Amorcito!

It was my first day as a tutor and I stood in a classroom doorway looking for Manuel, my first student. No more than a second went by before the kids started yelling, "Look out!" "He'll get out!" "Be careful!" I quickly shut the door and the culprit, a little brown rabbit, raced by. Occasionally, a child would pick him up, pet him and then gently put him down. This was my introduction to Lilly's second grade class at a bilingual elementary school in Washington D.C.. Besides the bunny rabbit, there were chicks hatching in one corner of the classroom and ten small chicks huddled in a pen nearby. There were also cocoons in a large net hanging from the ceiling. This room was alive!

Lilly, a Puerto Rican teacher with an engaging smile, greeted me enthusiastically in Spanish. She was thrilled to have me tutor Marcos who had just arrived from El Salvador, and not only did not speak English, but had never been in a classroom before. I tutored Marcos twice a week, and I found myself looking forward to that moment when I would open the door to Lilly's classroom. There was always something going on! One day a curved bridge appeared in the classroom, and students pranced across it rehearsing a Spanish musical version of Billy Goats Gruff with original songs written by Lilly. When the science theme was dinosaurs, the room was surrounded by models of dinosaurs and kids chomped on carrots, raisins and beef jerky to learn how their different teeth worked and how they differ from a dinosaur's teeth. Another time students wrote their own stories, illustrated them, and Lilly had them 'bound.' Marcos, who made incredible progress that year, wrote his first story during our tutoring sessions. He was amazed by the endless possibilities of writing one's own story, and he was so proud on the day that he showed me the final bound copy of his story. He was an author!

Besides enchanting the students who obviously loved Lilly, Lilly captivated my imagination with the possibilities of teaching. I had thought that standards and regulations had constrained teachers to the point where the kind of enthusiasm for learning, and the sheer exuberance that I saw in Lilly's classroom were no longer possible. Lilly drew me into teaching in the same way that she drew in her students. If I was present in the classroom she gave me a role and soon I was as engaged as they were.

Lilly did not believe in keeping students at their desks so they often worked on the floor or clustered in small groups. When they called out to her, she would always say, "Que Amorcito?" (What, little love?) She had a way of singling out each student, individually, and letting them know that they were special. Lilly also gave this gift to me. Before I left her school Lilly told me, "You have a real talent for teaching children-- especially children who have recently arrived in this country. You should teach ESL! We need you!" Because of Lilly and her inspiring classroom, that is what I am going to do.

-- Ann Wilson