Teaching

     I have just finished my seventh week of teaching at CPI de Panxón. I teach 14 hours at the school and also help out at lunch by cutting food for the little kids and basically telling them to eat more. I also teach 11 hours of private English classes in Vigo, the city where I live. I am also very lucky because I teach in the region of Galicia, and it is one of the most well-organized regions. I received my first paycheck at the end October, but many language assistants who work in the other regions of Spain are not as lucky and will have to wait until December or January to be paid.

    The first week was difficult because I was second guessing everything I did. Because I have taken Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Russian classes, I know what works/what the students like in terms of language learning, so obviously I want to be a good teacher. By the second week, I was feeling more confident and after seven weeks of teaching I am teaching 25 hours in total and enjoy planning lessons for classes as well as for individual students. I teach seven classes composed of students from 11-16 years old and I take four or five students out of class each week and we often play board games designed for ESL students. I just finished teaching a group of 15 year olds who had an excellent level of English, they never spoke in Spanish and were very interested in the game. I love it when the students are interested in English because it is more fun for me when we can do an activity, as well as have side conversations. But the students before that class were a different story, I had to remind them every minute to speak English... I always tell the students to speak English the whole time even if they are embarrassed because from what I have learned, making mistakes and being corrected is the only way to learn a language. Because once the students have the ability to speak they can take the learning into their own hands by delving deeper into the language by asking meaningful questions.

     I also assist in 9 music and art classes. I learn so much in music class, because I have forgotten everything I learned about reading music and the names of the notes. This is great because by assisting in this class I am learning the vocabulary in Spanish and English (and sometimes Galician) at the same time. I enjoy the art classes but sometimes the children say my name 100 times during class, which gets annoying. But I can't complain because when they finish an activity they usually spend their free time to draw me a picture.

                                A halloween project I did with the six and seven years old.

I enjoy my private classes because I get to base the activities around the likes of each individual. I have one student who is moving to New York next year and last class we figured out her Starbucks order (a latte with a double shot of espresso seems to be the closest order to a cafe con leche) we also talked about Sunday Brunch and other typical things in the United States. I teach a group lesson on Fridays and we play games. I also teach a 14 year old girl with a very high level of English and I bring songs for her and we translate the songs, as well as discuss the vocabulary, phrases and meanings of the songs. I am planning on staying in Galicia over the summer, so that I can enjoy the nice temperate weather, the beach, the many fiestas, and take advantage of the fact that I am in Europe and travel to another country. The fact that I am teaching many private lessons will allow me to enjoy the summer without having to work as much.

    I am at the school from 9-3:30 everyday and because I only teach 14 hours a week I have many breaks so I am a regular at several cafés where I spend my time reading, writing or lesson planning. I enjoy getting to know the people who come into the bar. I have a 3 hour break on Fridays so I bring my laptop (so I can blog and lesson plan). A funny older Galician man told me (in Galego) that I was beautiful and wants to set me up with his grandson, this town is full of characters....

     I am so happy that my first job out of college is that of an English conversation teacher/ Cultural Ambassador, because I learn so much in school, during my private lessons, and during my free time. I am also lucky because the nicest teacher drives me to and from school everyday (because we both live in Vigo) and the village of Panxón is 20 minutes away. She teaches the Galician language and she is always teaching me knew words and always tells me about the different festivals that are occurring around Galicia. I also love my job because the beach is a downhill 3 minute walk from the school.