Ahhhh...

My colleagues

As we near the end of our stay in Valencia, I know that I am truly going to miss my wonderful colleagues and the welcoming and supportive atmosphere they have created during my stay. 

When I enter the staff room every morning I am greeted with 'hola', 'bon dia', buenos días' or even 'hello'! As I walk along the corridors to my classes their smiling faces give me the encouragement I need to face each lesson, and their constant efforts to try and talk to me in English (even if they're not English teachers) is incredibly humbling and warms my heart. 

Saying goodbye to year one 😢

This morning I had my last lesson with year one. I was ambushed with hugs and had various children clutching to my legs preventing me from leaving the classroom!

Last weekend in Spain, Gandía.. Had a lovely day, with 3 amazing girls.. After expecting the hot (warm for me) weather for so long, we finally had the opportunity to go to the beach, without our jackets on 💪🏻 The sun was shining bright, too hot maybe, a little swim (up to my thighs, too cold still 😂), some olives and strawberries bought from the local Sunday market, and just the laughter of new friends ❤️

India's last weekend in Spain 🇪🇸

Mountains and sunset

The beautiful view of the mountains of Gandía.. Sunset is indescribable, birds chirping, ready to go to bed and us, admiring the view 👀

India loves the mountains in Spain 🇪🇸

A day at the beach.

This was our last weekend in Valencia. Just two days left and we are flying back home. We had a lovely time with my flatmates at the beach today. We were lucky because it was very warm, +25 degrees. It felt like the beginning of summer but it's just the middle of April.
I had my observed lesson last Friday. Children were great and the lesson went according to my plan. I feel relieved and ready to move on.

Favourite teacher

Yes that's me :):) Javi the blind boy in 1B told me, in English, at the end of my class today, that I am his favourite teacher.

My tutor told me later that she used to be his favourite, but you know, I guess he's moved on... :)

He's not in school next week because he's going to Alicante for the week to do some activities, so he gave me a hug and said good luck. Ahhhhh he's lovely.

¿Para o Por o Cuatro?

This week - with great help and patience from a few of my Spanish students - I think I’ve finally figured out the differences in use with regards to ‘por’ and ‘para’! This is really big for me OK? So please, don’t play reductionist or take that away from me.

I taught my observed lesson this morning, I was very happy with it; I received some incredibly helpful and constructive feedback from Emile that’s going to prove invaluable when it comes to planning in the future.

Hopefully I’m not going to deep here but, hey, it’s Friday and I’ve got a little time so I’ll reference some quantum physics all the same: ‘The observer effect is the theory that simply observing a situation or phenomenon necessarily changes that phenomenon.’

And so, should anyone read this prior to having their lesson observed, the only advice I feel to be organic, true and honest would be to “be yourself completely”, don’t change any aspect of who you are – intrinsically and naturally - for the perceived benefit of another individual; teach the students like nobody is watching and don’t let the observers change your phenomenon!

Regular verb endings

And so the time has come,when I must face my final curtain. Or at least my observed lesson. Still no idea of what I am teaching whilst feeling vague disquietude about the fact that my fellow trainee teachers are polishing and honing their jewel like lesson plans and in some cases purchasing bribes in the shape of Chinese armies of chocolate rabbits .
I have fallen into the Spanish sueno of sauntering on the metro whilst casually occupying most if not all of the escalator,sipping the dregs of my cafe con leche and crumbs of farton with a mere 30 second time gap to arrive at a lesson and then take a further 5-10 minute of said lesson debating with the students over colours of the rainbow or some other such compelling topic.
The Spanish can talk and do talk mostly at full volume and with stunning disregard of their classmates and teachers.
They have moved from a rigorous disciplined authoritarian mostly religious imbued autocracy to a skewed meritocracy where teachers are called by their first names and there appears to be little accountability for transgressions.
Ok I am from a different era where corporal punishment was the norm ( horrendous and barbaric) but now the pendulum has swung too far in my opinion.
I find it irritating in the extreme where students have worked on and prepared spoken projects only to deliver them to a class chattering amongst themselves paying no attention to the speakers to the point where I can't actually hear what is being said.
There is a balance I believe and respect should be earned both for the teacher and between classmates .There are many excellent teachers dedicated caring and hard working but in my opinion this constant chatting is disruptive and disrespectful to teachers and fellow classmates.
I would be interested to know what others think ....
However I do like the relaxed attitude to time and strong family values and I like being called Susan rather than Miss and the students are all lovely .They are not naughty just too talkative at times!! I like a hubbub in class just need quiet to present .
As for my observed lesson Qué Sera Sera !

