Esmeralda Santiago's book offers a rich resource for teaching across the disciplines at LaGuardia Community College. If you find that you do not have the time to devote to teaching the entire text of When I Was Puerto Rican, you might want to consider drawing on significant chapters in the text and relating them to your discipline and your particular courses. Remember that each first year student will have received a copy of the book at the beginning of the term; the idea of our Common Reading is to develop dialogue across the college. Therefore, we encourage you to incorporate sections of the book as well as adopting the entire text into your curriculum in the coming year. Below you will find a preliminary list of ideas, questions, and chapters keyed toward specific programs and departments at the college. As the year continues, we hope that you will e-mail us your creative uses of the book. We will add your ideas here, to this page. Please also visit the Assignments section of this web site for other teaching ideas.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Business Administration and Commercial Foodservice Management: In "Dreams of a Better Life," (pgs. 189-209), Mami and Papi decide to start a business. Consider asking students to develop a business plan for a cafetín ambulante. How might this be a successful business? Then, ask students to compare their hypothetical business plans to the business run by Mami and Papi.

Commercial Photography: When I Was Puerto Rican focuses on rural and urban life in Puerto Rico. As Puerto Rico is a common tourist location, consider asking students what the differences would be between commercial photography, specifically for tourist publications and promotions, and snapshots the family might have taken of Macún and Santurce. How and why would these photographs differ? What is the significance of these differences? How do these differences relate to the overall text and theme of When I Was Puerto Rican?

Education: "The American Invasion of Macún" (pgs. 63-83) and "Angels on the Ceiling" (pgs. 213-240) offer brief insights into the Puerto Rican and American classrooms. Consider asking students what is being taught and how. What are the defining characteristcs of the Puerto Rican and American educational systems? What were the defining pedagogical methods used in the 1950s and 1960s? How are these methods evident in the text? What are the methods used by each teacher? What are the children learning? Why?

Education Associate: The Bilingual Child: In "Angels on the Ceiling," (pgs. 213-240), Santiago is put into the resource room for students with emotional and developmental problems. How was this solution different than the "usual" solution for the bilingual student? How does the "usual" practice of teaching bilingual children suggested by the Vice Principal relate to contemporary practices? What was significant about his compromise with Esmeralda and her mother?

Fine Arts: Consider discussing Santiago's preparation for her audition to P.A. 66 in "A Shot at It" (257-266). How was Santiago prepared for the audition? How well did she prepare? What happened at the audition itself? Why did the judges ask her to pantomime? What is the significane of the "arts" for Santiago?

Human Services/Child Development: Much of the book focuses on Santiago's ever-expanding family. Consider developing a unit on birth order among siblings. How was Santiago's place as the eldest child significant in the family's life? What roles was she expected to play in order to participate in family life? How did these roles affect her development? Other courses in Human Services might ask students to read, discuss, and evaluate Santiago's interaction with social service departments in "You Don't Want to Know" (pgs. 243-254). Also, for instructor's interested in this element of Santiago's writing, you might explore her second memoir, Almost a Woman which has several key chapters about "The Welfare Office" and visits from social workers.

School Foodservice Management and Dietetic Technician: "The American Invasion of Macún" (pgs. 63-83) discusses school foodservice in detail. Consider asking students to evaluate and discuss the foodservice practices explained in the book. Also, consider asking students to undertake a mini-research project, exploring foodservice in schools in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. What was similar between practices in the United States and Puerto Rico? What was different? How does a comparative study explain something about the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico?

Travel and Tourism: Puerto Rico is a popular tourist destination. Consider asking students to conduct a mini-research project about tourist sites to the island in the 1950s and 1960s. How do those sites compare to Puerto Rico's tourism industry today? How does a tourist's experience on the island compare to living on the island? In 1950? In 2002?

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS

Communication Skills: There are a number of inventive ways to use this book in Communication Skills. Consider using the crossword puzzles and the student study section extensively with your students. Also, toward the end of "Angels on the Ceiling" (pgs. 236-237), Santiago discusses how she learned English. Consider discussing this extensively with students and analyzing her process.

Cooperative Education: Discuss "A Shot at It" (pgs. 257-266) with your students. Look at the ways in which the Mr. Barone and the other teachers worked with Santiago toward her educational goal. What were her educational goals? What did her preparation entail? What was the end result of the planning and preparation?

Counseling: Consider using When I Was Puerto Rican as a reference point for the many important issues raised in Freshman Seminar. You might connect students' transition to college life to Santiago's transition to her new life in the United States. You might discuss how issues in Santiago's home life affected her performance in classes.

English: As a memoir, Santiago's text is an interesting example of personal, narrative writing. In addition to research projects mentioned in the Assignments section of this web site, instructors in English might design any number of text-based writing assignments asking students to connect their lives to Santiago's narrative.

English as a Second Language: In "Angels on the Ceiling" (pgs. 213-240), Santiago is put into the resource room for students with emotional and developmental problems. How was this solution different than the "usual" solution for the bilingual student? Was this solution useful? Ask students to explore issues of acquiring a second language and discuss this "solution" in class.

Humanities Department: This book lends itself, particularly because of Santiago's emphasis on the Performing Arts at the end of the book, to a theatrical or cinematic presentation. Consider asking students to prepare scenes from the book for presentation to the larger college community. Also, Santiago's descriptions throughout the book offer a rich and vivid picture of her life in Puerto Rico and in Brooklyn. Faculty from the Humanities Department might also explore the ways in which these descriptions might be rendered through the visual arts.

Mathematics Department: In the El Mangle chapter, Santiago experienced math anxiety when she was called on to solve a fraction problem in front of the class. She was employing real life objects like guavas, bananas and oranges to tackle abstract math problems. Faculty in the Mathematics Department might want to discuss how students can ease math anxiety, especially in standardized testing situations.

Natural and Applied Sciences: Santiago spends time discussing the flora of Puerto Rico. A short unit in a Biology class, for example, might discuss the natural environment of Puerto Rico and the types of native plants and animals on the island. Another short unit in another course might look at issues of nutrition and diet. What were the American "experts" trying to teach the mothers in "The American Invasion of Macún" (pgs. 63-83)? What was important about these lessons? Courses in Human Services might also look at the interactions between Santiago and social service agencies, as described above. Finally, a discussion of human sexuality and development might enhance discussions of Santiago's coming-of-age issues.

Social Sciences: Courses in the social sciences might choose to focus on the historical and sociological issues raised in the book. Any unit on When I Was Puerto Rican would greatly benefit from a comprehensive discussion of Puerto Rican history, immigration history, the relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico, and the sociology of women.