Aventuras en España

Didn’t think I’d be starting another blog so soon after the last one but oh my life do I need to vent; it’s 9:30 on a Monday morning, and I’m already feeling dejected. So the teacher for the first 2 years of secondary school is away, and so she said I could take all the classes, which I was excited about. So I turn up today, and another teacher greets me and says you’re with me for this class – “great” I think, just for the first lesson with the class he can be there to help keep control and then next time I’ll be more prepared to deal with them. Well, he sets me up in the classroom and leaves. “Fine” I think. Thrown in the deep end, but what’s the worst that could happen…. The loudest, most crazy bunch of 12-13 year olds you’ll ever meet. They would not stop shouting, getting up, talking back no matter how many looks I gave, or times I shouted. I tried to be kind and patient, but after a while, that just wouldn’t cut it anymore. Unfortunately, I’m not the scariest teacher and so i...

Earlier in the week I came up with the idea that asking whether you prefer primary school to secondary, is like asking whether you prefer drawings of cats, or slightly hurtful racial slurs.... Back with the younger ones this week and I didn't realise how much I'd missed it until I saw the looks on the their faces when they saw me! They are always so excited and happy, I feel so mean when I have to tell them to be quiet or something. I am also nowhere near to mastering "the look" that instantly quiets any group of people; my mum has tried to teach me many times but to no avail 😉. Delivered a few lessons on describing people, and what types of music they like etc. which have all gone down well. I think being given free reign in primary has really allowed me to be creative, and let the children have some fun in lessons instead of just reading from a textbook. I feel myself more drawn to making lexical sets and speaking the main focus of each lesson, as this is what I th...

  I have to admit with the amount of lesson planning/stressing that I’ve been “doing” (and definitely not just procrastinating) the past few days, I’ve been neglecting my blog a tad… I’m essentially teaching every single lesson this week which is going to be great practice but oh my god am I scared! And I can’t even go out for the daily coffee with the secondary teachers as the breaks are different in primary school – not really much point in going on without my mid-morning coffee and tortilla if I’m honest 🙎. I’ve just taught 9-10 year olds a lesson about describing people and they seemed to really enjoy it! The teacher said I did a good job so I’ll take it. The only issue now is I’ve got a different class in the same year so I have to deliver the same standard and to be honest the adrenaline is wearing off haha! I’m sure it’ll be alright though, especially now I know what I’m doing.  The only 2 classes that worry me are the 1 ° and 2 ° of the primary school, as every ...

I wish I could add an audio file of me sighing to this blog. Teenagers are... frustrating shall we say. Bear in mind I myself am one of them and I still recognise various issues. My favourite was when I'd been a class of 15-16 year olds for all of 30 seconds, introduced myself, and a boy at the front went "ay angustias" - essentially, god this English girl is a pain. In all honesty it was the funniest part of my day, it just caught me by surprise 😭 the same teen then called me a "guiri" which turned out to be a slur for uncouth foreigners... guess that's me then 😁 I'll remember that one for the future. I suppose it does take some time to earn their respect... It's funny though, as I remember exactly how they all feel, as the memory of secondary school is still so fresh in my mind. Seeing someone like me come into school would have immediately triggered the "easy target" radar. I think I need to do some research on showing no fear/sadnes...

 Welcome back “loyal readers”!  So I’ve now been in León a whole week and that’s a crazy feeling. I’m very much enjoying the café culture and the generosity of the Spanish at the moment.  I've done about 6ish lessons so far and they've all gone ok...😖I definitely prefer the slightly older years as I'm not that good at getting on with the 4/5 year olds- it's difficult to engage with them in the same way. I'd say the other lessons went well though, I really like playing games and having fun with the class as I think they do get bored of just reading from a textbook (just to clarify I'm not just playing hangman every day I am actually teaching them things😂).  It's really interesting that different classes from the same year group are at such different levels, and this took me a while to realise. I turned up to a class ready to teach one particular phrase which their peers struggled with and they turned out to be absolutely fine. I then had to find something t...

 ¡Hola todos! So here I am starting a blog. Feels a bit weird really cause if I'm typing this much I'm usually ranting on the family group chat! Well where to start... we arrived in León at about 4pm yesterday after leaving Kent at 2am 🥴 it wasn't too bad really I just very much enjoy my sleep! We had a look round the city and settled in a little cafe by the cathedral, which by the way is amazing. Despite my attempt to ask for a "croissant chocolate" I did just get a drink very similar to thick chocolate sauce 😭   I'm now back from my day at the school and a bit in shock! All the teachers are speaking to me in Spanish which, although I can speak fairly well, is a bit daunting when it gets too fast. I really like it though, it's really fun to have that exchange and practise a skill that I love!  The children in the class I observed are very sweet and try really hard. I also got a thumbs up from one after showing my Manchester United notebook, so I'...