Before coming to Spain to
teach for three months I wasn´t quite sure what to expect. I had
heard stories about Spain, of course, about the delicious ham, the
siestas people take every day and how kind the people are here. But
you never really know what something is like until you try it. Or in
my case, until I was fully immersed in the language and culture of
the country. I had the opportunity to live with a wonderful host
family and teach in a high school where the students were all ears
about the United States. This experience was nothing like I thought
it would be, but better than I had imagined beyond words. By having
the chance to teach and live in Spain taught me more about the
culture than any amount of traveling could have.
When I first arrived in
Cacabelos I was in shock by the amount of differences there were
between the high schools in the United States and the one here. One
of the things that took the longest to get used to was that the
teachers are the ones who rotate classrooms. In all of my education
when I was the student it was I who would rotate to my
teachers´classrooms, not the other way around. Therefore, this was
difficult to get used to, having to bring material with you to each
class. Although, it was also nice to see the class waiting for you
ready whenever you were. That is something that is always a problem
in the U.S. when the students rotate, is that it is up to them to
arrive on time to the next class when many times they are late.
I began the trimester by
teaching the students about my life in the United States and what
Arizona (my home state) is like. It was fun to see that most of them
knew about the Grand Canyon, Arizona´s claim to fame. I really
enjoyed interacting with them and discussing the United States since
most of them haven´t been there before so they were very curious. I
truly enjoyed all of the classes and grade levels because each one
was so unique in many ways. In some classes we studied verb tenses or
conjugations and in others we studied physical education or biology.
No matter what the subject was, the students always found a way to
enjoy the class with their peers. The students are what made the
subjects enjoyable to teach and that is something I will really miss.
I
was so lucky to have been placed at Bergidum Flavium High School for
many reasons, but one is that they offer a bilingual track for the
students. Many of my students were in the bilingual program which
meant I got the opportunity to see their progression with English in
more than one subject per week. I saw them excel not only in English
class but also science and physical education class as well. Every
day I was impressed by their level of English. It takes a lot of work
to learn a subject like biology or physics in a second language. I
have a tremendous amount of respect for all the students here because
learning another language is not a simple task. I wish it was like
this in the United States because currently taking a second language
is optional. However, at Bergidum Flavium every student has
accomplished a great milestone already by having practiced English in
school.
It was a honor to work here
in Cacabelos with all the teachers and the students. This is an
experience I will never forget thanks to how welcoming everyone was
to me. I look forward to teaching in the United States and telling my
future students about Spain and what life is like here. I am sure
they will be equally as curious as the students were here. I know I
will always remember these past three months and I hope to return to
Cacabelos one day in the future. Thank you to everyone for making my
experience here so memorable.
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