Orientation to International School & Community

As a part of my Student Teaching, I need to complete weekly journal entries and send them to my supervisor back in Pennsylvania. I figured I would post them on my blog as well.

I am currently teaching at Colegio Santísimo Rosario in Avila, Spain. Avila is not far northwest of Madrid. It's famous for it's beautiful historical walls that surround the center of the city. I'm lucky enough to see these walls daily, as my host school is located in the center of these amazing walls. During my time here in Avila, I am staying in a Residencia (like a dorm) full of Spanish college students. So far I have only met one student who is from America and speaks English. She's teaching at a different school. Despite the language barrier I have "at home," I've managed to make Spanish friends here, which is great.

Entrance to the school.

Each morning I wake up and get ready for school. The dress code for the teachers is much less casual. Conservative, of course, but casual. Jeans are worn often. Plaid shirts. Long sleeve shirts. Of course, most Spanish people have great style, so the teachers always look nice. I love this and wish I packed better for it! After I'm ready, I eat breakfast in el comedor, or cafeteria. Customary breakfast is pan tostado con tomate y aciete (toast with tomato and olive oil), or cereales con cola cao (cereal with a chocolate milk type thing). After I eat, I walk to school. It takes me about 15 minutes to get there. The only pain is it's uphill. School starts at 9:00 AM and the teachers arrive at 8:50! How different from the United States. When I was student teaching there, I arrived around 8:00 and the students arrived around 8:50. Those 50 minutes were crucial to prepare for the day. Also, the classes do not start promptly. Sometimes they begin about 10 or 15 minutes later than intended. That doesn't surprise me, considering last time I was in Spain, I learned Spanish people are late for everything because they are on their own time. It's part of the culture.

Parents walk their children to school. Some drive, but most walk. Buses aren't even an option, as the streets are tiny. It's also a parent's responsibility to take care of their child and make sure they get to school okay. Colegio Santísimo Rosario serves students of literally all ages.

Let me explain first how the Spanish school grade system works....
LA GUARDARIA: Babies. Literally babies that are only a few months old. Similar to daycare
1 INFANTIL: 3-4 year olds
2 INFANTIL: 5-6 year olds
1 PRIMARIA: 6-7 year olds
2 PRIMARIA: 7-8 year olds
3 PRIMARIA: 8-9 year olds
4 PRIMARIA:  9-10 year olds
5 PRIMARIA: 10-11 year olds
6 PRIMARIA: 11-12 year olds
1 ESO: 13 year olds
2 ESO: 14 year olds
3 ESO: 15 year olds
4 ESO: 16 year olds

In the school, there is one classroom per grade level. It's a smaller, private school with about 23 kids in each class. Therefore, the students that stay in the school year after year know each other very well. During the day, the students stay in their classroom and the teachers pass through to the different classes to teach different subjects, like:
- CONO (Sciences & Health)
- Mathematics
- Lengua (Language Arts/Grammar in Spanish)
- Ingles (English)
- Music
- Physical Education
- Arts & Crafts
- Religion

Since this is a bilingual school, some classes are taught in English. These are the subjects I am teaching. I'm teaching English and CONO, in English. But, since some are so young, I have to make sure I'm prepared to explain topics in Spanish, too.

One challenge I've had so far is keeping myself organized. I literally pass throughout the entire school teaching different lessons to each grade level. My schedule is different every day, some classes are 50 minutes long and some are an hour. I don't know how the teachers in the school keep up with it all the time.

Another difference is I do not only have one mentor teacher, but rather I have four! These four teach English and CONO to different levels. Therefore, I follow them all around depending on the time of the day.

Lessons I've Taught This Week:
Ingles 2 Infantil: The hokie pokie with body parts
Ingles 1 ESO : Explained the history of Thanksgiving using visuals and acting out the original story.
Ingles 1 Infantil: Family members, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
Ingles 5 Primaria: Thanksgiving! Traditional food and we made Pumpkin Pie in a cup. We practiced following recipes and using food vocabulary to do this.
Cono 1 Primaria: Types of foods - does it come from an animal or a plant?
Ingles 1 Primaria: Thanksgiving! Traditional food vocabulary, and we wrote about what we are thankful for. We also made the classic turkey out of tracing our hands.

Class with their pumpkin pies in a cup!

The rest of the class.

Sorry it's sideways, but an example of the turkey hand and the "I am Thankful For" activity.

 
Spanish vs. American Children....
In my opinion, the kids are kids. They have all warmed up to me right away and have given me little drawings that they have done, just like in the United States. Every time I pass someone in the hallway, I get a "Hello kAAAAte" or "Hola kAAAAAte" that just warms my heart. (They call their teachers by their first names.)

Also, the students are pretty much well behaved. There are not any unusual behavior problems, and the students know to be patient and not talk if the teacher is preparing something or helping someone out. Of course, there are instances where the students "forget" and talk without permission, but hey, they're young! Another challenge for me is managing inappropriate behaviors in Spanish. I had my share of behavior management in the United States, but it's hard to give a message to Spanish students about their behavior with the language barrier.