Valencia 🇪🇸

My incredibly energetic and enthusiastic year five classes completed their poster presentations on Valencia this week, so we create our very own travel guide about the city with an accompanying podcast.

RIP Emily and Andrea

I took inspiration from our sessions in Chester and decided to try the noun/animal/country game with my year six pupils. They thoroughly enjoyed planning my death and the death of my mentor teacher Andrea (perhaps a little too much)!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a bit of a lack of communication day. I went in for my lesson at 9 o'clock and then he told me they were doing a Maths exam so I wasn't teaching. So I went and sat in the park and read my book. 

Then I went to my primary lesson and when I got there she was just giving out exam papers. She said it was exams for my next 2 classes, so I wasn't needed. So I went and sat in a coffee shop in town and read my book. 

I came back and I did one lesson, I did a recap of numbers with 4C, so you know, fine. And then I was due to do my wildly popular conversation class for the teachers (...once 2 teachers came, but not at the same time:)) Then my tutor came and said 'excuse me we're not having the conversation class because we're having a staff meeting'. 

Then after that, my next primary class were doing the same exams as the classes in the morning, so sat in the staff room, did some planning, read some more of my book (which is almost finished now actually). Then, I went to 4B for the final class of the day and felt useful. 

My weekend ♥️

My weekend flew by .. I had the best time in Madrid With India :) we had a lot of fun going around with an electric scooter but then for our safety and the safety of others we gave it back . 🙈🛴

The attractions in Madrid are beautiful.  

( Thanks to India for all her photography 💖)

My week in work has also been great. I can’t believe we have just over a week left. I’m so going to miss Gandia ! I feel very settled here & love my house crew. ♥️

Plaground PE

On Wednesday I had a PE lesson in the 3rd Primary. We played "What time is it Mr Wolf?", "Can I cross your river Mr Crocodile and other games when children had to speak in English in order to keep the game going. The children enjoyed the process and didn't even notice that they were actually learning how to ask for time in English and how to describe what they are wearing.

Grammar

Great week teaching in Moncada.  I feel I've learnt a lot.  I've had quite a few grammar lessons which I'm happy about, as it has improved my confidence considerably in this area.  Its not as bad as you think!  I can't wait until I actually have my own classes.  Hope everyone's teaching week ran smoothly.  Wish I could've seen some of you guys this weekend but I was living it up near Beners.  Happy teaching week everyone.  See you soon

Tired.

Had a wonderful weekend at the 'city residence' with my mad Moncada crew. We biked, ate, danced, and rocked.
As Sunday drew to a close I found I had business with my steward in the south and so rode on ahead to the 'country residence'... aka Gandia.

Whatevs.

I love Gandia.

When the sun is shining and flowers bloom Spain changes. It's beautiful. Going to work and have colours surrounding you just makes your day.

India likes Spain 🇪🇸

Bicycle race

Today, we rode bicycles through a dried up riverbed in the city of Valencia and watched as passers-by pretended to smoke cigarettes and pose in front of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias.

It was a really good day.

Films & Fiction

I've had a really good week at school. This week I've been accompanied to and from my lessons with a pose from ESO - 2. #squadgoals ✌ They applaud me whenever they see me 👏👏 and every time I finish teaching a lesson segment 😃 Rightfully so, I deserve it for being such an awesome dude! 😎 I feel as if the rapport I have with my students has strengthened and that's what I'm most proud of this week.

We've been learning about films, fiction and genres in the 3rd & 4th ESO. If my life was a movie I think Hugh Jackman or Brad Pitt would play me. I think these actors are just about handsome enough and will do my character justice 😅 I was considering Dwayne Johnson but it's a shame his calf muscles are too tiny 😭

If you're reading this blog post, I just want you to know that you are a beautiful and incredible person💓

Friday

Today I teach 4 classes in a row then I go home yay! :) The second years were fine. 1C they're really good, polite well-behaved. If they want to ask me a question they whisper it, it's OK to speak...! They always get everything, just like that and when I walk round monitoring the speaking exercises, they're all actually speaking in English! But yeah they're just lovely. I don't know if this is deliberate, but it's like some classes seem to have the harder working students and just seem to work well and progress really quickly and other classes seem to be less interested, wanting to talk and have problem students. 1D and 1B are like that, but they both worked better today and 1B finished their exercises quicker than I expected them to, so I had to give them more to do.

