I survived my first day of teaching English in Spain!!!!!!!!!!! Just being able to say that makes me realize that I crossed another big milestone in our trip today! It feels soooo good to have the first day completed. I still don't know everything by any stretch of the imagination, but I definitely have some questions answered, all of the teachers were very nice, and overall I feel much better about the next 8 months. Plus, the best part of being an "auxiliar" (language assistant) is that I don’t have any lesson plans to make or papers to take home and grade!
My day started with the shrill of my alarm waking me up at 7:00. I turned it off and reset it for 7:15 – there was no way I was going to get up yet, it was still pitch black outside and I hadn't been up before 10:00AM in the last four days... I don't even know if I fell back asleep but the alarm went back off at 7:15 and I was up – for those of you who have actually witnessed me getting ready, I don't mess around. I do everything quickly and the same goes for this morning. So when I was ready 5 minutes from being ready and Todd wasn't even up yet – I had to go wake him up (he claims he set his alarm for 7:30PM instead of AM... but I'm not too sure). By the time we were both ready, ate breakfast, and were out the door it was about 8:15 and we were off to the bus station. When we got to the bus station only one window, out of 5 was open. After talking to the very unfriendly woman behind window #4, we realized she couldn't help us – we needed to talk to someone at window #1... but the curtain was pulled down, no one was there, and she didn't seem to know (or care) when and if someone would be arriving. So... we went outside to see if we could find someone who was also heading to Bailen so we could ask them what to do. I haven’t mentioned yet that we didn’t know how to pay OR what times the bus ran from Linares to Bailen, all we knew is that I had been given instructions to arrive sometime between 9:00-9:30. After talking to a much nicer woman outside who informed us that the bus schedule for the Linares-Bailen route is taped on window #1 - DUH! And she also informed us that we could pay the fare (1 Euro each way) to the bus driver on the bus if the window was closed. So, we had a few minutes to wait, and right before our bus arrived I noticed another auxiliar (who I "met" on Facebook) waiting for the same bus to Bailen, so we hopped on the bus and I asked her close to 100 questions during the 15 minute ride to Bailen. She was very nice and helpful, answering all of my questions; it was nice to have some reassurance the morning of our first day.
When we got off the bus in Bailen I was SO happy she was there with us, because neither Todd nor I had any idea where our schools were. She pointed Todd in the right direction and actually walked me all the way to the front gate of my school! I arrived around 9:15, perfectly in-between the guidelines. I walked in the door and successfully asked for my coordinator in Spanish - a good start to the day! I was directed into her office, right inside the front door, and she greeted me, introduced me to a few other teachers and she spent a few minutes finishing up whatever she was working on with them. This means I was standing there feeling stupid, understanding probably 25% of what they were saying to each other for the first 3 minutes... which felt like 15! Once she finished up with them we got down to business. There have been auxiliars at my school for the past 8 years, so my coordinator is very organized and seems to have the process down. We went through my schedule, what my days at school are going to look like, what days I have to work (when I have days my day off – Friday!), and my basic responsibilities. My 12 hour work-week is spread out over 4 days and I have to say, it reminds me a little bit of college. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I work from 10:50-2:00 and on Wednesday I work from 9:00-1:00 with an hour break in the middle of the day… I don’t understand how it works, but school is only in session from 9:00-2:00 here, which means kids are only in school 5 hours a day. In my time at school I will spend each hour I’m there in a different classroom – I was placed in “grades” 1 – 4, I can already tell working with the younger students is going to be a new experience for me. I also spend my time working with 4 different teachers (not all of the teachers speak English, so the ones that do share grade-levels)… but the funny thing is; of the 4 teachers I’m working with 3 out of the 4 are on temporary leave. Two just had babies and the other one broke her leg, so that means I’m in the classroom with three different long-term substitutes– it should be interesting. After explaining my schedule to me, Juana (my coordinator) gave me a tour of the school and introduced me to the teachers I was going to be working with. Everyone was VERY nice!!!
My day started with the shrill of my alarm waking me up at 7:00. I turned it off and reset it for 7:15 – there was no way I was going to get up yet, it was still pitch black outside and I hadn't been up before 10:00AM in the last four days... I don't even know if I fell back asleep but the alarm went back off at 7:15 and I was up – for those of you who have actually witnessed me getting ready, I don't mess around. I do everything quickly and the same goes for this morning. So when I was ready 5 minutes from being ready and Todd wasn't even up yet – I had to go wake him up (he claims he set his alarm for 7:30PM instead of AM... but I'm not too sure). By the time we were both ready, ate breakfast, and were out the door it was about 8:15 and we were off to the bus station. When we got to the bus station only one window, out of 5 was open. After talking to the very unfriendly woman behind window #4, we realized she couldn't help us – we needed to talk to someone at window #1... but the curtain was pulled down, no one was there, and she didn't seem to know (or care) when and if someone would be arriving. So... we went outside to see if we could find someone who was also heading to Bailen so we could ask them what to do. I haven’t mentioned yet that we didn’t know how to pay OR what times the bus ran from Linares to Bailen, all we knew is that I had been given instructions to arrive sometime between 9:00-9:30. After talking to a much nicer woman outside who informed us that the bus schedule for the Linares-Bailen route is taped on window #1 - DUH! And she also informed us that we could pay the fare (1 Euro each way) to the bus driver on the bus if the window was closed. So, we had a few minutes to wait, and right before our bus arrived I noticed another auxiliar (who I "met" on Facebook) waiting for the same bus to Bailen, so we hopped on the bus and I asked her close to 100 questions during the 15 minute ride to Bailen. She was very nice and helpful, answering all of my questions; it was nice to have some reassurance the morning of our first day.
