First days at school
Well this past week I had my first days at my schools. Two days at Barredos and one day at Laviana. I went to six classes at Barredos, but only one at Laviana.
To recap Spanish grades:
1º ESO = year 7
2º ESO = year 8
3º ESO = year 9
4º ESO = year 10
1º bachillerato = year 11
2º bachillerato = year 12
On Wednesday I did three classes with Sonia and one with Bea, and Thursday one each with Sonia and Bea. (In future one of those hours is supposed to be a English department staff meeting, but this week it got usurped into a meeting with the principal because they are getting a new teacher who will do 50% English, so they were trying to figure out the schedule for that teacher.)
The first class was 1º ESO, then 2º vocational (an alternative finishing pathway), 3º or 4º ESO (I forget) then 2º ESO. The younger kids would start out a little rowdy, but after 15-20 minutes they would settle down and I thought they were pretty good, pretty engaged. The older kids were more reluctant to speak, something I didn't think about before - although they are more competent, they are more embarrassed as well.
The 2º vocational class was difficult, in that they have kids ages 18-28 - no joke. One woman was 28, she has a farm and is unemployed, so is going to school instead. One guy was new to class, I think from Morocco and has never studied English before. So...hmm. That will be interesting.
On Thursday I had another younger class, 1º or 2º ESO, then another 2º vocational class. This one had a guy who has a university degree! But is unemployed, so for some reason is going to school again. And he lives like 30km away! I don't really understand this system yet. Seems like literally anyone can enrol in the vocational stream.
Two classes I had, had one student who was a much more confident speaker than anyone else in the class. Most of the classes students would just shout stuff out, and most were reluctant, so it became easy for this one person to dominate the speaking. So that will be something to manage.
Another interesting thing is observing how the teacher acts when I am in the room, and how they interact with the students, how long they let pauses get before jumping in, that kind of thing.
As for the content, Sonia had a sheet which just had like 15 basic questions (what is your name, what is your age, etc) and we went around the class and got each student to ask me one of the questions, to basically fill it out about me. Then I went around and asked each student to give me their self introduction. For some of the shyer ones, I just asked them four or five questions and they answered. Then we brainstormed what they know about Australia, animals, famous people, food, sports. Then I asked them for recommendations about where I should visit in Spain. This didn't really turn out as I expected. Especially for the younger kids, the suggestions would all be places in Asturias. I am not sure they even had much of a sense of Spain as a country, like how it might collectively perceive itself, and how foreigners might perceive it. Maybe the Australian population absorbs tourism propaganda at a higher rate. Maybe when you're a European country you don't even need such propaganda.
The primary and high school in Barredos
Laviana was... a pretty different experience. The school is a little bit bigger, and they have a bilingual programme. Anyway when I went in on Friday I still didn't have a schedule, the head of the English department saying he would give it to me when I arrived because it was a bit complicated. When I first arrived, Anabel took me to meet the principal (giving all the other English teachers a knowing look when she told them this) and register at the admin office. Anyway I met the principal, in three minutes he seemed nice enough, although he seemed a bit confused about if I was the same auxiliar as last year. As soon as we left Anabel was like "Augh you see, he doesn't pay attention at all, he has no idea what's going on". Then my first hour was the English department meeting, they have five teachers, and they all just sat around arguing about my schedule and various other matters (nearly all in Spanish). The head of the department is a guy who, according to Anabel, holds the position because he doesn't rock the boat, basically.
The schedule he gave me had me meeting with 13 different classes in a month - in just 20 class hours. It also changes every two weeks. But apparently it was decided by the head of studies without input from the English teachers themselves... Anabel looked it over and discovered an error, and I tried to repeat my preference for having a trimester with a single group then changing. So we went to visit the head of studies and had another session of going over everyone's schedules. And I ended up with a new schedule for next Tuesday, and when I arrive I might get a new schedule for the whole month. Or I might not. WE WILL SEE.
Alfonso thought it would be better if I didn't go to any classes but I was keen to, so I went to Anabel's which I think was 4º ESO bilingual. They were pretty good, although the rooms are way more echo-y than Barredos. :( Also while I was talking there suddenly was this chanting outside. I asked "What is that?" and they started laughing. It's a farmer guy spruiking his potatoes over loudspeaker as he goes around the town. As you do.
Another funny thing is that they told me Tuesday 21st might be a student strike day! I must find out more about this. Pretty students in MY day were not aware that was an option.
Laviana high school (some more pictures of the town itself on flickr)
After Barredos I got excited about doing a class about Australian animals, and spent a few hours making up a sheet summarising 16 animals (Kangaroo, Koala, Echidna, Tasmania devil, Spotted quoll, Possum, Wombat, Platypus, Emu, Kookaburra, Lyrebird, Freshwater crocodile, Frill-necked lizard, Goanna (lace monitor), Box jellyfish, Blue ringed octopus) and selecting videos to show. My list has like 7 videos (17 minutes) which is probably too much, but we'll see. The best part was looking up kookaburra laughing videos. Even though kookaburras don't look particularly amused when they do it, the sound is very infectious.
