This teacher gets her students to understand how hard it is for immigrant children who come to school without knowing English. Then they start helping those kids. DP
Teacher sees both sides of issue
By Donna Vavala, News Herald Writer
Newsherald.com: On the first day of her Florida State University-Panama City class in “principles of teaching a foreign language,” Cristina Rios always begins speaking in French, then follows in Spanish.
When the students are thoroughly confused and wonder if they are in the right class, Rios switches to English and then asks them to compare this experience to how a young immigrant might feel on the first day of school.
“They are really surprised to see how difficult it is to function in a new language and a new learning environment,” Rios said in an interview. “I tell them to imagine how students at the elementary level must feel when they don’t know the language, the U.S. codes, the culture and the laws of the country.
“Once my students experience this first class, they take an advocacy role in making the true difference in teaching, not only for their class, but for the lives of their students.”
As an immigrant, Rios has a different perspective on immigration issues. She was born in Cuba, then moved to Colombia and on to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where her father opened a gas business.
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