End of the School Day
Anyway, the school day runs from 9-2. They have a half hour break for "Recreo" which is like recess and a snack. At 2, most student's parents pick them up and they go home for lunch. Some students have parents that cannot get them, and these students need to stay at school for lunch. There are also a number of after school activities and classes that students can take. I'd like to look more into it, but I'm still getting acclimated to the school day :)

When I return to the residencia, I eat lunch with the Spanish students. So far, twice this week I've gone to one of the teacher's apartments to eat lunch and help her with her English homework for a class she is taking. It's very popular for teachers to take classes along with teach. Then, I return to my room for a siesta because they are so important. Also, everything is closed during siesta time anyway. So I'd rather take a nap. The day is long! Dinner is at 9, if you were wondering.

In Conclusion...
I know this was a rather long post. It's hard to put into words (English words, nonetheless) an orientation to the new school I am in. I also neglected to mention, yet again, how nice everyone in the school is. All of the teachers go out of their way to make sure I'm comfortable and happy. They say what a shame it is that I'm only here for a month, and it sounds like they genuinely mean it. To sum it all up, I'm receiving an amazing, once in a lifetime experience with students of a different culture and many different levels. This experience will definitely help me grow as a professional when I return to the United States.

15 minutos de fama

I just had my 15 minutes of Spanish fame today. I can officially think I'm cool now. When I got to school this morning, one of the teachers stopped me and told me I was going to go to the Radio Station at 10:00 to do a "grabación" (my friends who had Suhl for Spanish in high school will appreciate this word!) ....or a RECORDING! That's right. They wanted me to read a mini script for an advertisement for their school's open house. I didn't get to keep my script (I WISH!) but it was all in Spanish and talked about how next Wednesday their school is having an open house. I had to say their address, telephone number, etc. and also I ended it with a little English: talking about "quality education."

I know, I can't believe it either.

I'm the least clear speaker on the planet and they chose me to do a radio commercial in another language. I was so excited and nervous and befuddled I didn't know what to do with myself. But, I'm more than honored and just goes to show how nice everyone has been.

A (not so great) picture of the inside of the radio recording booth. We also took two students to help with the advertisement.

Other than that, I taught more things in school today. I taught older kids (13 year olds) about Thanksgiving.

My Thanksgiving Lesson with the older students.

Also, I was left alone with a room full of 3 year olds who only speak Spanish. That was crazy, nonetheless.

After school, a teacher invited me to her house with two other teachers for lunch. We talked and we are going to have a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Spanish Thanksgiving, that is. Chicken, not turkey. How nice. The two teachers left and myself and the hostess (Silvia is her name) worked on her English homework. That was a nice exchange. I got homemade food and she got help with English. No pasa nada.

Seriously so thankful for nice people.


Thanks for reading ;) BESOS.

Kids playing at "el recreo" - recess

Primer día de escuela

Today was my first day of school! Que guay.

I was so nervous. I had no idea what to expect. However, literally EVERYONE was so nice. The principal, the teachers, the little nuns, and the children are adorable. I will be changing classrooms throughout the day and working with different classes. I think I get the chance to see everyone in the school, basically. The school is obviously not as big as the ones in the United States! I think it's a private school, too. The school also serves from age 1 until "la secundaria" who I will meet with tomorrow and not sure of how old they are ahha. Today I got a lot of questions and answers from the students. Some of my favorites:

"Cual es tu serpiente favorito" (what is your favorite snake)
"Sabes Pique? Te pareces como Shakira" (Do you know Pique? You look like Shakira.) <--HA!
"Te gusta Ávila?" (Do you like Ávila?)
"Tienes fincas donde vives?" (Do you have plantations where you live?)

Those were only some of the fine questions I remember because they stuck out in my head. The students take "English" as a subject in school, and they also learn science in English. I was very, very impressed! I wonder if I'm going to have to teach the science...yikes! But I think the most important part is that I teach English.

At the end of the day, I was with 3&4 year olds. I got to read them a story and give them directions for English activities. Holy smokes they're definitely my favorite because they're so cute and quick to warm up. I got hugs already. Hehe.

I'm currently looking for lesson plans and simple things to teach. So if any of my teacher friends think of anything fun to do to teach English...please let me know! Movement songs are the best in my opinion ;)

That's all for now. Sorry I haven't taken many pictures because I don't want to look like such a tourist. But take my word for it, this place is superhermosa (beautiful)!

Besos!

Estoy Aqui!

SO after a long, long trip, I AM HERE. The plane ride was fine. It's the easiest part of traveling...sitting for 6 and a half hours! Then once you get off the plane, the real challenge starts. I found the bus that takes me to the train station just fine. At the train station, I bought a 7,80 euro ticket that was taking me to Avila. But I couldn't find the track. The lady neglected to mention I had to take two trains, one to El Escorial and one to Avila. So I was on the trains for about 2 hours, but I made it here!

Of course, when I arrived at Avila I had some trouble finding the residence hall. But eventually someone got me a key to my new room and now I'm settled in. Even though the website said I needed to bring sheets, the room has sheets. And it has its own bathroom. Definitely a pleasant surprise.

