I.E.S Emilio FerrariHi everyone! In this post I want to share my experience as an English teaching assistant at Emilio Ferrari, a secondary school in Valladolid. I have to admit, when I was first presented with my school placement and realized it was at a secondary school, I felt a little anxious because I was hoping to work at a primary school like the one I was at in Tenerife. There wasn't much I could do to change my placement, so I had to look at the positives to working at a secondary school and keep a positive outlook. I.E.S Emilio Ferrari I had already experienced what it was like to work at a secondary school level, as I was a Fulbright ETA at a school in La Rioja in which I worked with kids from grade 3 to 4th of ESO ( If you want to hear more about that experience click here) so I knew what to expect for the most part. To my surprise, Emilio Ferrari was a VERY big school by Spain standards. I also learned that Emilio Ferrari was very well known for their British program, and all the study abroad trips they take to the US, the UK, and all around Europe. I was also happy to discover that there was to be another auxiliar in addition to me at the school! This made me happy because when I was working at my school in Tenerife there was also another auxiliar, I liked being able to have someone else I could relate to and discuss school and auxiliar life with. I found that we were warmly greeted by everyone at the school and all the teachers seemed eager to meet us and work alongside of us in class. It was a few weeks until we got an official schedule as the teachers themselves were still working on getting their own fixed schedules together so in the beginning the other auxiliar and I would just hop around to different classes and meet new students everyday. I have to say that I was tremendously impressed with how well the teachers spoke English, and I was especially blown away with how well the students spoke English! They knocked my socks off! At my previous secondary school in La Rioja, my secondary school students spoke for the most part very poor English and the majority of the English teachers there didn't speak too well either. So it made me really happy to notice that at this school the students and teachers both spoke extremely well! Eventually we were given a schedule and I was to work alongside of many different teachers. My Schedule
I worked 12 hours a week and my work schedule ran from Monday to Thursday and my daily schedule changed depending on the day. Usually, Depending on the day, I worked 8AM-2PM, 9AM-1PM, 9AM-2PM,or sometimes from 10AM-3PM. This is not to say that I worked every single hour of the day. Our schedules had very large gaps in which we would have to wait two or three hours until the next class started. During these gap times I was able to lesson plan and meet with teachers who wanted to discuss what they wished to accomplish in class with me. My Classes I worked in mostly English classes, and in these classes I would present on different topics relating to American culture, holidays and customs. I'd also play review games with them and prepare different activities for them to engage in, such as skits and plays. In addition to working in solely English classes I also worked alongside of an Art teacher and Geography teacher. I really enjoyed being in these classes because I was able to see some of my regular English class students in a different setting. My Co-Teachers All in all I worked alongside of 9 different teachers. Some of these teachers I would only see once a week while others I would see twice a week, but with different classes each time. For the most part my co-teachers were all very professional, friendly and made me feel welcome and accepted in the classroom. They let me prepare most any lesson I wanted to talk about and supported me. They also took care of much of the discipline in class. My Students My students, what can I say about my dear students? Well, I can mention how I worked with grades 1st of ESO through 1st of bachillerato, which is essentially 7th grade through 11th grade. I only had one section of 1st of ESO (7th grade), one section of 1st of bachillerato (11th grade), and several 2nd (8th grade), 3rd (9th grade) and 4th (10th grade) of ESO classes. I, of course had my select favorite classes that I always looked forward to seeing and one or two classes that were a bit difficult. I think my most difficult class was with a specific 3rd of ESO class because the students were very unmotivated, and hardly anyone participated in class. I tried numerous times to vamp up my teaching style to best fit their needs but they never really wanted to do anything. It wasn't until right before COVID19 hit that I felt like were were finally getting somewhere. I have to admit, I'll miss these kids. Not only did they all speak great English, they were also very well behaved (for the most part-kids are kids) and they were humble. They weren't as snooty and cocky as my kids in La Rioja, which is something I feared they would be. They always looked forward to my classes and they would come up to me after class and thank me for my lesson of the day. I'm genuinely sad that I won't be able to give them a proper farewell due to COVID19. Overall: Emilio Ferrari is a great school. It has amazing teachers (I even gave two private lessons to the children of some teachers at this school), good kids, and amazing facilities and programs that the kids can take part in, one being the fantastic study abroad program they run. Actually, before Covid19 hit some of my students were supposed to be going on a study abroad trip to the US, the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and other cities in Europe, but of course this was all put to a halt once COVID19 hit. I wish all the students I taught at this school nothing but the best! I'll remember them always and fondly. These secondary school students helped me realize that I am also a great secondary school teacher, which is something I didn't think to be true prior to arriving at this school. I'll cherish all the sweet moment I experienced here, from the surprise Thanksgiving party my 1st of ESO students threw me to singing happy birthday to me on my birthday that fell on a school day. Thanks for being so sweet and magical. I'll definitely miss working here, and I hope the next auxiliar enjoys their stay at this school. It's been real, it's been fun and I have admit it's been real fun. :) Con amor, Nelli <3
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