Learning from Each Other

A Story from an El Hogar Supporter by Patricia Roeser

As a retired special education teacher, I was honored when Profesora Karla, the “reading” teacher, asked for my assistance during her remedial classes. Even though it was a school vacation week, some of the students had not done well on their recent exams, so several teachers volunteered their time to work with the students for a few mornings.

I was not sure what to expect but found students patiently sitting by grade at three different rectangular tables in the classroom. Profesora Karla quickly explained to me the lesson I was to teach. First, I was to have the nine 5th grade students take turns reading the story, “The Laborer and the Tiger”, a legend from India in the 5th grade Scott Foresman Basal reader. She said they needed to practice “Cause and Effect” and to write down any vocabulary words they did not know as they read. After reading and discussing the story, they were to list the vocabulary words in alphabetical order and then use dictionaries to look up and write down the definitions of each word.

I gulped, wondering if my Spanish was good enough to manage this assignment successfully, but Profesora Karla moved on to her third and fourth grade tables and left me on my own! So, I took a leap of faith and dove in. The students eagerly and skillfully read each paragraph, becoming impatient only if the next reader lost his or her place or stumbled on a word. I was madly following along with my finger under each word, not always comprehending in detail what we were reading! After some paragraphs, I told the students that I did not quite understand what that last paragraph was about, and one of the students would quickly summarize it for me. Sometimes, I didn’t even understand the summary, but I was good at pretending! We finally made it through the reading and some discussion, and then we were able to focus on the vocabulary tasks. This was much easier for me to handle and explain, and each student worked well independently on the words. 

As much as I was teaching some comprehension, pronunciation, and dictionary usage, I felt like I learned as much from the students as they did from me. I learned that these 5th graders at El Hogar are eager to learn, have already learned many academic skills, respond well to structure, and were patient with a teacher with limited Spanish skills. Even though there were other students playing soccer and having free time right outside our door, these students persisted in their studies and demonstrated good concentration. It was a humbling and joyful experience to work with these children, and I have great faith that they will continue to grow and develop as young citizens of Honduras.