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By júlia verdaguer, on gener 3rd, 2011% Deborah is a primary school teacher who works as a conversational assistant at Mare de Déu del Carme (Bellpuig) this year. She’s here to gain experience in teaching and also to learn some Spanish.
She writes about her experience in Spain and in the school, and about the cultural differences she’s been dealing with, specially those regarding eating habits!
She also gives some tips about how to teach English to little children in a Primary School, and gives us a list of topics that she has covered with her students, which can be very useful for other Primary Schools that have a Conversational assistant this year.
Enjoy!
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¡Hola! I’m Deborah; I’m a primary school teacher, working as a conversation assistant at Mare de Déu del Carme Primary School in Bellpuig in Catalonia.
I arrived in Spain on the 26th of September, and was greeted by my host family at the airport. They were very friendly and welcoming, but I did find communicating at first difficult, as they had little English and I spoke no Spanish. They integrated me into their family life; as though I was part of the family, and made sure I had everything I needed.
As part of my time here in Spain, I have had to learn Spanish on the computer, I have tasks to complete and an exercise book to work through. I have found that learning to speak Spanish is very important in assisting in the problems with communication. For although there are teachers at school who speak English who I can speak to if I have a problem, I have found that a lot of the parents in the families I’m staying with have little to no English.
Due to working with the school for the totality of the school year, I am staying with numerous families. This can be quite unsettling, having to re-adjust to different families each month but it does allow you to meet lots of people and have a more varied experience.
The eating times here are different to in England; they eat at numerous times of the day and late in the evening. They tend to have four meals a day, plus snacks, and the meals are large portions. Instead of only eating the whole meal off one plate, they are inclined to eat two plates, for example a plate of vegetables first, followed by a second plate of fish or meat. I am vegetarian and have found eating here very difficult but everyone has been very accommodating, trying to find food that I can eat.
At the school I work with all the children from the babies and toddlers in P1&2, right through to the older children in class 6. However, a larger proportion of my time is focused on working with the older children, as it’s my job to help them improve their pronunciation and to extend their use of English vocabulary.
I assist the children with their English through a variety of means: reading stories, games, songs, reciting, dictation and playing together. I work in classes across the curriculum, so the children and I get a broader experience during my time here in Spain.
Here are some of the things we have been learning about in school:
- Colours
- Seasons
- Numbers
- Toys
- Classroom Objects
- Clothes
- Animals
- Living and Non-Living things
We have read popular stories in English and enjoyed learning new words related to the stories.
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Cinderella
- We’re going on a Bear Hunt
(I would recommend bringing some English books with you, as the children really enjoy the stories, and they are expensive and difficult to purchase in Spain.)
We have learnt songs:
- I can see a rainbow
- Wheels on the bus
- We wish you a merry Christmas (verse 1)
We learn about festivals in England:
I have found my experience in Spain challenging but rewarding, everyone is very friendly and I’m glad I had the courage to take this opportunity. It is great experience for the future.
By júlia verdaguer, on desembre 20th, 2010% Alison Watkins, conversational assistant at Col·legi Escorial in Vic, wrote us this e-mail sharing her experiences and thoughts at the school and in Catalonia so far
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Hello,
I am a conversational assistant in L´Escorial,Vic. This large school has a playschool, a primary school and a secondary school. I teach students from primary and secondary school.
In primary school I teach 5th and 6th class. We often do projects on different topics such as Autumn, Halloween and Christmas. The students are very visual so I use flash cards and posters to help them with new vocabulary. We also play games and role-plays, this helps with their spoken English. The students are enthusiatic and make me laugh a lot. Now that I have sworn my allegiance to “Barca” football team I am accepted as one of their own! I would like to raise the point that I feel the school hours are too long for children this age. Most adults in Ireland work from 9-5 and so do the children here. I feel that these long hours would be a test to any-ones´attention span and that they have a part to play in behavioral issues that may occur in the classroom.
In secondary school I teach 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year. I do a variety of activities with the students such as: role-plays,reading,debates,conversational games,acting and more. The level of English varies from class to class and I thrive on this as it adds a challange for me. I enjoy teaching the secondary students it´s not always easy but it´s great when you see them making an effort to improve their English. I understand that for them it is difficult to feel confident speaking in front of their classmates, but I think we have moved over that hurdle, and now its difficult to get them to stay quiet! They remind me of when I was in school: moody,prone to tantrums,image conscience etc, but at the bottom of it just in need of reasurrance and support. I am learning a lot by teaching these students and I don´t have any grey hairs yet so that´s a good sign!
