Quick Blog Before Class

So I thought I´d describe a little bit my school and my day here for you. My hands are very cold, so I might not be able to type as fast as I would like... the weather has been typical fall I think: which means about 50s and 60s during the day and 30s and 40s during the night. I´m always cold in the morning.

So I´m at my secondary school, Batalla de Clavijo, this morning, sitting in the computer lab typing before class. We have five computers in here that the teaching staff share, so I don´t go on much when there are many people (I don´t like to type emails while they are typing work). Anyways, my first class of the day is with two accelerated ninth graders named Germán and Olmo. They have been taken out of their regular class once a week to come spend the hour with me, reading stories, chatting it up... I really like this, especially to start the day, before they are very good, and because I can basically do whatever I want to do with this hour. I´ve taken advice from their teacher, my boss, in how to proceed with them so as not to go too far ahead in their workbook. We´re reading a little novela right now in English and talking about it and answering questions. They´re good kids, and I like talking to them.

Until now I´m just getting over introducing myself to a bunch of the classes. They will be switching me about just a little bit. I will be with the two ninth graders every week though. Next, I generally am sent to what they call the Bachierato classes (eleventh and twelfth grades). They are 16-18 years old, generally, although they seem much older I think, and they know more English, but most times they are less willing to speak. I am glad that there are teachers with me in the classrooms at times because they threaten them with homework if they don´t listen to me.

I have another regular class at the secondary school called the Escuela de Idiomas (School of Language). This is an accelerated high school level class that follows a different course of language classes for their high school years than the other students. They are the same age and everything, they just have extra classes in language. So I have them for class twice a week! And I am basically just doing my own thing in front of the class the whole time. The profesor helps me pick out lesson plans and I do them with the students. Because this is a specialized curriculum, there are only six students per class (great!). In the other classes of students their age (Bachierato level) they have about thirty per class. So it is much easier to work in a large group, and easier to manage the small groups as well.

I better go get ready now. We have a separate break and ready room for the English department here at Batalla. There are seven teachers in the department counting me. I´ve met them all, and met most of their classes. They are very nice people, and yes, of course, they all have different teaching styles. Some of them like to yell at students, some speak more English, some speak less, some make the students speak, and some think writing is more important. I am more of an observer when I come to their classes for the most part. I am glad I have several classes to kind of do my own thing with... I guess that is how you really learn. Soon I hope that I can simply implement my own lesson plans on them...

Tell me how this sounds: An entire unit devoted to baseball-- America´s pasttime. ? That´d be pretty great I think. I could start right now with the World Series, and work in the beauty of small market teams like the Twins. Ahh yes. Let me know if you have other ideas for things I should put in the brains of these impressionable young Spaniards.

Goodbye for now! More coming later!