The Little Things in Life

Teaching Spanish this year, my 16th, has been a bit of a rough one for me. Every few years I have one that proves more challenging than others. Behavior problems with the beginning levels and mountains of grading for the upper levels take a lot out of me at times. But then something happens that doesn't just make me smile for the moment, but for the rest of the day. An unexpected remark or an act of kindness made by my students always has the ability to turn my day around. And today was no exception.

Months ago I showed my advanced students the video of King Juan Carlos telling hugo chavez to shut up. They roared with laughter, both because it is one of the first things they learned when they first started Spanish, and also because they already knew who chavez was and enjoyed hearing the King of Spain tell him off. For several weeks afterwards, whenever someone was talking instead of listening, another student would save me the trouble of saying "Silencio, por favor" by yelling "Por qué no te callas?" in a deep, King of Spain-like voice. Rude, but funny.

So, when my students returned from their school trip to Spain today and excitedly gave me a souvenir, I was so touched that they thought of me that I'm still smiling about it. And it wasn't your run of the mill trinket.

Direct from España, a t-shirt, which I cannot wait to wear on our next casual day at work. The kids who also bought one for themselves said they will wear it that day, too. Very, very cool.

Posted by Claudia4Libertad at March 26, 2008 08:41 PM

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Posted by: Dr.Shalit at March 26, 2008 09:10 PM

Posted by: Marta at March 26, 2008 09:55 PM

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