Today I Taught Spanish

Today I taught Spanish.

To be more clear, I substitute taught for a Spanish class. 

Usually as a substitute teacher, there’s a pretty low expectation set. This is especially true when I go in to sub for a teacher or class I’ve never been in before. I’m expected to take attendance, maintain order in the classroom, and manage how many students are leaving the classroom. And there are endless reasons to leave! Bathroom trips, water bottle refills, seeing the nurse or guidance counselor, general shenanigans, and any other form of roaming the hallway a kid imagines. 

When I was a kid and a substitute teacher was there, it meant it was a movie day. Today, it functions more as a remote learning day, but the teacher is remote instead of the students. They often have online assignments the teacher gives them before school even begins. Then, I show up and do my best to ensure they stay on task. Unfortunately, there’s not much teaching in substitute teaching. At least not until the sub builds a relationship with the teacher and is in the classroom multiple times.

I was in a reading classroom that also had one period of ESOL. This meant that I got to practice a little bit of my Spanish while the students did their work. Again, there wasn’t really much teaching going on, but it was nice to converse with these willing students who were impressed with my accent. 

After spending a month in Costa Rica, my Spanish improved greatly! You can read about my experience through the Mission Blog. Since then, I’ve been keeping up on Duolingo, although it’s really not a tool I would recommend learning with. Mostly, it just helps keep some vocab and grammar in my mind each day. 

I’ll be returning to Costa Rica once again in January, so I’m extra grateful for the more immersive practice. 

It surprises me how such short conversations can boost my Spanish-speaking confidence. I think this is true in so many things in life. We often look for the big stuff–the graduations, the weddings, the life-altering moments as the ones that define us most. But our days are made up of small moments like this that can change us even more than the big ones. Bursts of encouragement each day from your boss are better than a positive quarterly review. I would argue these small moments define our lives even more, simply because they can change the direction of each moment of each day. 

As you go about your day today, who can you encourage? Whose confidence can you boost? Maybe it’s a coworker or employee, or someone in your family. Think about how positive of an impact you can have in their life by just sharing a word of hope, joy, or love with them today. ¡Muy bien!

Today I taught Spanish. My confidence was boosted as I conversed with middle school ESOL students. 

It’s these normal, small moments of each day that make the biggest difference.