Little things

I love learning about all the little differences between our countries. In 2nd ESO yesterday the teacher was saying some of the students couldn't tell their left from right so I showed them the L trick which I suddenly realised they have never used as we all know in Spanish left is 'izquierda'

What a weekend

We had a fabulous time at the weekend. The vegan restaurant we went to even had our Loz almost converted and they gave me a free brownie. The food was glorious and the waitresses were the sweetest! Then we went for a boogy which was such a laugh, everyone has got serious moves but we were missing the full crew.

On Sunday Ella, Cathy and I explored a drizzly Valencia. Our Cath has come up with the perfect Spanglish phrase- sozziento. The escape room was amazing very grateful to Schola for organising it, my team and of course Sebastian

Just another Manic Monday

What a week oh my days!
After fainting at school on Monday (I have reached a whole new level of extra) and a bit of a dreary start to the week things are finally picking up. I had 3 really great classes today and tried Emile's bus idea to teach road signs which went down a treat!
Hope everyone's had a lovely week :)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 🐛

When I discovered that I was teaching in preschool I was rather apprehensive about being able to communicate and deliver an English lesson to children who are only just beginning to learn their mother tongue. Yet, I have grown to adore my classes with the 3-5 year olds, as it has been fascinating to see how they begin to develop (all at different paces and in different ways) their language and motor skills. I am also astounded by their capacity to learn and their ability to mirror my pronunciation almost perfectly. I particularly cherished the beautiful chorus of 'plum'.

I've loved this week in particular as we have been exploring the very hungry caterpillar and creating all sorts of fabulous things - caterpillar related of course.

It's been so wonderful to teach the children words for the first time and explore the incredible journey of a caterpillar into a butterfly (when we got to the end of the story rapturous applause ensued and mouths were left wide open in amazement).

My favourite moment from this week, and one that I will treasure, is the chaotic creation of twenty plus caterpillars from strips of coloured card. These little caterpillars all reflected the beautifully unique characters of the children. Some were sideways, some were very neat, some had smiley faces, and some were wiggling and wobbling all over the place! 

I am also constantly in awe of my colleague, Fermín who never ceases to amaze me with his creativity and capacity to communicate almost solely in English throughout the lesson! I have learnt a great deal from him (and from my gorgeous pupils) and have never been happier covered in glue and green finger paint.

🍎🍐🍐🥭🥭🥭🍓🍓🍓🍓🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊 

Thursday

Just past the half way mark and I'm tired, really, really tired.

Our little haven

Our little haven

You can't beat our little flat here in Gandia.
Tom has been given a guitar and is so talented honestly feel so blessed to be able to listen to him play. We had a little jam the other day which was wonderful.
Apologies to be soppy but I love living with these gems, having dinner together after a long day has become a ritual which always results in some kind of hilarity.
We've all known each other for less than a month but it feels like so much longer
Gracias amigos for all of your support and giggles
Love you long time

Food, wine, and the guitar

Just rocked up in Valencia to see fabulous friends after a great week teaching in my school in Gandia.
I've already eaten most of the food in their apartment. I'm basically a teenager.

Food, wine, and the guitar...

Peace.

Another week nearly over

As another week draws to a close I realise how lucky I am to be in such a nice environment. Such a nice city, school and apartment !! 

And I realise that I am really going to miss walking through the playground and lunch hall with little shouts of 'Jemma' 'Hola Jemma' 'Hello Jemma' from here there and everywhere. It makes me feel like I am apart of a very big family :)

I also am going to miss the lunch lady that always calls me over and speaks to me in Spanish (I don't really know what she is saying but I smile and laugh with her) and gives me SOOOOO MUCH FOOD. Like today I had two lunch ladies just putting things on my tray and it was too much but they both looked so happy that I felt really bad and couldn't refuse so when I was leaving I tried to hide the left over food and put the fruit in my bag pack for a snack later (Good times)

Tomorrow is Friday and I have 3rd and 4th grade and I know I shouldn't have favourites but I think 4th grade are my favourites closely followed my 3rd-they are all really good kids and we have such fun classes together :)

Kahoot hoot

After trying out Kahoot for the first time in my 1BATX class (16/17 yr old students) I know I'm going to have to start 'kahooting' more frequently. At the end of my lesson regarding the 1st and 2nd conditional, the students were a little confused when I asked them all to take out their mobile phones; however 1 question in and the response was incredible, collective and communicative (the students played in teams) - shouts of annoyance at getting a question wrong, and delight at beating the other teams by answering correctly!

It's been another busy week full of late-night-planning but, I don't think I've ever learnt - nor have I grown - so much as I have these past few weeks.

A massive thank you once again to UKLC for providing this opportunity and another grande gracias to the fantastic and lovely Spanish teachers for cultivating such a wonderful in-class environment.

