Seeing them succeed. Seeing them being able to read, to write, to answer questions, and having them think on their own, reassures me that what I'm doing is really worthwhile.

I love my students because they're just so full of natural curiosity and really enjoy learning. They inquire and learn about their world. It's really fun to be around that energy.

The best thing about working with children is that you're surrounded by such love, and hope, and anticipation. I saw kids learning to read, and they're so excited when they learn to read - you actually can see the kid put something together, and the light just goes on, and their eyes light up.

I love teaching. I can't see myself doing any other thing. This is my calling, and I'm glad I'm doing it. By the time they leave your room at the end of the year, they are reading. That is the joy of being a teacher.

Having grown up in a primarily Spanish household learning English, I can relate to these children. I know what they're going through when they're trying to learn another language. I feel like I can make a difference.

I love what I do and I make a difference every single day.

If they're placed in a bilingual classroom, all the instruction is done in Spanish; by second grade, the teacher starts using a lot more English in the classroom. By the time the kids get to third grade, they transition; they start with reading in Spanish then transition to reading in English.

The bilingual students have the exact same stories in Spanish as the students who are reading in English, so they're not missing out on anything. It's the same strategies, except in their native language.

I'm excited that we have a Spanish reading series that is parallel to the English series. Now, all our children read the same stories whether in English or in Spanish. Now, all our teachers meet together because our objectives and our goals are one. They're the same outcomes, the same standards, and we share strategies. Therefore, the children become stronger. Once the children are ready to transition into English, they are looking at the same books; they cross that bridge from Spanish to English with ease. And we have seen that this is very effective for our children.

I have 70 percent ELLs in my class, which is a challenge for me, since my class is the first exposure they have to learning in English. I'm laying the foundation for the rest of their schooling. I've already seen so much progress in my kids. And Just seeing the growth is great.

So the bilingual aspect of the series is really critical to the success of our school.

The goal is to teach reading in Spanish to the students, with the third grade being a transition year in our district.

The idea is to get them into English, but using the resources of the primary language. The plan is basically to establish the linguistic structure in Spanish - the concepts and skills involved in this very complex process - so that once they get them in their primary language, they can be easily transferred into English, and they succeed then in both English and Spanish.