Day 4 Lesson plans

This morning Leo and I walked out the door at the same time...to go to work. It's the first time we've left together since we lived in Seattle and taught math at Seattle Central Community College three years before. He pedaled South towards his first day at Roosevelt U. and with a scarf covering the lower half of my face, I pedaled North to Truman. It felt good to be on the bike again.

Only ten students showed up for English class. My plans for the day included some grammar (personal pronouns and the verb "to be"), using words like short,tall, average height and blonde, black or brown hair. We were also going to play Classroom Words BINGO and sing "Head, shoulders knees and toes." I wanted a balance of fun activities and structured work. As we went through my lesson plan I wondered if I was giving enough time for each activity. My day's lesson plan was so full that very little free time was available for just digesting this new language. Do I plan too much? That's the math teacher in me, I've decided.

The first lesson began. "My name is _____, I'm from ________. I speak _________." I discover that the African women, Zorica from Serbia and Josef from Iraq all speak at least three languages. Zorica, one of the shyest and less sure, speaks Serbian, Hungarian and Russian. And I thought she had trouble picking up languages.

When our four-hour class endsed, Josef was the last student remaining. He had been laughing when we sang the Head/Shoulders/Knees/and Toes song while bending down to touch our toes, but his smile had faded. I decided to try to ask him some new questions. I found out that he came to Chicago last June from Bagdad to be with his son. He told me his three daughters were scattered between Canada and other American cities. He was about my age and a widower.

"My son, no school, no money. No good."
"Are you Kurdish," I asked, because that was one of the languages he said he could speak.
"No, Christian," he answered.

How do these students survive here, in this city that is even more expensive to live in than ever before? How do they get enough money to pay rent, to buy food, to pay the 10.25% sales tax? At least our class can be a place to sing, act silly and have some fun while we get down to the serious business of learning another new language. It's a daunting task, especially for me, as I struggeld to understand my Spanish teacher last night. She suggested I turn on the Spanish channel and closed caption. I'm not going to give up. Not with all these role models in my class.