Words Were All We Had

I finished reading Words Were All We Had by María de la Luz Reyes. The narratives by eleven different Latinos touched my heart as they told how they were able to become biliterate against the odds.

Not only did the stories touch the heart but they also taught some important lessons for us as Esperanza educators and stakeholders. One lesson had to do specificially with the kind of educators our scholars need. It became apparent that a Spanish speaking teacher--even if she/he is Hispanic-- is no guarantee that that teacher will create a child-centered learning environment that is respectful and caring. Even they can exhibit deficit views.

Not only is "authentic caring" crucial for educators, but educators must also be able to challenge these young bilinguals to reach their potential. These are two characteristics an educator cannot fake. Even very young children can "read" a teacher.

The lessons learned from these narratives reinforce Dr. Haberman's STAR educator principles. This is why it is so important we have Esperanza educators who are predisposed to work well with this population whether they are Hispanic/Latino or not.

What Is Most Important

I just finished reading the English translation of Cien Años de Soledad (100 Years of Solitude) by Gabriel García Márquez. I had already read it in Spanish. I was reminded of a comment made by Dale Rees when he worked in the district office for Salt Lake City. He was speaking of students reading The Diary of Anne Frank in Spanish--He said that 10 years from now students wouldn't remember whether they had read it in English or Spanish, only that they had read it.

Too often people (sadly, even some educators) equate intelligence and knowledge with speaking English. Although our committed goal at Esperanza is for all students to eventually become biliterate--listening, speaking, reading, and writing--in both English and Spanish I don't want us to ever forget that English and knowledge/intelligence are not synonyms. Hopefully that will help us all to not become overly concerned when a student, especially in the early grades, may be seeming to lag behind in English OR Spanish. Growing and learning isWhat what is most important, no matter what language. Once the language is learned the knowledge can be transferred.