This past week was the first week of school for us auxiliares! As nice as it was to have time off for the past few weeks, it will be nice to start having a routine again (once I come to terms with the fact I cannot go to bed at 2 am).
A bit about teaching
My school is a primary school, which is abbreviated here as CEIP, or Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria. There are about 700 students total, so it is pretty big! The infantil part of the school is more or less a preschool, and the children are aged 3-5. The primary school is first through sixth grades, ages 6-12. In total, there will be five auxiliares at my school. But as of now, only four of us have shown up. It is really nice to be able to go through this with other people as we have already had a few issues
Only the primary school is bilingual. This means that from first grade onward, the students take English and Science classes in English, and are able to do Arts and Crafts, Music, and PE in English as well. In these courses, the teachers generally only speak English, though it is more difficult with younger classes. The second, fourth, and sixth grade students are evaluated on their English level at the end of the year through official exams, either the Trinity or Cambridge exam. These are purely oral exams.
I am the auxiliar for second grade, preparing them for their first English exam. The subject material is still pretty basic and they can form short sentences. For instance, the unit this past week in English was descriptions and comparisons of people. For example- straight-haired vs. curly-haired, thin vs. fat. In Science, we learned about sports, and they would form their short sentences (though I am pretty sure at this point is is only memorization)- "you are cycling."
One important difference is that here, they learn British English! Obviously, I understand what they are saying, but we do have certain structural and vocabulary differences. For instance, the kids were doing a listening activity with clues in order to figure out the person described. They say, "Has he got fair hair?" "Yes, he has." On Thursday, one teacher asked me to play a game and spell out the name of school supplies and the students would have to guess it. Not sure if they were really listening (also, this is probably the worst idea for a game ever), as they kept yelling out pencils! rubbers! Really, what is more funny than having 25 six-year-olds repeatedly yell out "rubbers!" in the middle of class? I had never heard the name before (it means eraser), so I was a little confused, but after I figured it out, I of course taught them the word "eraser."
So, my first week of teaching was interesting, to say the least! I like working with kids one-on-one, but I definitely need to learn tactics to teach an entire class. Because I have had minimal instructions (the teacher just hands me the book), it will take a bit to get used to it. Also, I noticed a few differences between the schools in America vs. Spain. The classrooms are very rowdy, generally there are side conversations between multiple groups of kids, kids fighting, etc, and discipline does not really exist here (not just in schools, but at home as well). I was blown away by how crazy nearly all of the kids in classroom are-very different from home. Also, the kids are very affectionate, will give hugs and kisses all the time, whereas at home this type of affection is not allowed.
Living in Spain
Besides working, I have been able to meet quite a few other people here! I have met other auxiliars through some organized events, and through other friends. I have also set up a few intercambios, or language exchanges. During intercambios, the time is usually split between speaking in English and speaking in Spanish. It's a great way to practice! I am hoping to do some more of these. I speak Spanish when I am out, and I also speak to other teachers at my school in Spanish as much as I can- many of them do not know English!
I have found a few private classes to teach after school, and will do one or two a day- kind of a lot, but it is easy and a good way to make extra money! And I guess I am here to actually work...
Besides that, everything is pretty normal here! I am excited to start my second week of school and hopefully everything goes smoothly! :)
