Today was a pretty good day. For the most part, the students were kind to each other and to me; I am so proud of my homeroom class. At the beginning of the year they had been labeled the “bad class,” but in the past weeks they have really turned around. During our morning meeting time, I have had a record amount of students volunteering to share about their lives. And, as much as it is possible in middle school, they are getting along with each other. The students in both 7th and 8th grade are currently working on a jazz project for Black History Month. They are really enjoying it, and it has been giving me a break from traditional teaching. I even had a student stay after school today to help me with copies and filing.

My feeling of defeat came at the very end of the day. It was 5:00, my student volunteer had just left, my computer had been shut down, my bags were packed and my coat was on. On my way out I stopped to talk to another teacher in the hall, and heard the office buzz my room. There was a parent who wanted to see me.

I quickly put my things away and hurried down to the office, not at all worried about staying late. Parental involvement at our school is fairly low, so I enjoy meeting with parents. When I arrived at the office I realized it was a Spanish-speaking mother and her two sons. One is in 7th grade and the other in 8th. I asked the secretary to call a translator, but they had all left, since it was after 5:00. Now usually I can hold my own in a basic Spanish conversation, and I really didn’t have any other options, so I invited them all up to my room. As we were on our way up, the lead teacher mentioned that she wanted to join the meeting to touch base with this mother. Her sons can be a handful, and do not have very good grades.

We all sat down in my room and I attempted to explain why the 7th grade son had an after school detention…a simple tardy. Sitting there with the mother, both sons, and my lead teacher staring at me, I went completely blank and could not utter a word of Spanish! I took 6 years of Spanish in high school & college! My brain fart left us to rely on the students to translate, which is terribly unfair.

I was proud of these boys. They have been known to use the language barrier to their advantage, but they translated correctly even though they had to rat each other out. We made it through the meeting and everyone had a half-way decent idea of what was going on, but as I walked out of the building I could have kicked myself. This poor mother has so much on her plate, two boys almost guaranteed to be retained again, a tough work schedule that still doesn’t pay the bills, and an angry husband. When she comes to the school it should be a safe welcoming place, and yet I could not even speak with her in a way that she could understand. I could have cried.

Needless to say, in the next few days and weeks you will find me conjugating Spanish verbs and reviewing vocab. There’s bound to be a next time and I will do better.