Life as an English teacher

I love English, yes. Teaching it....welllll

I come from a family of teachers; my mother and my aunt (now principal), even two of my grandparents were teachers.  Even though I enjoyed school as a kid, I knew that I would never have the patience to be a teacher.  I knew that this program meant teaching English but it also meant living in Spain and traveling Europe! So worth the trade off, plus I even get a salary..pretty nice deal.  I would think to myself, "maybe this program will change my mind and I will fall in love with teaching"...aah nope.  I'm still pretty certain that I'm not meant to be a teacher. Oh well, it's a great experience.

I work in two elementary schools; one in the city and one in a village.  Which one do you think I prefer?  Well going to the village is like visiting a zoo, the children are loud and misbehaved.  In fact, I barely teach.  The level of English is so low that I sit on the side and get stared at while the teachers ramble off in Spanish.  However, in the city, it is much better.  The teachers are organized, they know what they want me to do or say every week.  I usually prepare powerpoint presentations; Halloween, Thanksgiving, All about Samantha, American food, etc.  It's an easy job no matter what anyone says.  You get paid to go speak your native language and talk about yourself.  I am supposed to be in the classroom for 12 hours a week but in order to carpool with teachers, I'm really at school from 9-2 every day except Mondays. 

The students: Kids are kids..loud, silly, obnoxious, funny, blunt..we all know this. Kids who don't speak English can be even more hilarious.  Imagine 50 little kids running up to you every day and all they can come up with is "SAMAAANTTTAAAA!!!" Yes, I left out the H on purpose, they don't pronounce it.  I've even been called "Hamantha" before.  I'm the celebrity in school, they love me. 

Halloween crafts

 

...haha

 

cute, right?

My reasons for coming to Spain were to travel and improve my Spanish.  Although I spend my entire day speaking English, I'm still learning Spanish.  I try to carry around a notebook with me to write down new vocabulary words or phrases that the teachers say to the kids.  I also translate the worksheets that I teach to the students.  I teach Science, English and Art.  My first week in my school they threw me into teaching the reproductive system in English.  WHY!? It went suprisingly well but it was still awkward. Things have become more comfortable ever since those first few lessons and I'm adjusted to my new routine. I feel as if I did a good job explaining Halloween and Thanksgiving, next up...Christmas!

 



Shout out to my mother; I am proud of how hard you work every day as a teacher in the United States, especially in the city of New Orleans. Not only do you put your time into teaching, but also your heart and soul. The education system that I have seen so far in Spain is a cake walk compared to what you go through. The hours of the day are shorter and the preparation seems to be more basic here..also, there are double the amount of vacations!