I taught the 3rd grade for one year. When I joined the school, this particular class did not have a teacher because the main teacher got sick, and they could not find a teacher for a few weeks. When I started, we had to catch up with the other 3rd grade sections. We had to work very hard, and the students cooperated. 

I have some interesting stories about that class. They all had different personalities, but they were all very interesting kids. In our school, the students were supposed to try their best to speak in English. The main language we speak in Pakistan, however, is Urdu. At that time, not everyone in my class was fluent in English, so some of them would often mix Urdu words into English sentences. I remember one day, one of the students kept on turning back and looking at his friend. When I asked him why, he said "Miss, he lai my rubber, tho I laid back. He AGAIN lai my rubber, tho I again laid back." In Pakistan, rubber is another name for an eraser. Lai means took, and tho means so. He was trying to say "He took my eraser, so I took it back." 

Another memorable experience was when a student was supposed to get a paper signed by his parents. When I asked him why it was not signed, he said "My mom was busy and my dad was on the flat." A flat is another word for an apartment. In my brain, I am thinking why his dad would be in some other flat. So I said, "What flat honey?" He then said, "Oh, he's on a flat from Karachi to London." I later found out that his dad was a pilot.

I did my master's in English Linguistics, so this experience helped me understand how language was used and how I could help them and future kids learn the language better. I am still a teacher now; I taught Pre-K for more than 10 years and I am now teaching first grade. I teach at a private Islamic school in the Lehigh Valley, and there are children from many different ethnicities who have several different first languages. These early experiences prepared me for these challenges, and while they can sometimes be difficult, I have come to love this diversity. I still think about the funny and enjoyable time I had back then with my first experience with students.