT made you throw up at the lunch table??

*Yes, I know your Mama told you to eat all your lunch but that doesn’t mean you can eat fruit cocktail while going down the hall.

*Make sure you aim for the toilet and not the drain in the floor.

And my all-time favorite from today:

*Yes, I know your Mama spanks you when you don’t clean your room but you can’t spank your classmate because you want her to go faster at the water fountain.

My mercy me, you’ve no idea how long it took to figure out why my student “spanked" her classmate, much less why she continued to refuse to apologize. My student was adamant that her Mama spanks her when she is in the wrong, so she did nothing wrong by spanking her classmate who was hogging the water fountain. (and I was only able to piece that all together with the aid of Athziri, the 5 yr old child next door who is thankfully able to translate. Sorta.) Of course, I guess if the only way you know to tell someone to hurry is by repeating rapido, rapido, rapido, to a water fountain-hogger that has issues of her own, god love her, then I can see why you might resort to a spanking.

By the way, the spanker is also the fruit cocktail-in-the-hall-eater and if you’ve guessed by now that she is a 100% s-p-o-i-l-e-d-p-r-i-n-c-e-s-s, then you are 100% correct.!!

I’m glad it’s Friday, and as luck would have it, The Chef planned an evening of chips and salsa, queso, tacos, enchilada casserole, margaritas and Corona with some friends. Fits right into my natural inclination as a K teacher to embrace all things thematic and integrated. My week is complete!