When we got off the bus in Bailen I was SO happy she was there with us, because neither Todd nor I had any idea where our schools were. She pointed Todd in the right direction and actually walked me all the way to the front gate of my school! I arrived around 9:15, perfectly in-between the guidelines. I walked in the door and successfully asked for my coordinator in Spanish - a good start to the day! I was directed into her office, right inside the front door, and she greeted me, introduced me to a few other teachers and she spent a few minutes finishing up whatever she was working on with them. This means I was standing there feeling stupid, understanding probably 25% of what they were saying to each other for the first 3 minutes... which felt like 15! Once she finished up with them we got down to business. There have been auxiliars at my school for the past 8 years, so my coordinator is very organized and seems to have the process down. We went through my schedule, what my days at school are going to look like, what days I have to work (when I have days my day off – Friday!), and my basic responsibilities. My 12 hour work-week is spread out over 4 days and I have to say, it reminds me a little bit of college. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I work from 10:50-2:00 and on Wednesday I work from 9:00-1:00 with an hour break in the middle of the day… I don’t understand how it works, but school is only in session from 9:00-2:00 here, which means kids are only in school 5 hours a day. In my time at school I will spend each hour I’m there in a different classroom – I was placed in “grades” 1 – 4, I can already tell working with the younger students is going to be a new experience for me. I also spend my time working with 4 different teachers (not all of the teachers speak English, so the ones that do share grade-levels)… but the funny thing is; of the 4 teachers I’m working with 3 out of the 4 are on temporary leave. Two just had babies and the other one broke her leg, so that means I’m in the classroom with three different long-term substitutes– it should be interesting. After explaining my schedule to me, Juana (my coordinator) gave me a tour of the school and introduced me to the teachers I was going to be working with. Everyone was VERY nice!!!
After my tour, Juana took me back to her office, gave me copies of the materials we’ll be using in class – the immersion classes I’m placed in are Science and Art, so I’ll be helping to teach a Science (and Art) class in English… at this point I had about 30 minutes before I had to be in my first class, and she had some lessons to prepare of her own, so I spent some time looking through the materials she gave me and really just letting the anxiety build. Everyone was so nice that I had met, but I still didn’t know exactly what it would be like once I stepped foot in the classroom.
The time actually passed quickly and before I knew it, it was time to walk to my first class. And little did I know what I had coming for the next 3 hours – the first teacher I was with was one of the substitutes and she spoke very little English. It’s still hard for me to completely understand people in Spanish, and it’s much more difficult when there’s background noise, like loud children in the background, but we made the best of it and I think I did very well and it will be an excuse to help me learn more Spanish even if that’s not exactly my purpose in the classroom. I won’t go through and describe every class, just a few points that stick out in my mind. All of the students were completely enamored by me and the fact that I was from the United States, I won’t go as far as saying they were on the best behavior, but they were definitely showing off. This isn’t completely abnormal, my students at home would have probably acted the same way… for the first 5 minutes maybe, and then the excitement would have worn off. But the students today were completely out of control. Okay, maybe not completely, that might be an exaggeration, but there is definitely a lack of discipline in the school. Throughout the majority of my three classes there was a running dialogue between the students while the teacher was speaking, and the teacher wouldn’t stop and wait for them to be quiet (only if they got too loud), she would just keep on talking over them. In the case they did get too loud she would take the dry erase marker and pound it against the nearest hard surface until they were quiet. “Time out” is also a popular punishment for those students who are especially bad – they’re told to stand facing the corner and be quiet. Only, once they’re in the corner, the teacher ceases to monitor their punishment, so they basically stand there, with their back facing the corner chatting to the person who is closest… and this usually goes on long enough so that they get each other “riled up” and start chasing each other around the back of the room. All of this while the lesson continues to drone on in the front of the room – thank goodness I’m not the official one in charge, I don’t know how I would handle it! But I will say it seems that the teachers are relaxed, enjoy their job for the most part and the students are definitely having fun!
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any crazier, the bell rang for “recreo”. Like I mentioned earlier, students are in school from 9-2, but they don’t eat lunch at school. For the most part, they all bring a snack to eat during “recreo” which is from 11:45-12:15. This is literally recess, with snacks, where all 250 students run around like crazy all at one time. Not only are they just running around, they have jump ropes going, smacking into other students, boys chasing each other, wrapping each other in head-locks, kicking each other, etc. I honestly have to find some way to take a video of this madness before I leave so you can actually see what I’m talking about – in America it would be a lawsuit just waiting to happen. And all of this is going on with the supervision of maybe 6 teachers at a time (they take turns during this time so they can have their break too). I haven’t mentioned the sound level yet because I don’t even know what to compare it to – I’ll have to think on that one. Towards the end of “recreo” one little boy came up with a scratch, bleeding down the side of his face from another kid’s nail and the teachers treated it like no big deal, there was no hurry to find out who else was involved, no talk of sending anyone to the principals office, nothing of the sort. It was unreal!
It really was a good day, and by the end of it, most of my worries had melted away. I think it will just take some time to get used to how their classrooms are organized and run – it was a weird feeling today to be back in the classroom, but not to be the one in charge, but I don’t think it will be hard for me to enjoy taking a backseat! As I walked out of the building at the end of the day, I couldn’t help but notice the mass of parents waiting for their children at the front gates to walk them home, sometimes I just have to stop and take it all in – life can be so different here sometimes, but I love it! It felt like such an accomplishment to finish my first day, I was completely exhausted, even if it was only 5 hours – but I had students waving goodbye to me and practicing their “bye-bye’s” on my way out… so cute and heartwarming! It was only a 5 minute walk to the bus station and Todd was waiting on me – boy did we have a lot to catch up on!
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