I’m a teen on Zoom school, not a teacher

But the first grader we babysit needed help

It began in early October when our neighbor needed work and my dad got him a job on his construction crew. The neighbor was grateful, but he and his wife needed someone to take care of their 5- year- old son.

My mom babysits neighborhood kids, so the wife brought their son over and made arrangements. The next day, she dropped Luis at our house.

He was a first grader and he had a tablet the school gave him but he just sat there with it, not knowing what to do. His mother said she didn’t understand, either. I asked Luis some questions and discovered he didn’t speak English. He and his parents had only recently come from El Salvador.

Fortunately, I speak Spanish. I’ve been translating for my parents for as long as I can remember. I was able to find out Luis’ login information, then got him situated a few feet away from me in our cramped living room and got him signed into his class for virtual learning. I did it just in time to sign into my own Advanced Placement literature class, but a few minutes later I noticed that Luis was just staring at the screen, confused.

I leaned over and heard that the teacher and the students were all speaking English. My AP lit teacher was explaining the relationship between plot, character and theme in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, but I felt so bad for Luis. I could see his frustration. I remembered being in pre- calculus class and feeling confused and overwhelmed, but all I had to do was to pay close attention and take good notes. Luis had no chance at all.

I could see that his teacher had everyone writing words down and I asked him, in Spanish, whether he understood. He said no. I asked him whether he knew how to write, and he said yes but not in English. I got out his notebook and handed him a pencil. I grabbed my notebook and under my “Sonny’s Blues” notes, I wrote the words he was supposed to be writing down. I told him what they meant in Spanish.

I can. “Yo puedo.”

I am. “Yo soy.”

I have. “Yo tengo.”

His frustration melted away as he copied the words and mouthed them. I wanted to get back to my class, but I couldn’t leave Luis there to get confused again so I stayed with him, helping him learn English and how to read and write until there was a break.

That has become my part- time job, every school day. Luis and I sit next to each other, and I translate first grade for him, help him find the right book for each lesson and tell him to pay attention while I try to sneak some time in my own classes.

Sometimes the 5- year- old gets up every 10 minutes. Sometimes my teachers call on me while I’m helping Luis and by the time I answer, they’ve moved on to another student. I feel guilty when that happens.

I told Luis’ teacher what was going on, but she said that children eventually catch on. Maybe that’s true inside a classroom, but it didn’t seem like it would happen inside our apartment.

I think a lot of teachers don’t really understand what is going on with students right now. Some of them are trying, but I guess it’s hard to really know what anything is like for anyone else in a pandemic.

My mom and I told Luis’ parents to complain to the school. They did, and I was happy to find out he would get Zoom tutoring every afternoon. That started in late October. It has turned out to be more work for me because I help him with tutoring as well, but by the time that started I felt like a parent as well as a teacher and I started to like Luis, even when he got really annoying.

When we started working together in early October, Luis didn’t know how to read in Spanish or English, and now he can read in both languages. He has also learned how to count to 10. He understands a lot of what is going on in class, which means I can sometimes pay attention in my classes. He does his homework every night and now, when his teacher says to take out notebooks and start writing, he does it right away.

When his mom or dad drop him off in the morning, he’s excited to sign into school. They seem very happy about that. I don’t think they’re paying my mom enough because they are getting a babysitter and a teacher, but it’s probably all they can afford and I’m kind of glad to help.

I fell pretty far behind in some of my classes helping Luis and even further behind in my sleep schedule staying up to catch up with everything, but I’ve managed to get my grades up to A’s and B’s now. I’m just as happy to see how much Luis learns every day.

I hope this pandemic is over soon and we can all go back to school, but when that does happen, I think I will actually miss Luis.

Luisa Garcia with her mother, Maria Castillo, in Los Angeles.