On my first Friday of student teaching, we have an assembly to promote the student’s participation in the PTA fundraiser. They are going to sell magazines! There is a guest speaker from the company who is showing the students a bunch of different laser beams and stuffed pigs that walk around and oink which they can win for prizes. However, the ultimate prize is that if the students sell at least three magazine subscriptions they get to attend a magic show!
I am sitting next to a student during this assembly who is originally from the Dominican Republic. He and his mother moved to the United States just two years ago. The guest speaker plays a clip showing the magician throw a playing card that slices a carrot. Amidst all of the oohs and ahs of the student crowd, the boy sitting next to me grabs my arm. His eyes are wide open and a smile stretches from cheek to cheek! “A magic show!” he exclaims. “I have never been to a magic show!” He is so excited, and it seems like his dream has come true.
On the way back to the classroom, I see my Dominican student softly crying. I ask him what is wrong. He replies, “Last year, I couldn’t do the fundraiser because my Mom did not know what to do. I won’t get to the go to the magic show.” I did not have to ask that she would not know what to do because the directions are in English. She only speaks Spanish. It broke my heart to see his good spirits fall as he moped like a lost puppy down the hall. During my lunch break, I wrote out directions for his Mom in my best Spanish. I sought him out in the hallway and gave them to him. He was so happy and the light filled his eyes again! This magic show meant the world to him.
This experience was my own personal magic show. In school we learn about curriculum, instruction, and assessment as essential parts of a good instruction. I got so caught up in the important technicalities of teaching that I forgot why I wanted to become a teacher in the first place. It is the wonder and fascination that light up a student’s eyes that thrill me. It is moments like these that remind me why I wanted to be a teacher.
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Sara, this brought tears to my eyes! You are such a great writer, and you have really captured this moment poignantly. I can feel the excitement on both your parts. Beautiful work, and beautiful account. That's what it's all about!
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