Today was a day of first. I started school at 9am and finally got onto the Internet to check my mail and responses from friends. The fact that none of my fellow L&C asst didn’t reply to my emails/messages made me think that perhaps they had the same issues of access to the Internet during the weekend that I had. It is nice to feel like I’m not the only one in this boat. After checking my mail I started working on my health poster due Wednesday for Inma’s science class. Pocho was nice enough to finally give me a schedule for this week. Although it is tentative and it will definitely change next week it was nice to know how I could plan out my free time. I was excited to actually help out a teacher in a subject that wasn’t English. It just adds a different dimension to your task when you have to be the English translated in a math class or a science class. Today I worked with Raquel in Segundo A and B classes. I would guess the kids are 7 or 8?? So the minute I stepped in the kids went crazy. Raquel could barely talk because all the kids just started bombarding me with questions all at once. As soon as Raquel said introduced me and said I told them I was from Estados Unidos they were all over me. “Do you live in the casa Blanca?” “Do you have a boyfriend?” “Do you have a pet” How close are you from Huelva?” and so forth. A few of them kept thinking that since I spoke English I was from England but I had to keep repeating “no, Estoy de estados unidos, no ingleterra!” It was the first time the kids were actually addressing me personally. I like it but they didn’t really get any work done and I couldn’t understand most of the questions because I got about four at a time, all in Spanish. The cutest were these twin girls. They spoke really clearly and they asked where I got my clothes, if I had a pet, more personal stuff. It was fun but very chaotic. The highlight of my day was I received my first “fan mail” as I like to call it. A little girl drew a picture of me on her tissue and gave it to me as I left. SOOOOO PRECIOUS. I plan on saving everything I am given. Maybe I’ll take a picture of it and post it on the blog. After that class I had a break so I worked on the poster some more.
The next class was art with Raquel but her other Segundo class. This class was much more relaxed and the students seemed to be doing their work without a fuse. Granit it was art so they were just coloring and cutting out things, but still they were calm and actually doing it. Once a kid had finished cutting out the pieces that would make a doll I would come around to their desk and quiz them on body parts. I stuck to eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and head. Most of the kids were just repeating what I said and didn’t really know the body parts but every once in awhile a little boy or girl got it. After I was done quizzing a kid I would say Muy Bien and give them a high five. I felt like I was actually connecting to the kids so I was happy. A few of them asked me some questions and this one girl pointed out that we had similar bracelets on. She was very cute. Like in the other class, as I started to leave a little girl gave me another piece of “fan mail” in the form of a leaf. It’s the thought that counts right? It was hard at times when they asked me questions about their work because they don’t really respond to English but they are just so darn cute. On my way home I had my first conversation with a young girl. She looked to be one of the older students but I didn’t ask what grade she was in. We waked home in the same direction so we started to chat. It was the best conversation I have had in Spanish since I got to Spain haha I felt so comfortable talking to her. She spoke clearly and slowly and added a bit of English hear and there. She talked like an adult and I enjoyed our walk. I look forward to walking home with her in the future.
About a minute after I got to my place I heard a knock on my door. A fellow teach Toni introduced her daughter Maria and pointed out to me that she lived literally across the street from me and she told me “me casa es su casa” and said if I even needed anything that she was there for me. It was very sweet and I really appreciated the gesture. I will be tutoring her daughter and son on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s so I’m sure I’ll be in her house a ton. A half and hour later Elisa finally returned. She told me a few other rules about the house such as the cleaning rule that one week she will sweep the kitchen and the dinning room and then the next week I should do it. She also gave me an exact list of what extra things I will be paying for besides just the rent. It wasn’t a big deal and I was actually impressed with the fact that she liked keeping the place clean and that it was a joint effort. After that I made this amazing salad full of fresh vegetables for lunch (at 2:30p). So good.
The rest of the afternoon I dedicated to prepping for my first two tutoring sessions. I was so nervous for them. I’ve never tutored someone one on one, let alone in academics. Most people know very well that I don’t even like English. I’m normally always the one who gets corrected and now I have to correct other people, this might be really funny. My biggest issue was appearing confident to my students and acting like I knew exactly what I was doing. The guidebook I read on Saturday said it is really important to be confident in the sessions and stay in control, otherwise “they will eat you alive” (this was referring to teaching teenagers alone, but it applies here as well). Gulp, here I go. First up: Sergio, age 15, son of my co-worker Anna. Well I started the session off by saying from here on out you can only speak English. Next I introduced myself by using the photos I brought from home. I did this to show off my family, interests, and home life but also because I thought it would eat up a good chunk of time haha. After that I asked him to tell me about himself in the same manner. He spoke better than I had expected. I asked Corrie about how well the teenagers spoke in her school and she said beyond the usual introductions they weren’t very advanced, but I thought Sergio did a pretty good job. His problem area was the past, but who could blame him. I can’t talk in the past in Spanish any better. We shared a passion for soccer and a love of Coldplay. He plays a lot of sports but he likes soccer the best. He told me that he plays his games at Triana field and that anyone can watch FO FREE. Little does he know that I will be there every Saturday secretly cheering him on lol. After introductions I made him write down the things he liked to get an idea of what his written English was like. Again, it was pretty good so I don’t think it’s going to be quite as hard as I thought it was going to be with him. He showed me his English workbook and what units he was working on currently. He made it clear that he wanted to primarily follow the book so that he could review stuff before he had tests. Makes sense to me. His mom told me after the session that she wants me to also teach more “everyday conversational English” because the book does not do a good job at that at all. I bought a Grammar In Use book to provide me with activities but now I have to go find fun activities to supplement the grammar work. So far so good. Did I mention that he likes to go to Bar Blue with his friends? Hah! I cannot wait to go there with Corrie and run into him. I’m actually really looking forward to it LOL!
Next up Ana y Paco. Well it turns into just Ana because Paco had a last minute teachers meeting. That was actually better for me because it gave Anna a chance to really talk in English. I went through the same begging with her and I did with her son. I showed her my pictures and then she showed me her house. It was nice. Most of the session was her talking about her family, what she likes to do, why she like English, and what she wants to get out of this experience. Again, she really doesn’t make many errors. The only problems\ she encounters is with the past and occasionally not knowing what the word she wants to use in English is. Nothing major from what I heard. I think her sessions will be harder because it is only conversation and the only way I can think to expand her vocabulary is through role playing and making her think of what to say in typical or maybe not typical situations. I was hoping to go through some role-playing scenarios with her and Paco but because he didn’t show up and time was running out I ended the session with 20 Questions. At first she was confused with the concept but then she got the hang of it and I think she enjoyed it. All in all a pretty good day in terms of tutoring. Now that I’ve gotten one day under my belt (and I’m 20 Euros richer) I’m thinking that my Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s are going to be WAY HARDER. I’ll let you know how that goes manana. Ciao!
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