Reflecting on my “Why”?
As I inch my way towards my 20th year in education, I find myself thinking back to my “why.” Why did I become a teacher? Why am I still a teacher? And, most importantly, why do I believe so strongly in the power of education?
I suppose we can start at the very beginning: I learned how to read rather early in life, when I was maybe 3 or 4 years old. Back in our small town of the Dominican Republic, we had a set of some green encyclopedias, and an old termite-eaten poetry book in our bookshelf. There were probably a few more books, but I can’t quite remember them. I loved to read. I loved stories. I loved it when my mom told us fairytales before bed. When my family and I immigrated to the United States, I had access to so many more books within my 4th grade classroom as well as the New York Public Library – like “Ramona La Chinche” and “El Ratoncito de la Moto.” I loved that I had books I could read in Spanish. Unfortunately, bilingual education wasn’t working for me when it came to learning much English, which meant that when the teacher tried to force me to read grade-level books in 5th grade, it made my love for reading plummet… I simply didn’t know enough to make any sense of it. It was frustrating for me as someone used to excelling, to feel like a failure because I couldn’t understand the words. It took me many more years to love reading again.
But I did get to love reading again in High School – reading poetry and “The Things They Carried.” Learning to discuss ideas and make meaning out of stories written long ago. Reading both the “Classics” in English, and Garcia Lorca in Spanish AP. Reading for pleasure in the library – discovering Dickens and Jane Austen. I simply loved (and still love) stories – whether in written or visual form. As an art student, I loved Art History, and visiting The Met and The Frick Collection. I adore “Springtime” by Pierre Auguste-Cot. Through books and museums, I could let my imagination roam and explore in ways that were inaccessible to me at home.
I suppose this is why when I had the opportunity to become a bilingual teacher with the New York Teaching Fellows program, it felt like a calling – the universe steering me towards making a difference for students, who, like myself, would be learning English as a new language, while (those who were also new to the country) would be trying to navigate a new city, and would need support. My first teaching assignment was with a 4th grade bilingual class; clearly, it was meant to be! But, boy, did I struggle! My first year of teaching was trial by fire… sink or swim… simply, survive and figure it out! But I did… and 19 years later, I’m still here.
I am still teaching because I enjoy it and it continues to bring me joy! I believe teaching and teachers matter – the quality of teachers matters so much to the foundation of our society, to the care and type of education our children receive, and to the way adults will approach learning later in life. Therefore, education should be memorable, enjoyable, and enduring. It’s what I aim for within my classroom… and outside of the classroom walls. Learning happens all around us!
I continue to love stories and reading. My classroom library is my pride and joy – I make sure we have all kinds of books: graphic novels, comics, fiction and nonfiction books, characters and authors from diverse backgrounds, various reading levels, all kinds of topics, stories, memoirs, picture books, mythologies, poetry, and anything else my students might be even remotely interested in picking up to read. We read entire books together from beginning to end, discussing character traits, their internal and external motivation, their interaction with other characters, their experiences and how this shapes their choices, their courage, their challenges, and their humanity. We make connections to the outside world – troublesome events, personal struggles, our hopes for the future, the actions we can take to help bring about change.
I also believe in project-based learning – education is so much more memorable when students are “doing” the learning and not just reading about it. We create art and comics, perform poems in front of the class, get our hands dirty in the soil, pick up trash and rake leaves, ride bikes, and run races. Learning is an action, and taking action is necessary to learn! Which is not to say that we engage in projects for the sake of being busy – we are connecting the learning we do indoors, to how learning applies outdoors. If we are studying climate change during Science, then we must take steps to put that learning to use: plant some flowers, clean up the park, recycle the garbage, learn about sustainable transportation and ride some bikes. When we learn about Civic Engagement, we want to take action within our own community by making observations, surveying for community needs, coming up with possible solutions, and petitioning those who might have the power to help us make a difference. Perhaps we do that by writing letters to our District’s council-woman asking for her assistance in providing air conditioning to our local library. Or we use Participatory Budgeting to provide our school community with much needed art supplies to promote artistic self-expression. As long as we are all active participants in learning, then we are making it memorable for our students.
Lastly, I believe that our diverse students deserve to inhabit and visit places that are not easily accessible to them. They should be able to tour all the museums in the city, explore the zoos and botanical gardens, see a Broadway show, visit all the historical buildings to learn about their significance, perform on a stage, listen to an orchestra play live music, attend a variety of sports games, pay their respects at all the monuments and understand why they exist… they should get to experience the city where they live. They should learn its history, while finding their own niche where they belong. Field trips are about making connections between what we learn in class and how it applies outside, but they are also about the shared experience with peers, the attention they get from those who greet them at these places, the building up of curiosity, and being able to point to places around us and saying “I was there!”
Growing up as an immigrant child in a low socio-economic household, with my dad being a night-time cab driver, and my mom becoming disabled in my early teens, there was a lot that I had to figure out on my own, and a lot more I simply didn’t know was possible. Now, as an educator, I want to make sure my students and their families know that the sky’s the limit! Perhaps it’s idealistic to still believe that education is the “great equalizer.” There are so many reasons to believe it’s actually rather segregated, unjust, and inequitable. Nonetheless, so long as I continue to be a part of the educational system, I will be doing my best to ensure my students experience all that the city has to offer, and that they find true joy in learning. It’s simply why I continue to teach!
Ruthy Writes 
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