Learning Should Be Fun
My first job after law school was not as a lawyer. After three rigorous years of study， followed by intense cramming for the bar exam， I needed time away from the law. And so I became head of an elementary school in Fajardo， Puerto Rico， exchanging my 19-year status as a student for that of teacher and school administrator.
This came about because， while a law student， I taught one afternoon a week at a school in New York. The headmaster asked me to go to Puerto Rico to open a school and stay for four months until the permanent head could come from England.
In San Juan I was met at the airport by the school board chairman and driven directly to meet Sister Maria José。 She ran the Roman Catholic school in Fajardo and was concerned that the new school would take her best pupils. My apprehension about the meeting vanished when she opened her mouth and I heard the familiar accent of Brooklyn， USA. Sister Maria José and I got along fine.
The school was located in a beautiful house， once a private residence， with a garden. The students were the children of parents working as executives at the Fajardo East Sugar Co.
The school opened with a student body of 21 boys and girls and three teachers， including me. I taught Grades 4 to 8 （11 children） in all subjects but Spanish and art. My presentations on American history drew heavily on Henry Steele Commager， whose book I fortunately had taken with me.
My educational philosophy is simple： Learning should be fun. Passersby on the street would hear gales of laughter issuing from the open windows of the school.
I was assisted in making learning fun by the arrival of Misty.
One morning we came upon an abandoned undernourished puppy on the porch. The children named her Misty， and the school adopted her. Spoiled by all of us， Misty became quite the performer， jumping on my desk and wagging her tail to the intense delight of the students. Later， during her teething phase， she occasionally nipped children on the ankle as they sat at their desks.
No child dozed with Misty in the room.
Being human， at times I would be grouchy with the students， especially when they were sloppy in their work. Too grouchy， some of the girls would cry. Having attended only all-boy schools， I was not prepared for this.
One day I had my comeuppance. A letter arrived from the New York State Board of Law Examiners notifying me that I failed the Bar exam.
From that point on， I became more sympathetic to the academic difficulties of my students.
These events occurred in the fall of 1962. Mother would call at night from New York about a missile crisis in nearby Cuba. I'd tell her that I had no time to worry about such things， being too busy preparing lessons for the next day.
My inability to speak Spanish was not a major liability， since the children all were bilingual. When dealing with the garbage collector， who spoke only Spanish， or by telephone with education officials in San Juan， I would summon an eighth-grader to serve as my interpreter.
I purchased a pocket watch. When a child arrived late， I went through an elaborate ceremony of taking the watch from my pocket and staring at its face； far more dramatic than glancing at a wristwatch. To this day， I carry a pocket watch.
Time passed quickly， too quickly. As Christmas drew near， the students bade me farewell. Tears were shed， including mine.
The new head arrived from England. His first act was to banish Misty from the premises， though she found a home with one of the children. I returned to New York City to take the bar exam again - this time successfully - and begin my career as a lawyer.
從法學(xué)院畢業(yè)后我做的第一份工作并不是當(dāng)律師。經(jīng)過三年的嚴(yán)格學(xué)習(xí)，接著就是激烈填鴨式地準(zhǔn)備律師資格考試，我需要離開法律一段時(shí)間。于是我去波多黎各法哈多市當(dāng)了一名小學(xué)校長，將我19年的學(xué)生身份變成了教師和校長。
之所以這樣是因?yàn)檫€在法學(xué)院上學(xué)時(shí)，我就在紐約一所中學(xué)每周教一下午的課。校長要求我去波多黎各開辦一所學(xué)校，并在那里待上四個(gè)月，直到常任校長從英國來到為止。
學(xué)校董事長親自到圣胡安機(jī)場接我，然后直接去見瑪麗亞?約瑟夫修女。她在法哈多開辦了一所羅馬教會學(xué)校，因此她非常關(guān)心新學(xué)校是否會接受她最出色的學(xué)生。她一開口說話，我便聽到了那熟悉的美國布魯克林口音，我對董事會的擔(dān)心也隨之而消失了。瑪麗亞?約瑟夫修女和我相處得非常融洽。
學(xué)校坐落于一座美麗的房子中，原先這里曾是一個(gè)帶花園的私人住宅。學(xué)生的家長都是法哈多市東糖公司的行政人員。
學(xué)校開學(xué)時(shí)有21名男女同學(xué)和三位教師，包括我在內(nèi)。除了西班牙語和藝術(shù)課外，我教授4～8年級（共11名學(xué)生）的所有課程。我對美國歷史的介紹主要依靠亨利?斯蒂爾?柯梅杰，幸好我隨身帶著他的著作。
我的教育哲學(xué)觀非常簡單：學(xué)習(xí)應(yīng)該是快樂的。大街上的過路人會聽到從學(xué)校敞開的窗子中飄出的陣陣歡笑聲。
米斯迪的到來幫助我使學(xué)習(xí)變得快樂起來。
一天早上在走廊上我發(fā)現(xiàn)了一只營養(yǎng)不良、被人拋棄的小狗。孩子們給她取名米斯迪，學(xué)校收養(yǎng)了她。我們大家都很寵愛她，米斯迪成為一名很好的表演者，跳上我的講桌，然后搖擺著尾巴逗得學(xué)生大笑。后來到她長牙的時(shí)候，當(dāng)學(xué)生坐在教室中自己座位上時(shí)，她會偶爾輕咬學(xué)生的腳踝。
米斯迪在教室的時(shí)候沒有學(xué)生打盹。
作為一個(gè)成年人，有時(shí)我會對學(xué)生的表現(xiàn)不滿，尤其是當(dāng)他們在學(xué)習(xí)上馬馬虎虎的時(shí)候。脾氣太暴躁時(shí)，有些女生會哭哭啼啼。由于我以前上的是男子學(xué)校，因此對此我沒有心理準(zhǔn)備。
一天我得到了應(yīng)受的懲罰。來自紐約州法律考試委員會的信函對我沒有通過律師考試進(jìn)行了通報(bào)。
從那時(shí)起，我開始更加同情那些在學(xué)習(xí)上遇到困難的學(xué)生。
這些事情都發(fā)生在1962年秋天。媽媽晚上從紐約打電話告訴我附近的古巴發(fā)生了導(dǎo)彈危機(jī)。我告訴她說我沒有時(shí)間去考慮這些問題，因?yàn)橐獪?zhǔn)備第二天的課，我實(shí)在太忙了。
我不會說西班牙語并沒有帶來多大的負(fù)面影響，因?yàn)楹⒆觽兌寄苷f兩種語言。與只會說西班牙語的垃圾收集工打交道時(shí)，或者用電話與在圣胡安的教育官員進(jìn)行聯(lián)系時(shí)，我會找一名八年級的學(xué)生當(dāng)我的翻譯。
我買了一只懷表。孩子們遲到時(shí)，我如同檢查一次精心準(zhǔn)備的典禮，從口袋中拿出懷表，并盯著表盤看上一會兒；這比看手表舒服多了。直到今天，我還裝著一只懷表。
時(shí)光如梭，實(shí)在是太快了。當(dāng)圣誕節(jié)來臨的時(shí)候，學(xué)生來向我告別。都眼淚汪汪的，我也如此。
來自英國的新校長到了。他的第一個(gè)命令是先把米斯迪放走，雖然她已經(jīng)在一個(gè)孩子家中安頓下來。我返回紐約城后參加了律師考試――這次成功了――于是就開始了自己的律師生涯。
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