I've definitely learned more than I've taught this semester. I've taught some: reflexive verbs, how to conjugate verbs, how to say "turn your swag on" in Spanish, who José MartÃ, Juanes, and Celia Cruz are, the fact that Spanish is a beautiful language, everything has to match and the implications of that, but here are the things I've learned since September.
1. Lots and lots of vocabulary. I don't necessarily mean bad words, I just mean a whole new language. What "rachet", "throwin' your click up", "spittin'" "how you what", etc. I think if there were an official test I'd pass about level I of Street Slang. So much more to learn, but at least I understand more of what is being communicated. Urbandictionary.com is my best friend in the evenings.
2. 250+ names. I'm to the point now where I even know the names of a lot of kids I see in the hallway every day who aren't even in my classes, but I've met through other situations or just because I see them every day.
3. To respond to the situation underneath the profanity, not the profanity itself.
4. How horrible an insult it is to call someone "ashy." Whooooooo. Don't do that, it provokes a fight. That's the insult that usually flies out right after the N word.
5. That I'm not really as great of a teacher as I thought I was. I've learned some humility.
6. The importance of Carmex. Next to a cell phone, that is the one thing none of my students are ever without. They won't have a writing utensil, but they'll have Carmex.
7. To take 10th Street not Crawfordsville when it's icy out. Crawfordsville will end you up in a snowy ditch real quick.
8. Deeper glimpses into how truly broken humanity is.
9. Not to use the word "ghetto" to describe something: it's perceived as very insulting.
10. How generous so many people are: many of my kids are living with people who are distant relatives, and the generosity of people taking an unreliable teenager into their home, feeding/sheltering them, caring for them, just amazes me.
I still have so much more to learn, but I've come a long way since August. Seven school days more and I will have survived first semester.
