A
typical day at my placement begins at 9:15 in the morning. I arrive to school and
meet one of my co-teachers, Paul. With Paul I go to the 4th year ESO
class (equivalent to sophomores in high school) for two periods, meaning I see
all of the students who are in this year of school. After these two classes we
have a 30-minute break, where the students play in the courtyard and the
teachers often go down the street to a café to get some coffee or tortilla
(Spanish omelette). Afterwards, I come back and I go with my other co-teacher,
Marta, to the 2nd year ESO students (equivalent to 8th
graders) for a conversation class where the students are mostly working on
projects and activities to practice their speaking and practical language.
After this, I go back with Paul to the 1st year ESO (equivalent to 6th
and 7th graders). These students are in their first year of having
separate English classes, however they already have had English lessons
throughout the entirety of their elementary school so they are beginning to
work with more complex tenses and vocabulary. To finish off the day, I go to
the opposite end of the spectrum with Marta and the bachillerato students who
are juniors in high school. By working with all these years of students, I am
able to see the students and their levels of English during every year. It is
also very interesting to see how the skills learned and practiced during the 1st
year ESO eventually give way to the bachillerato students.
Normally
while I am in the different classrooms I take on a variety of roles. For the
two older groups of students, I worked with small groups of about 5 students
and taken them out of class as a group to have small conversations and practice
speaking. I would have the students tell me about themselves, what they liked
to do, who was in their family, and what their favorite trip they have ever
been on is. This way, the students felt comfortable trying to express
themselves as much as they could while using different verb tenses to correctly
describe situations. I loved getting to know the students and trying to relate
some of their stories to my own life and other stories I had heard from
students. At times, I would also use this time with the small group to practice
a specific aspect of the class that they had been working on, whether that was
a new verb tense or a new set of vocabulary.
Along
with taking out small groups, I would also help the teachers during the class
with their lessons. On two occasions I was able to teach the entire vocabulary
lesson myself, going over the words with the students and leading the
activities. Even if I was not teaching the lesson directly, oftentimes the
students would have activities to practice their skills and I would walk around
the classroom helping out the groups. I would help the teachers with some of
the American equivalents to the British vocabulary words they were learning.
Also throughout the semester I got to see the students in different levels
taking tests, and my co-teachers allowed me to look at the tests, and after I
helped to correct them as well, both with multiple choice and fill in the blank
answers as well as grading the older students’ essays.
Throughout
the semester I have also worked with one student in particular. This student is
actually from a local town in Massachusetts (I also grew up in Massachusetts)
who just moved to Spain to live with his mom. Despite growing up in the States,
he was struggling in the English class as he spoke English natively and wasn’t
taught the names of specific tenses and British vocabulary words. It has been
very interesting getting to work with him and figure out what the best way to
help him and how to help improve his scores. In a way, I think it was also nice
for him to have someone from home to talk to, since he is only now adjusting to
life in Spain. I’ve really enjoyed helping him and working through this
interesting situation of helping a native English speaker in their English class.
Every
week has been interesting seeing how I can help both the teachers and the
students. By taking on a variety of different roles in a wide range of age
groups I have gained insight into the entirety of the teaching of English to
Spanish students. This was not something I necessarily expected to be a part of
my international pre-practicum, but I am so thankful to have been able to have
this diverse range of experiences.
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