Valencia here we come! ✈

Tomorrow we will be getting up at 2am to fly to Spain. I am not a morning person, as much as I have tried to be in the past, so I can't say I will be on best form tomorrow morning. However, the excitement of what lies ahead over the next four weeks will pull me through. Having received my timetable and accommodation information I am feeling a mixture of emotions. I'm feeling excited but also apprehensive as everything still seems like it's not really happening. 

I have really enjoyed my time here in Kent, meeting all these great people who are going to share this experience with me. They have all made me feel at ease and I feel we have all bonded really well as a group. 

Looking at my timetable it looks relatively good from what I can gather. Having looked at the ESO classes, I will be teaching 14-17 year olds which I'm a little nervous about. I'm worried as they're not that much younger than me that the teenagers on the older end of the scale won't respect me as their teacher. I was hoping to have younger children however this will be a new experience with a new age range that I've never worked with before. I feel excited to get started, although I'm not looking forward to the 55 minute journey from my house to the school (to get in for 8am!). One benefit is that all my classes are finished by 13:50 at the latest everyday, so I have the rest of the day to plan lessons and explore Valencia.

Having done my CELTA online, I am hoping the first few days will be more about observing and delivering parts of lessons and activities rather than entire days of lessons. I really don't feel ready for that! I want to get to know the students from an 'observation perspective' so to speak, working out what they enjoy and what engages them in the classroom. I am not sure what my classroom presence will be like, but I'm trying to view this as an opportunity to test out different teaching methods rather than as a test of my ability as a teacher. This is making me feel a little more at ease!

Valencia here we come! ✈

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 1b - I cannot dance

Today was the first day of school. It all feels so non-stop. I am exhausted already and there is a whole week ahead. I still cannot quite process what is going on. UKLC have flown me out, given me five-star training in Kent, provided great and uncomplicated accommodation, fed me and have basicaly done everything from putting me on the plane in London through to just short of tucking me into bed in Spain. It's like magic. I realised today that being here for such a short time makes my place at Pastorina (my school) all the more important. ‘There’s nothing worse than a handshake agreement reinforced with legal paperwork, humbling generosity and notable kindness’, I thought. ‘I’m in big trouble here…’ We were driven to the school by Sophia from Language Kingdom who was lovely and spoke with perfect English. Stepping from the car, I was greeted by the sound of Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley in the air. As we were led to the school, the sound seemed to grow louder until we reached a ...
Read more

Haiku 5: Food

 --- In a wash of heat a Colombian woman proudly lays out food --- This weekend has been wonderful. Yesterday, me, Lieve and Bob went to Leon’s contemporary art museum in the morning. We took a slightly longer route to get there (which, hem, had nothing to do with my map reading skills..) which took us down smaller streets with beautiful views of Leon’s old and new buildings crammed together – it still hasn’t stopped surprising me how evidence of different eras exist so easily together here. People will zoom past medieval walls on their electric scooters and a block of 1920s flats squeezes up beside a supermarket. I didn’t like everything in the art museum, but some things I loved, including an installation of a city street reflected in puddles, changing from day to night. The visit made me feel grounded again. Me and Lieve went on to find a café that turned out to be more like a restaurant – a very proud Colombian woman seemed to be running the place and put a tablecloth and...
Read more

Patrick's Packing list

I looked through all the blog posts from previous years and could not find anyone who has posted a complete list of items they packed. I thought I would do the honours instead. This might be the last year of the Erasmus+ because of Brexit, so I'm not sure if this will be so useful for future applicants, but in case the government changes its mind and restarts the programme (perhaps not named after a dutchman but someone more relevant to the 21st century like Bernard Matthews or Ainsley Harriet) refer to calm your minds, people from the future! - Passport  - CELTA Certificate ( Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, not the  Certification in Elephant and Lion Taming--easy mistake to make!)  - GHIC Card - Proofs of Address used for DBS Certificate - Jeans - Shorts (jorts?) - Medication (meditation?) - Coat + hoodie ('expect an arctic tundra' is what I heard in conversation with permanent staff) - GoPro (odd name for a camera used exclusively by amateurs) - Sock...
Read more