To recap Spanish grades:
1º ESO = year 7
2º ESO = year 8
3º ESO = year 9
4º ESO = year 10
1º bachillerato = year 11
2º bachillerato = year 12
On Wednesday I did three classes with Sonia and one with Bea, and Thursday one each with Sonia and Bea. (In future one of those hours is supposed to be a English department staff meeting, but this week it got usurped into a meeting with the principal because they are getting a new teacher who will do 50% English, so they were trying to figure out the schedule for that teacher.)
The first class was 1º ESO, then 2º vocational (an alternative finishing pathway), 3º or 4º ESO (I forget) then 2º ESO. The younger kids would start out a little rowdy, but after 15-20 minutes they would settle down and I thought they were pretty good, pretty engaged. The older kids were more reluctant to speak, something I didn't think about before - although they are more competent, they are more embarrassed as well.
The 2º vocational class was difficult, in that they have kids ages 18-28 - no joke. One woman was 28, she has a farm and is unemployed, so is going to school instead. One guy was new to class, I think from Morocco and has never studied English before. So...hmm. That will be interesting.
On Thursday I had another younger class, 1º or 2º ESO, then another 2º vocational class. This one had a guy who has a university degree! But is unemployed, so for some reason is going to school again. And he lives like 30km away! I don't really understand this system yet. Seems like literally anyone can enrol in the vocational stream.
Two classes I had, had one student who was a much more confident speaker than anyone else in the class. Most of the classes students would just shout stuff out, and most were reluctant, so it became easy for this one person to dominate the speaking. So that will be something to manage.
Another interesting thing is observing how the teacher acts when I am in the room, and how they interact with the students, how long they let pauses get before jumping in, that kind of thing.
As for the content, Sonia had a sheet which just had like 15 basic questions (what is your name, what is your age, etc) and we went around the class and got each student to ask me one of the questions, to basically fill it out about me. Then I went around and asked each student to give me their self introduction. For some of the shyer ones, I just asked them four or five questions and they answered. Then we brainstormed what they know about Australia, animals, famous people, food, sports. Then I asked them for recommendations about where I should visit in Spain. This didn't really turn out as I expected. Especially for the younger kids, the suggestions would all be places in Asturias. I am not sure they even had much of a sense of Spain as a country, like how it might collectively perceive itself, and how foreigners might perceive it. Maybe the Australian population absorbs tourism propaganda at a higher rate. Maybe when you're a European country you don't even need such propaganda.
The primary and high school in Barredos
Laviana was... a pretty different experience. The school is a little bit bigger, and they have a bilingual programme. Anyway when I went in on Friday I still didn't have a schedule, the head of the English department saying he would give it to me when I arrived because it was a bit complicated. When I first arrived, Anabel took me to meet the principal (giving all the other English teachers a knowing look when she told them this) and register at the admin office. Anyway I met the principal, in three minutes he seemed nice enough, although he seemed a bit confused about if I was the same auxiliar as last year. As soon as we left Anabel was like "Augh you see, he doesn't pay attention at all, he has no idea what's going on". Then my first hour was the English department meeting, they have five teachers, and they all just sat around arguing about my schedule and various other matters (nearly all in Spanish). The head of the department is a guy who, according to Anabel, holds the position because he doesn't rock the boat, basically.
The schedule he gave me had me meeting with 13 different classes in a month - in just 20 class hours. It also changes every two weeks. But apparently it was decided by the head of studies without input from the English teachers themselves... Anabel looked it over and discovered an error, and I tried to repeat my preference for having a trimester with a single group then changing. So we went to visit the head of studies and had another session of going over everyone's schedules. And I ended up with a new schedule for next Tuesday, and when I arrive I might get a new schedule for the whole month. Or I might not. WE WILL SEE.
Alfonso thought it would be better if I didn't go to any classes but I was keen to, so I went to Anabel's which I think was 4º ESO bilingual. They were pretty good, although the rooms are way more echo-y than Barredos. :( Also while I was talking there suddenly was this chanting outside. I asked "What is that?" and they started laughing. It's a farmer guy spruiking his potatoes over loudspeaker as he goes around the town. As you do.
Another funny thing is that they told me Tuesday 21st might be a student strike day! I must find out more about this. Pretty students in MY day were not aware that was an option.
Laviana high school (some more pictures of the town itself on flickr)
After Barredos I got excited about doing a class about Australian animals, and spent a few hours making up a sheet summarising 16 animals (Kangaroo, Koala, Echidna, Tasmania devil, Spotted quoll, Possum, Wombat, Platypus, Emu, Kookaburra, Lyrebird, Freshwater crocodile, Frill-necked lizard, Goanna (lace monitor), Box jellyfish, Blue ringed octopus) and selecting videos to show. My list has like 7 videos (17 minutes) which is probably too much, but we'll see. The best part was looking up kookaburra laughing videos. Even though kookaburras don't look particularly amused when they do it, the sound is very infectious.