Today was my last day of school. I think back to my last days of school in the States. As a kid, searching for that guy I´d had a crush to ask him to sign my yearbook. Already smelling the sunblock and chlorine. Thinking about kickball in the street, sweet iced tea and no homework. As a teacher, no more Johnny in my class, who grated on my nerves all year. No more papers to grade. No more hopeless feelings that we´ll get paid more and the parents will understand. And now, my last day here in a Spanish school. There were some big differences this year. I had no more obligations to the school other than teaching the language portion of the class, and even those I never had complete control over. No cafeteria duty, parents to deal with, faculty meetings, car duty, papers to grade or curriculum to abide by. The children were much less disciplined and younger than I am used to at the middle school level. The principal spoke no English, so I had no communication with him. I only worked from 10 to 2 every day, and had several breaks in between where I could leave, get a coffee, or just walk around town. The language barrier caused some problems, as it was difficult if the teacher stepped out and the kids got rowdy. Other times, it made some students shine that otherwise wouldn´t. If anything, as far as teaching goes, this year has definitely sparked in interest in teaching the elementary grades, especially 4th or 5th. They are still excited to learn. They don´t give you hugs and stickers anymore, but they´re excited. You can reach them, which is one thing I struggled with while teaching middle school. I learned I love the English language, and language in general. I picked up a lot of Spanish along the way, but hearing a language and understanding it is a lot different than speaking it fluently and grammatically correct. I know now I will pursue Spanish further, in the university or possibly teaching ESL. I learned I definitely want to return to the university for a masters. And here, I felt like such a good teacher. So many of the activities I brought in they had never heard of or tried. They have limited access to technology, and work much out of the text and workbook. They´d never thrown a ball around to review. Played tic tac toe with vocabulary. Had the students stand up in the middle of class to reengage them. In some ways, America is much further ahead in education than Spain. When I left, the kids clung to my legs and my bilingual coordinator brought me into the office with another teacher and the jefe (boss). It was bittersweet saying goodbye. I probably will never see this school, these teachers, these students, again. But I hope I have sparked some interest in the English language for them, made them aware of a bigger world, opened the door to a new culture. You don´t have to live in Spain for a year to learn about another language or culture. But you do have to be aware that you´re not the only ones in this world, and learning, and being open, will help you understand more. About who you are, and who everyone else is, and how you´re all connected.
1st Grade
2nd Crazy Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
6th Grade
