A Typical Day at Instituto San Guiseppe

     My day starts with my 8:50 am Italian class that meets every day, Monday through Thursday. At 10:45, I speed walk the 20 minutes over to Instituto San Guiseppe, a private Catholic school in the outskirts of Florence. I officially start at 11:20, and there is actually a different student there, Jessica, who comes in the mornings. However, Jessica is not planning to be a teacher, she just wanted some volunteer hours. This can be a little confusing for my kids, who are in the 3rd grade because they don't see a difference between myself and Jessica - they think my CT is their teacher, and Jessica and I are there to play with them. Sometimes, it can be difficult to get them to settle down if I am giving a lesson that day.
     Usually, we start that English period by going over the children's homework from the last class. I do not have too much to do during this time, since I do not have a book and did not assign them homework, so it is a nice period to observe my CT and see how she interacts with the students, how she asks for volunteers or selects students, how she handles a wrong answer, and many other things. I also like to migrate and "stand near" any troublemakers - I might walk over and stand behind two children who are chatting instead of paying attention, just as a little reminder. Since they are still young, this is usually pretty effective.
     After homework, this is usually my turn to do an "activity" as my CT calls it. Usually, I either read a story and work on reading comprehension or I create a "photocopy" (worksheet) that introduces new vocabulary for the students and asks some review questions from the previous lesson. I did photocopies on weather, seasons, and time (months, days of the week, holidays). Today was actually my last lesson and tomorrow is a very big National holiday in Italy, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. To celebrate, I read them "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." The vocabulary was a little more challenging than other books, especially imaginary concepts like a Grinch or "who-roast-beast," but the children really enjoyed the rhythm and intonation of the rhymes.
     Then, my CT takes over and she either delivers a lesson, or lately, we practice for their Christmas show, "A Christmas Carol" delivered in English for the parents before Christmas vacation. Finally, to close out the class, we sing songs in English. This is the children's favorite part and they always look forward to it. They have their favorite ones, that they always request: "Stardust!" I think they particularly like this one because it is an Italian-English pop mixup. It's a very effective way to raise participation and get them to speak in English, which is always more difficult than just comprehension. When I leave, after sining, my CT leaves as well. She is on a middle-school schedule almost, where the students remain in their classrooms but the teachers relocate when the period is over. We have a goodbye routine that we must follow. It involves saying goodbye to everyone and asking a few questions in English. Usually, this is something like "What are you doing this weekend?" "What's your next lesson about?" or "Did you like the lesson we did today?"
     A highlight is definitely when I walk in - the children are so welcoming, and I am always greeted by a chorus of "Hello, Miss Maggie!" that never fails to put a smile on my face. One thing that I have noticed is that the Italian school system is very particular about the way you address your teacher. My CT will not answer a child if he or she says "Maestra!" or "Teacher!" The requirement is "Miss" (or Mr.) first name. This is interesting to me, since in the US we usually would use the last name, out of respect.
      I usually have my lesson planned ahead of time. I send it to my CT by at least Tuesday for a Thursday class, and before I leave we discuss the topic for the next lesson. However, with the play it has been very hectic trying to organize the parent volunteers, so one time I showed up and my lesson was cancelled. The next time, she asked me to give a lesson completely from scratch with no preparation, so that was one of my biggest challenges to date. I definitely think that the planning process is a more informal in Italian education. However, this has some advantages like really being able to assess your students and not worry about sticking to a schedule.