Over the past six years, I’ve been in a lot of classroom and met a lot of students. As in life, there were those that stuck out in my mind; who are still in my thoughts today.
I met J when she was in the 3rd grade. She was a tall bean pole with dark brown hair, caramel skin, and big brown eyes. She was very bright and eager to succeed academically. But, I didn’t get to really know her until she was my student in 4th grade.
Academically, J was the best in her grade. But, instead of being pushy or snotty about it, she completely understood that school came easier to her rather than others. Once I suggested to J that she use her smarts to help others. Right away she sought out a peer who was struggling in class, and helped him. Quite often, during silent reading, I would find that she had taken different students outside to either read to them, or have them read to her. This peer-to-peer interaction was so great, for J and the others. She was a teacher’s dream in that way. She also liked to help around the classroom; during her free time and recess I knew that I could count on J to be of assistance.
There was one time, when we had to do a writing assessment, that J did not perform the way in which I thought she would. talk about the writing assessment. I was no longer J’s teacher, but her writing teacher was worried about how she was going to do on the exam. So she sent J to me. J was crying and sobbing. She was soo worried about this exam; she wanted to be perfect. She stayed with me the whole morning. Part of the time she sat under the desk, just sort of shaking.
As with all students, an educator wants to see their pupils succeed; to have them go on and follow their dreams and passions. I remember J told me once of wanting to be the first Mexican American president, female president. But that she couldn’t, because her father told her that a woman wasn’t going to be president, as well as that a Mexican-American girl couldn’t be President. I reaffirmed for her, that since she was born in the U.S. that there was no stopping her dream. I wonder what she thought that now the U.S. has an African American as the president. Or if she felt a kinship to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor; since both are of Latino decent.
Often I think of J becoming an adult and being the first Mexican-American female President. If I ever had a student who could, it was J.
Even now that she is in 7th grade, I think of her fondly. She was part of the inspiration for the line of educational games that I have been creating. I know that she is going to go far.
