Category: ESL

Challenger Explosion and Subbing in San Diego

Posted in baby, California, English as a Foreign Language, ESL, memoir, Mexico, newlywed, Ramona, space shuttle, Spanish, Spanish class, teacher, teaching, TijuanaLeave a comment

(re-run) It was a Tuesday, my third week of substitute teaching in Ramona, California.  The Middle School Spanish teacher before me had left in October after a former student told her therapist that he had sexually molested her while on his high school track team. The teacher was terminated, and the string of substitute teachers… Continue reading Challenger Explosion and Subbing in San Diego

I Wish You Would’ve Died

Posted in accident, California, detention, English, ESL, highway, Hispanic, Iowa, memoir, Ramona, substitute teacher, teacher, teaching, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Imagine a white woman from Iowa teaching Spanish in a town that was one fourth Latino. Imagine coming into the classroom mid-year after a string of substitutes. On my first day, a student said, “You’re our 12th sub.  How long are you going to last?” It was a brand new middle school in Ramona in… Continue reading I Wish You Would’ve Died