So... I'm a teacher now!!

In just a few months I´ve gone from being pretty much a lifelong student to a teacher! It seemed surreal my first couple weeks. When did I get the permission to teach classes of 30+ kids? And multiple classes a day! Well here I get the chance…

I was nervous my first couple weeks here to say the least. I spent my first week at Fulbright orientation and moving into my apartment. Then it was time for my meeting with the other two English Teaching Assistants and our coordinator. I had no idea what to expect. My school was so much farther away than most other Fulbrighters, would it be much different than central Madrid? I gave myself plenty of time to get to the town. I took a train from Atocha (right next to my apartment luckily) and arrived about 40 minutes later in Ciempozuelos. With the navigation on my phone I followed the roads up to the address I´d been given for the school. Google maps had told me originally that it was about a 20-minute walk... well after about 25 and still another 5 or 10 minutes to go I was getting worried! Then I ended up there - navigation saying: "you´ve now arrived at your destination". And what do I see? A run-down building with no one there except two construction workers. Hopeless I ask them where Instituto Francisco Umbral is... they look at me confused and say it´s another 15-minute walk up a couple roads headed northeast. At this point I´m panicking. My appointment starts in just minutes. I call my coordinator who gives me directions down a road completely different than the workers had told me. Seems I had been given the wrong address on my original Fulbright paperwork… I can´t find the new street name on my phone. And after wandering around in circles for another 5 minutes the construction workers pull up in their truck and ask if I need some more help. They offer me a ride to the school... and at this point I wasn´t sure what else to do! Mom, you would likely kill me for this. But yes, I agreed and got in the truck. And luckily it proved to be a good decision! After driving for about 5 minutes we arrived at the school. It would have taken me ages to walk to on my own. I arrived about 10 minutes late to the meeting and was not greeted too happily. I guess my coordinator had somewhere to be in about a half hour... whoops! At least I made it and got the information I needed! I walked back to the train station with the other two TAs, Feargal (from Ireland) and Angela (from New York), and they showed me the right way to the station. Never will I do that again!

Where I teach - Instituto Francisco Umbral in Ciempozuelos

About another week passed before we started teaching, which was great so that I had time to decorate the apartment, get situated, prepare for classes, etc. I received my final schedule at last and am very happy about it! Here’s a photo from my planner… I’ve written in my schedule with my classes, breaks, and teacher coordination times. Everything written in pencil on the sides is the train and bus times… it’s a bit confusing! Just now getting used to it and we’re already a few weeks in. I'm gone for about 8-9 hours per day total for work (other than private tutoring or other events of course).

My schedule/"horario de clases"

Being an assistant teacher, I’m assigned to a variety of classes. I teach 4 natural sciences classes, 5 technology classes, 5 art classes, and 2 English classes. So 16 hours of teaching plus 4 hours of coordination (1 with each teacher). I’m contracted for 20 hours per week in session, but I also spend several hours a week lesson planning and commuting. The commute is about 1.5 hours there, 1.5 hours back each day. Sometimes it can be just over an hour, depending on how long I have to wait for the train and/or buses. It’s a bit of a trek, so mornings are rough. But I’m getting used it! Little did I know that sleeping until 7 would be “sleeping in” now. The days I get up at 6 are the hardest!

My classes are good though; I’ve learned so much about teaching already! I teach 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd years at a secondary school (middle school/high school here in Spain). 1^st years are 12-13 years old, 2^nd years are 13-14 years old, and 3^rd years are 14-15 years old. Mandatory secondary schooling finishes after 4 years (at about 16 years old), and the last two years is called bachillerato. This is only necessary if the student plans to go on to university.

I have only A, B, or C classes, which is great. The Spanish school system is set up differently than in the U.S. Kids are organized by how well they do in school/how much English they know. At my Instituto, A-level students are sección students, meaning they passed the exam to let them into the completely bilingual program. These classes are smaller; one of them only has 13 students. All other students (B, C, D, E, & F) are programa students. B and C classes know some English and many of them try to be good students, however, the class sizes are much larger (30+), so those classes are harder to handle. D, E, & F classes are tough. Some of the kids don’t want to be at school and they don’t know much English at all, making it difficult for English teaching assistants. Luckily I wasn’t assigned to any of these classes… but I hear many stories from Feargal and Angela (the other TAs). I think it helps to have the best students in classes with other students that do well at school because it encourages them to strive for even better. However, for the students that don’t do as well in class I think it is tough for them to aim for better when they’re surrounded by others who distract and struggle through. I don’t think it’s quite fair to them. But like anything, it has its advantages and disadvantages compared to our system in the U.S. Viewing it from the teacher point of view for the first time, instead of the student view, has given me a whole new perspective.

