Ok, I felt like today was really my first day of teaching. I got to the school a little before 10. At 10 I worked with Sebas teaching the 3rd graders. I just took a small group of them (5 students…Rafa, Rafa, Carlos, Marta and Marta) and we did some reading and listening activities. One of the Rafas is deaf. That was a challenge I hadn’t prepared myself for at all. Luckily Sebas had some different material planned for Rafa…he just wanted to be apart of my group to feel included.
After the 3rd grade class Sebas and I went to the 6th grade class. I spent the beginning of class fielding questions about me, the US, and Selena Gomez. Sebas then picked 5 people to go with me but all of them wanted to go with me. Sebas joked around that he was going to go home and take a nap because they all wanted to go with me. So, I took the selected 5 students to the English classroom and we talked about parts of the face. One of the girls told me she liked my eyes. Good use of the vocabulary we were studying. :) Rocio (Pepe’s daughter) was also excited to be apart of this group with me.
After the 6th grade class there was recess. I chatted with Antonio (one of the teachers) while we hung out with the 3rd and 4th graders. After recess I went to Antonio’s 4th grade classroom to help teach science in English. We mostly talked about me and where I was from and a lot of geography. Their concept of world geography was awful. Antonio said they used to spend a lot more time on it but don’t anymore. When asked what states the kids knew of I got answers ranging from London to South Africa, France and Italy. It’s a good thing I brought a map of the U.S. I had a couple other kids point to a map of England in the hallway the other day and ask where the U.S. was.
I had a 15 minute break before I needed to go with Inés and her 2nd graders. Inés seemed very stressed out today. Her kids were pretty rowdy and she must have been tired. After she took us to Jaén yesterday she had to come back to school and work until 8pm (Tuesdays are meeting and training days). We taught seasons, colors and clothing to the 2nd graders. One of her second graders (Rocio…different from Pepe’s Rocio) drew me a picture. Stefi’s kids had drawn me pictures when I was at their house but they got tucked away when we were cleaning. This is the first drawing I can put up in my apartment.
School was done at 2. I stuck around a little bit longer to talk with Antonio. His science class is the first one I actually have to prepare lessons for. I have no idea what I’m doing in that regard. His English speaking science class is two days a week. It makes so much more sense for me to be apart of both days if I have to lesson plan. If I only do one of the days it’s hard to know what they covered, what they still need to do, etc, etc. The only problem is that part two of his science class is supposed to meet on Fridays and I don’t work on Fridays. He is going to talk to Inés and see if he can switch his Spanish speaking science class and English speaking science class so I can be at both the English speaking classes. It will put me over 12 hours a week, but I think in the long run it will simplify my life. Inés has been really hesitant to put me over 12 hours but I hope she approves this.
I went home, threw some potatoes in the oven and had patatas alioli for lunch. At 4:15 I walked back to school for the adult English classes. I was under the impression that it was one class but it is actually two. I met with the teachers Marta and Fernando (neither of whom knew I was going to be around to help with the classes). I stayed in Fernando’s class for two hours. In the coming weeks I will only be spending one hour a week with each class, but since it’s still unsure what my schedule will be like with them I wanted to be present. I am going back to their classes tomorrow to finalize a schedule and work with Marta’s class. It’s quite interesting to listen to how they teach English. There are a lot of grammar rules I wouldn’t have really thought about otherwise.
Fernando is very nice and he has a Scottish accent. I figured he must have studied there but he said he’s only been abroad 4 days in his life. I was shocked. He seemed flattered to know that he has a non-Spanish accent when speaking English. He is not from Siles but is living here now and adjusting to small town life and lack of nightlife like I am. We swapped numbers so I have another café con leche buddy. I thank God for every new person I meet here. I realize you can’t befriend everyone in a week but today has been the first evening that I felt lonely (with the exception of my very first night here in the hostel). Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad I’m here. I just wish I had some good go-to friends here my age. I know it will come…it’s just the hardest adjustment.
After class I ran into another one of Juan’s friends that lives “in the stone house next to the school.” I chatted with him briefly then headed back to my apartment. When I was almost there I realized I had forgotten my wallet and keys in the classroom. I hurried back but wasn’t too concerned because even though Fernando’s class was finished, Marta had still been teaching. Wrong. They also left early and by the time I got back to school the gate was padlocked. Insert swear words here. Thank goodness I had just purchased a Spanish phone yesterday and that Fernando had given me his number. I called him up and he called Marta. Marta drove back to the school (I was afraid she lived far away but she was pretty close) and let me in. I grabbed my stuff, thanked her profusely, chatted about our plans for English class tomorrow and headed back to my apartment AGAIN.
While I had been sitting outside the school waiting for Marta a group of my students came down the street and they all waved at me. They are so cute. I like that they feel comfortable approaching me and talking to me.
My plan was to be productive and that didn’t happen at all. I spent the evening catching up on Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and How I Met Your Mother episodes. This was a challenge because ABC doesn't stream their shows internationally. I found a site that would let me watch for an hour, then require I take an hour break. Lame. After I’m done with this blog entry I plan on going back to my lesson planning and then going to bed but I may end up going straight to bed and just waking up early. In addition to the stuff for Antonio's class I also need to make a poster for the other science teacher, a recycling poster for Sebas and come up with a list of English conversation topics for the adults. Ay, ay, ay. I don't feel like doing any of that. Hopefully I can get in a rhythm now that I know what types of activities I will be doing and plan ahead during the weekends. Trying to do these types of activities (lesson planning and poster making) the night before kind of sucks.
Tomorrow is my other long day, but at least then the bulk of my work week will be done and I can relax a little more.
I also need to ask the landlady how to use the washing machine. I’m almost out of clothes and afraid of flooding or over-suding my apartment. You would think descriptive pictures on a washing machine would work across any language but that isn't really true. I also need to go to the post office and the bank. Hopefully I’m not too tired tomorrow, because it’s probably going to be a busy day.
Wish me luck for my second full day of teaching tomorrow!
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