Orange Blossom 🍊🌸

Morning comes and it's time to begin my journey to Sagrado Corazòn. The sun is just peeking over the mountains in the distance and washing the buildings in beautiful pastel shades. 

As I meander through the streets on my way to the metro, the sweet smell of orange blossom envelops my path. 

Two busy metro stops later and I am making my way into the school, where I am welcomed everyday (without fail) by the receptionist who radiates pure sunshine and an array of children waving rigorously and shouting 'Hello Emily'!

Run out,ran out ,running out !

My metro ticket has run out.
My money is running out.
My steam has run out.
I feel like running out.....

hola chicas!

I have lived with different people from different countries and in different cities but I have to say that the girls I ended up sharing a flat here are the most mature ones I've lived with (so far)

mature in the sense that we all know how to keep things in order around the house for the others without having to create cleaning schedules etc.

we differ in our age too, but even so we all still get along very well with each other - maybe it's because we are all quite open minded?

I love coming home and saying "hola chicas!" and finding them all in the living room (followed by our daily chit chats!)

Our evenings....

Hola  :) Yesterday, late evening,  after 11 pm  in our flat.... Complete silence.. but not because we all were  fast asleep. I came out of the room just to find out that everyone was doing exactly the same what I was doing- Planning, planning and planning..

Me! Me! Me!

Note to self: do not pick students by the speed at which they raise their hands (it's impossible, they're all so excited that they all want to be chosen!) This happened during the 1 ESO class - I had grouped students in teams and they had 30 adjectives missing from Alanis Morissette's 'Hand in my pocket' lyrics. They listened to the censored version of the song (of course!) 3 times and then they scored 2 points by writing the word and correctly spelling it (if the word was misspelt, then a point was up for grabs for whichever team correctly spells it first)

Even though I have only taught the 1 ESO class twice, ever since I had my first lesson with them last Tuesday - they always always greet me whenever they see me in the corridor. I left the school with a loud farewell from a bunch of them :)

Weekend

I had a blast with everyone this weekend, 4 days and counting till I get to see everyone again 👍

🍊 Día de la naranja 🍊

Covered in orange juice, cheeks aching from smiling, and lots of sticky handprints all over my clothes... a successful día de la naranja at Sagrado Corazón! 

Are we in England or Spain??

It's raining. I'm tired... Monday morning feels!
I want my bed...

Tomorrow will make us exactly half way through our time here!!

I hope today is a good day and the sun comes back tomorrow!! ☀

Stuck in the eighties

So today I got stuck in Professor G's workshop.  But I couldn't have been trapped with nicer people.  What a team!  Professor G you played with us.  Another 4 minutes and we would have been out. 

To my team members, thank goodness for you because I wouldn't have even got the first clue or key without you,  I mean.  WHAT WAS GOING ON???  I hope you noticed when I actually clued in and provided one helpful suggestion though.  We got our lucky Professor G badges anyway.  They are our lucky planning badges for next week.

Happy planning and happy teaching this week team.  Piru Piru.

New week

The class falls silent,
The textbook opens
The powerpoint is up
Ready to go!

Some photos from the City of Arts and Sciences...

A busy but fruitful week

At the end of a busy week teaching at Sant Bertomeu, I was able to finally explore some more of the verdant city of Valencia! After some lesson planning and coffee in Cafe Jardin Ubrano, I had time enough to see some of old town of El Carmen before heading back to Moncada.

This week has been long but fruitful one; I taught almost all of the lessons solo, and so gained a lot to reflect upon and take away from the experiences.

... back to planning!

Finally able to see Valencia after another tough week, luckily it was a sunny day and to see the clear water, made me want to jump in the pool 💃 Had a lovely time walking in Montfort Garden, and seeing everyone was as lovely as I thought.

India is still in Spain 🇪🇸

Hola !
Sunday morning in Moncada ...woke up and found Tom face down on our sofa! Lovely surprise! That sounds wrong ....but I assure you Emile everything was legal.
Kids been out dancing until 4.30 am ,the old lady confined to quarters with deli belly.
It's raining boo! But I guess that makes lesson planning easier as no temptation to go to the beach .
Full week of lessons so off to plan.
Hasta lluego
X

We are halfway through!

Buenos dias!  It's the end of our second week in Spain. I observed 4 P.E lessons this week and  it will be my turn to lead the PE activities in the playground next week. I like the idea of being outside in the sun.  It should be fun.
I do my placement in a relatively small village school, but my school is equipped with the modern technologies.  English teachers have an access to the Digital Course Books  with the variety of resources: videos, computer games, listening activities, flashcards, songs and so on. It makes planning so much easier. Every classroom has an Interactive Whiteboard and big speakers. In Year 6 all children  have computers to complete their work.

