Feeling at home in León

After a slightly bumpy start due to the accommodation plan suddenly changing when we arrived, I am starting to feel really settled here. My flatmates are very sweet and have invited me to go out with them tonight, and my Spanish has improved so much! 

My first few days in the school have been a bit odd as they've been preparing for exams all week, so it's just revision lessons which isn't much to observe. But I've been making good use of the time helping the kids if they have questions, checking their work for them, trying to remember as many names as I can - and my way around the labyrinth of a building😂- so I'll be familiar with everything and ready for next week when it really starts. 

My mentor is lovely and told me that on Monday they are moving on to the next part of the syllabus so it will be back to regularly scheduled lessons and I can start to do proper observations and teaching. I asked her to send me the modules they will be covering while I'm here, so I can start to brainstorm. The main thing I'm nervous about is classroom control, as I see some of you mentioning, they talk over the teachers a lot here! 

Luke and I were discussing this yesterday and saying that one big difference between schooling in the UK and Spain, is that here, the students have a set classroom, and the teachers move around. But in the UK, it's the students that move around between classrooms. In the UK, the teacher makes their classroom into their space, with helpful materials for their subject on the walls etc., so when the students arrive, they are entering the teacher's space for learning.... here however, it is the teacher that is entering the students established space and disrupting their ★vibe★, which I think is a big part of the reason for the issue. Hopefully I can build enough rapport and they will follow my instructions.

The students I'm teaching are aged about 11-15, which is perfect for me as I always liked the idea of working in a secondary school. León is beautiful and starting to feel very familiar.

So glad to see you're all getting on well too <3 I love reading everyone's blogs. 

Sorry this was so long ✌ over and out xxx

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