My classes are all very different. In the science classes I either help or lead the class, depending on the lesson. For example, in the lab I assistant the teacher (Mercedes) or take half the class and lead the experiment. In lecture classes I may lead half the class session with an activity or lesson, or take over a full class session, depending on the day. Sometimes I get to do a PowerPoint if we have access to the audiovisual room for the class; otherwise the classrooms only have chalkboards. A picture of me with my smallest class, 1A, after a presentation on phases of the moon and eclipses is shown below.

My 1A Natural Sciences class after a PowerPoint presentation

In the art classes the curriculum is already set, so I don’t come up with my own lessons unless it’s for a special holiday, such as Halloween (picture shown below of the pumpkins I taught the kids how to make today). The art classes are more of technical drawing classes. The students use compasses, rulers, triangles, etc. and learn about geometry and drawing lines, shapes, tangents, and much more. It’s a lot different from the classes I was accustomed to in high school, so it took me a couple weeks to learn what to do. But now I’m able to assist and help out the students as much as I can! It’s neat to see the artwork and designs the students come up with. I have either 1^st year or 3^rd year art classes.

We decorated the classroom with the mini cardstock pumpkins!

I only have two English classes – 1B and 3A. For these classes I come up with a full lesson plan for each class period. The curriculum is completely different for 1B versus 3A, so each lesson plan varies significantly. The teacher, Paz, (also the director of the bilingual program and therefore my advisor) is in the classroom while I teach but is only there to assist and translate when necessary. So these classes give me the full opportunity to write my own lessons, manage complete classes, and get the comprehensive teaching experience. It can be tough coming up with lessons that will engage the class and take up the whole time period, but it’s great to come up with unique ideas and see how the kids learn from them and react. Each class I learn something that I can use in the future.

My technology classes are fun. They are in the computer rooms, so the classroom setup and atmosphere is different. We only have 15 computers, so it’s difficult with the classes of 33 or 34 because the kids have to share. Somehow it works out! The 1^st year students are learning the basics, like making tables in Microsoft Word, creating and saving files, and learning PowerPoint. The 3^rd years are learning the basics of computer-animated drafting programs and engineering programs like QCAD, CAD, etc. This was tough getting used to at first since I’ve never been taught the programs, but being that I studied graphic design the basics came pretty easily to me. Virginia, the teacher I work with, is great. It is her first year at the school as well, so we help each other out as much as we can!

So far it’s been great teaching. Because it’s my first time as a teacher, it takes a lot out of me. I’m not used to being on my feet all day, working with kids, the long commute, etc. Over the coming weeks I feel I am going to get used to it though, it’s already gotten more manageable. Preparing lessons over the weekends really helps so I don’t feel too stressed on the weekdays. I really enjoy helping kids learn and making it as fun for them as possible. I’m finally getting used to being called “teacher” or “profe” (short for profesora) all day! Sometimes they use my name... but usually it’s “teacher, teacher!” all day long… It’s a neat feeling though that the kids look up to me. I’m seen almost as a “celebrity” at school because I’m from California. I find it funny the kids idolize my state so much. They get excited to hear and learn about where I come from, my family, my schooling, etc. Some of the girls in the younger classes love to ask me all sorts of funny questions after class. A girl in the 2A class asked me last week if grocery store shopping was the same in California as it is in Spain. She had all sorts of questions about it! I explained it to her and she seemed thrilled, not that there’s much of a difference. But hey, if I can make her day – awesome! Another neat moment was when I was walking to school one morning and a 12-year old girl from my 1A class, Elena, came up to me with her group of friends and walked the rest of the way with me. She talked for a while, and as we were arriving at school told me that she practices English at home by herself even though no one in her family knows much of any. She said that her dream is to become an English teacher like me; it was such a sweet feeling knowing that she aspires to do good and wants to teach too!