week twenty-one-twenty-four: when i'm not traveling i...(teaching edition).

with my 1A class.

Because for some reason I just cannot be boarding a plane every week. I have to be doing other things with my time here, right? Just a little summary of my teaching experience here in Spain. "When I'm not traveling I..."

The topics I've covered include flower reproduction, the different vertebrates, systems of the body, light, and the Spanish governement. Before I teach the content in English the classroom teacher teaches everything in Spanish.

I see majority of my classes twice a week but there are a few I only see once a week. Each class session runs about thirty minutes.

I see grades 1-6 every week and on special occassions I also see infantil (3-5 years old). Spain doesn't have a kindergarten grade so grades 1-6 is the equivalent to America's K-5.

Apart from teaching the science curriculum, I've also talked to the students about American traditions in celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. This also includes reading a novel related to the topic in order to capture their interest.

Each of the teachers that I work with all have a different take on their presence when I'm in the class. Some teachers take more of a hands-off approach and observe while some co-teach with me. All the teachers I work with are bilingual in Spanish and English (lucky me!).

Like the blog title, I am not only teaching but learning all about the Spanish culture and history (not so much on the language!). I've been able to see how Spain celebrates certain holidays like Constitution Day, Halloween, and Peace Day.

Lastly...

I create and present Prezis for all my science and culture lessons. Here's one example that I used with my 2nd graders. They loved it!

This is mainly what I've been doing with my school so far. If you want to see more of my school here's their site: www.ceipatenea.org/ .Challenge #1: it's in spanish. Challenge #2: there's a video of me teaching floating around on the site...see if you can find it!