Lunch was at 2 local time. I arrived here around 12 local time, so I was awake for far too long without sleep. I took a quick nap then went and got lunch. The whole residencia eats together at long tables. I had the hardest time understanding some people, but they were still really nice and welcoming. It's basically a bunch of college aged students who are fluent in Spanish. Two girls even invited me to go see Twilight tonight. Not a huge fan of Twilight but I think I'm going to go so I can practice my Spanish and get out of this room. I'll hopefully be learning a lot of Spanish this semester!

Dinner is at 9. Gotta love how late Spain eats their meals!

Tomorrow I'm going to explore the city. My school is having an organized "run" that I am going to try to stop by. I also want to be able to see where I need to go starting Monday!

Avila is definitely a completely different place than Sevilla. For one, it's RAINING already! It's been raining all day. In Sevilla it rained one time in eight weeks.

I'll post more later. Thanks for reading!

Besossssss

Hoy es el día!

Today is the day!

This is an amazing opportunity Penn State offers as a Student Teaching experience. It is called Short Term Student Teaching Abroad. We are required to student teach for at least ten weeks in Pennsylvania (in order to get certified), then we have the opportunity to go take our talents abroad. Yesterday was my last day in Norristown School District with my 28 second graders. I will miss them so much and they'll always have a place in my heart as my first student teaching class. Now, however, I will be spending the next five weeks in Avila, Spain teaching Conversational English to Spanish students. I'm leaving for my flight to Madrid tonight! When I land, I will take a train from Madrid to Avila, which is about a one and a half hour ride west of Madrid. I will be there from "tomorrow" until December 22. I'm really interested to see this part of Spain. It looks much more ancient and quaint compared to Sevilla. I'm also anxious to see what I will do to teach kids who don't have the same native language as I do. I'm nervous I'll say something wrong, considering teaching requires a lot of speaking! Anyway, I'm going to try to keep this blog up and running while I'm there to update everyone. PLEASE keep in touch! Besos

Te amo, España!

It’s my last day in Spain ☹

Mom and I have been in Madrid since Friday. Madrid is really, really pretty. I’m a huge fan of the city. The weather is beautiful. Not anywhere near as hot as Sevilla which is refreshing. It’s a different scene than Barcelona. Barcelona reminds me more of NYC, as I have said before. Madrid is quieter.

When we got here Friday, we walked around to Plaza Mayor and Puerta de Sol, which are important landmarks. We had dinner and just relaxed. That’s kind of been the scene for the past few days. All this traveling is actually starting to catch up with me lately. I’ve been pretty tired.

Saturday we went and saw the Museo del Prado. It was the biggest art museum I’ve ever seen. So much art. We couldn’t bear to see it all. But we did see the important stuff. I was content to see Velazquez’s “Las Meninas” because I had to do a project on that in high school. It was very cool to see the original. Later in the day we walked around to see the King’s Palace and walked through gardens. There was a concert, which was really pretty to hear. Spain is just so much cooler. Sheesh!

Today when we woke up mom went to church and I stayed in the hotel and used their gym. I needed to get a run in. It made me feel much more energized, today was more tolerable than yesterday. We then had some coffee and went to Museo de Reina Sofia. It’s a modern art museum and I absolutely loved it. Picasso’s “Guernica” is there – it’s huge and historic and magnificent and sooo cooooool. Picasso is my favorite artist in case you haven’t noticed. I also was pleasantly surprised to see the other art that they had there. I went in excited about “Guernica” but I really liked looking at the other art. There was lots of abstract art, modern, surrealism, cubism….so many styles! After the museum we had lunch. My last big meal in Spain ☹ I had gazpacho and albondigas (meatballs!) and I was more than content with that. Mmmm.

Right now my mom is taking a siesta (she’s such a Spaniard!). I’m just listening to music so I figured I would update my blog. Madrid has been a perfect end to my Spain travels. Seeing the art museums after I’ve learned so much of Spain’s history over the past 7 weeks has been more meaningful than it would have been if I hopped off a plane and saw them.

I AM SO SAD TO BE LEAVING TOMORROW : ( But I am so happy I have amazing friends and family to come home to.

Well, don’t want to spend my last hours on the computer. Gonna go do some last minute absorption of Spain.

I’ll probably have a tearful blog entry when I get back and recuperated in the United States…but this is the last one from Spain
Hasta Luego Amigoooooos

MADRID here we come!

So it's our last few hours in Barcelona. We leave for Madrid as soon as the lady we rented our apartment from comes and checks us out! I'm excited, I've only been in Madrid for a few hours before when I was trying to catch my train to Sevilla. So I didn't really have time to look around. I'm excited to end my visit with the capital of Spain! Then it's back to Philly on Monday.

We've had such a nice time so far. Yesterday we went to the beach, then the Picasso Museum, and then went shopping for a bit. Once again, it's sad to leave Barcelona, but I am excited to be somewhere entirely different for a few days!

That's all for now! Hasta luegooooo