Pupils spend a long day at school. They start at 9.30 and finish at 16.30. The have one break from 10.30 to 11.00 and then a two-hour-break from 1pm to 3 pm. Some of them go home and some stay at school, have their lunch and then play.

One of the teachers drives me to school and back. It's a good opportunity for me to talk to somebody local and find out more about their way of life.

Nos vemos!

Godella

I got off the metro at a stop called Godella as it was called God + Ella, how could i not?
It was a beautiful little town full of Grafitti and open views.
Perfect just as its name described.

This past week......

It has been a difficult week in Moncada. Sadly, my phone has stopped working 😓😢😭 so it has been difficult to keep in touch with my family and my beloved Erasmus + amigos. I've lost count of the number of times I've gotten lost 💁 but I'm still loving being our here in Spain.

At my school there has been a strong focus on written compositions and essays in preparation for  exams which are due to be taken next week 😱. I've been informed by my tutor that 50% of all students fail every year from the year groups 3.ESO - 1.Bach.

On a personal level it has been difficult trying to build some teaching momentum. The teachers and students are so set in their ways so it's been tough trying to find myself as a teacher. In addition to this my students are very reluctant in to speaking any English.

On another note my madre turned 49 years old this week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY  Mama💓💓 Te amo.

I'm going to organise a lil party. Nothing too fancy but I was thinking of hiring a DJ and renting out a marquee. I still have enough euros to splash out on some vegano catering 👅 If you're reading this and still haven't received an invitation to my party then ...ummm.....AWKWAAAARRD  👀😙

Planning, teaching, dancing, and motorbiking...

Lesson planning! Lesson planning... and a bit more lesson planning.
Accepted an invite from one of my Spanish colleagues to attend a dance class this morning; and then she gave me her old motorbike to cruise round on!
Lovely, friendly, extremely welcoming people in Gandia.
Shout out to my 2nd ESO classes yesterday morning - loved every minute of the lessons with them.

Tom.

End of Week 1

Well, it is the end of the first full week teaching here in Valencia. It has definitely taken some getting used to, but it’s been a great help having the guidance of the school’s English teachers and my fellow trainee English teacher, Elena, who isn’t part of the UKLC posse but a Valencian training to be an English teacher.

I’ve been teaching in a secondary school in Beniferri and have met 7 classes across 4 school years, from 12-16 years old. From day to day (and from one lesson to another!) you encounter extremes. You can be witness to the equivalent of a civil war in which the point of contention was who poked who first, chairs almost being hurled across the classroom, then five minutes later you’re in a different class trying to get someone, anyone, to open their mouths to tell you an adjective that ends in -ed.

My highlight of the school week may be this: I gave 6 groups of students a different bundle of words and asked them to write a story that included every word, and had a beginning, middle and end. Afterwards, they read their stories out in front of the class. It was all going well until the last story, when we heard about the gruesome murder of a very unlucky rabbit who got lost and then run over by a bus “and it was upsetting”. At least they used the -ing adjective correctly. 

Madrid here I come

It's Friday. It's Friday!!!
The sun is shining and I am on my way to Madrid. I had such a good day teaching today. The kids really enjoyed my lessons and my observed lesson went really well - the class were so well behaved and a lot more of them were answering questions and so gaining more confidence to speak which makes me really happy!!!
So today is a really good day... I am currently sat in a car with 3 other Spanish people listening to them speaking and feeling like I can kinda understand what the conversation is about... *kinda* (lol) but unfortunately I still can't string any answers or sentences together myself. 😭
Anyway I will soon be seeing my friend in Madrid and I think its going to be a really good weekend!!! 🙌🙌

Hamburguesa

So this week I've really enjoyed teaching and I've learnt such a lot in a short space of time.  I know I shouldn't, but I have two favourite classes.  The first one in Primary (8-9 year olds) are just so cute.  Their English is fantastic and they are so willing and eager to learn.  My other favourite class are 15-16 year old B1 level students.  Even though they've already done a day at school by the time they get to me, they really try hard and participate well (occasionally needing a little persuasion).  Their regular class teacher said that they have really come a long way (reported speech/something I did yesterday), and I can see why.  Oh, I forgot about my other favourite class.  So I guess that makes it three,  Actually they're all fantastic!

So what about hamburguesa?  Well, Hamburguesa is a paragraph of course.  If you're still not sure then see me in class.  Adios for now amigos.