Mr.Wang helps Luisa Gramajo and Yesenia Perez and with math.
By Yesika Rodriguez
Many teachers dedicate their lives to their students. One extraordinary example
is Mr. Charles Wang.
Mr. Wang is an ESOL teacher of math at Montgomery Blair High School. He has been
teaching different courses at Blair for seven years, but now he is teaching math.
Mr. Wang has many students that he sees in his classes every day, but he has
many more students he sees before school during lunch, and after school every
day.
Most teachers help students outside of class, but not many spend as much time
working with students as Mr. Wang. “Mr. Wang has always been helping me,
either in lunch time, after school or, in the morning,” Maria Hernandez
said.
“I help students because as a teacher I feel it is our responsibility to
help students,” Mr. Wang said.
Mr. Wang uses many strategies to help students to understand their homework,
especially in the math subject. “ I try to explain difficult concepts,
either in English, math, history, or science so, that they get it to understand.
If they do not understand one way, I have to think of a different way for them
to understand it,” Mr. Wang said. “ I think it is also very important
to be patient. You have to be nice and you have to be friendly,” he added.
Students appreciate the work and the time he spends helping them. “ When
I first got to this country, my English level was really poor, Mr. Wang helped
me to overcome my fear of speaking English and he helped me to practice,” Krislie
Perez said.
Mr. Wang has many qualities that can describe his personality. “Mr. Wang
is a very helpful teacher, very patient and kind. His qualities are the ones
that make him different from other people,” Quyen Ha said. “I know
it is very difficult for ESOL students to learn very difficult things and, if
teachers cannot spend time to help them, the students will not do their homework,” Mr.
Wang added.
“He cares about us, he is always asking about our grades. He also helped
me to pass the Maryland Functional Math Test,” Luis Martinez said. “He
spend most of his time working with me in order to pass the test. Because of
his help, I passed the difficult test.”
Mr. Wang also helps the students who get into problems. He cares about them and
spends a lot of time with them. He listens to their problems and he tries to
help them to solve it. “ I think it just important for teachers in general,
not just myself, to give the students an idea that they can succeed, that they
can do well and show them that you care. I think that if you show them that you
care, they will do better,” Mr. Wang said.
He also speaks other languages, Chinese and Spanish. “ I learned to speak
Chinese by conversations with my parents, but after I graduated from college
I went to China to learn how to read and write,” Mr. Wang said. He also
studied Spanish in middle school for two years. “I was not very good at
it so I stopped,” Mr. Wang said. Now his Spanish is very good because he
teaches ESOL level one and most of his students speak Spanish. “They just
come to school only speaking Spanish, so for me to communicate with them I have
to know some Spanish,” Mr. Wang said.
He uses these skills to teach and improve the students understanding in the courses. “I
remember the first time I came to the U. S. A. I did not know how to do my homework
and he helped me out, he spoke in Chinese to explain [it to] me and he also helped
me to translate some words that were very difficult for me to understand,” Quyen
Ha said.
“He doesn’t discriminate against anybody. He uses his Spanish skills
even though it is not his first language. But he tries and we understand him
very clearly,” Maria Hernandez said.
For some ESOL students is very difficult to get involved in different activities
inside the school because of their language or they feel afraid of other people.
Therefore Mr. Wang has made different activities so the students can have fun
with other students.
Mr. Wang helped Mr. Alcoba to start a soccer team and, when Mr. Alcoba left,
Mr. Wang continued with the team. “I just continued do it, because it was
social success and a lot of people, especially ESOL students, were very interested.
I felt that was important to continue the program even though Mr. Alcoba left,” Mr.
Wang said.
Last year Mr. Wang has also made a girls’ soccer team that was part of
the Montgomery County Soccer League. “To me Mr. Wang is a very special
person. He helped us to register for the soccer team,” Camila Silva said.
Also Mr. Wang became the coach of the team. “He is a very respectful man
and also friendly. He was a good coach who would support us at any circumstance,” she
added.
Mr. Wang also continued an indoor soccer league that Mr. Alcoba started. For
some ESOL students it is very difficult when they come to school for the first
time. Especially when they don’t know anybody, it is hard to get involved
in any activity and to adapt in the school. “When I first came here I felt
bored and then when Mr. Wang started the indoor soccer I became more interested
in the school. And that helped me to have fun and I also met new people,” Alex
Alvarado said.
Mr. Wang also started the Chinese Club. “ The Chinese Club I started by
default because when I first came here I thought I was the only Chinese teacher
in the school,” Mr. Wang said.
Aside from the fact that he gets along with students, he also gets along with
his colleagues. “ He is a very friendly colleague and always helps when
we need it,” Ms. Bohorquez said. “ He also helped me in the International
Club. He worked as a photographer,” she added. He shared the pictures with
students in the show.
In the future Mr. Wang would like to become may be a principal, or a ESOL resource
teacher. “Maybe I will and maybe I won’t because I like working with
students. If I become a principal or resource teacher, I won’t help them
as much,” Mr. Wang said. “ If Mr. Wang would become a resource teacher
or principal, that will be great because he will do his best for improve the
education of the students special for ESOL students,” Gaby Ticas said.