I can´t heap enough praise on the teachers in this school. I was a slow learner in school and this meant that I was over looked by my teachers. This didn´t help and in fact lead me to become disinterested and resentful. When I was 16 I moved school and the teachers in my new school helped me greatly. They took a personal interest in me and encouraged me. They got to know me as a person and always did their best for me. If I didn´t understand something in class, they helped me. This school is full of teachers with the above traits. It´s a pleasure to be surrounded by people like this and I aspire to learn from them. The teachers have made a huge effort to include me and welcome me into their school. I know that should I need their help, they would do so willingly and with great intent. This is a great school, and with teachers like this, I have no doubt of it´s continued success.
I am throughly enjoying my experience as a conversation assistant. It´s a great opportunity and I´m going to make the most of it.
Kind regards,
Alison
By júlia verdaguer, on desembre 13th, 2010% Last Friday, we recieved this great e-mail from Sagrat Cor – FEDAC Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Both the school and the conversation assistant are making the most of this experience, and are happy to share it with us.
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Dear members of the PAC Program,
Here I send you the comments written by our fantastic PAC teacher, Joe Martin, evaluating his stay with us since his arrival to our school in October 2010. Me, as the English Teacher Coordinator of the PAC program, as well as the other English teachers, I am very grateful to share English teaching daily activities with such a nice person as Joe. He is helping us a lot in the English language classroom in all different levels : Primary and Secondary. The students are strongly motivated and many of them are improving their English a lot. All of us in the school will be really excited to read Joe’s comments on the Website. I know you are not going to publish it until March but I prefer to send it to you right now. Thanks a lot for this nice pioneering experience. You will also find some photographs where Joe is teaching to some 4th ESO students. See you!!!
Yours sincerely,
Eduardo Pardo – English Teacher Coordinator
 A photograph of Joe and some students during a lesson
Here is Joe’s letter:
Since arriving here, I’ve been treated like a celebrity! The school has 700 children, so I found it difficult to remember names at first, but everybody knew mine! Everywhere I walked somebody would say ‘Hi!’. Mothers in the street would say ‘Hello!’ and I wouldn’t know who they were. It was a surreal experience!
I’ve been working with children aged 4 to 16, so there are huge differences between one lesson and the next! In some classes I assist in the pronunciation by taking children to the side and gently trying to get them to speak some English and then with the teenage classes I have to stop them talking too much!! However, most students want to learn English, so that makes my job much easier.
I move family every two months and I haven’t had a bad experience so far! All the families have been very welcoming and treat me like part of their family, which has been very enjoyable. I am enjoying Spanish food and have become accustomed to the cultural differences. My Spanish is improving too! Overall, It’s been a very rewarding experience.
JOE MARTIN
By júlia verdaguer, on novembre 10th, 2010% We have received this e-mail from Oonagh Wall, conversational assitant at Col·legi Sagrat Cor in Amposta!
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I am currently teaching in Col.legi Sagrat Cor in Amposta. I am enjoying the experience. Everyone is very nice and I get on well with the teachers and the students. I find the work very rewarding and enriching. I am gaining more confidence every day, which for me is very important. I am learning great teaching skills and techniques that will stand for me in my future career as a primary school teacher.
Oonagh with English students I am staying with an amazing family. They treat me like one of their own so I am very lucky in that respect. I even went to a Spanish wedding last weekend! I am enjoying the Spanish way of life and have adapted quite quickly to their customs. I especially enjoy the Spanish food and love going for tapas!
All in all, I am happy to be here and I would recommend this experience to anyone!
By júlia verdaguer, on novembre 9th, 2010% Hi from Mare de Déu de la Mercè in Sant Feliu de Llobregat.
My name is Michelle and I’m a Conversational Assistant working with primary and secondary school students. I arrived in Barcelona the 25th of September on a Saturday where I met my host family. At first I felt a little bit anxious. I couldn’t speak a word of Spanish and I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into but I soon discovered they were very welcoming and that a member of my host family had even spent a year in my hometown learning english in Ireland!
However, the area I was living in was a bit remote, something which was completely new to me, as I came from city. I had to learn to adapt, as my school was located in an hour from where I was living….the mornings a 6.30 am was something I had not seen before!
Every morning I have to travel for an hour, by car and train to my school. At first this was was very difficult, but after two to three weeks I adjusted to the early mornings and to the long days at my school.
My school´s system was completely different to the irish schools too; primary and secondary students were in the same building and all classes lasted for one hour. The hours were completely different too, I had a longer day, starting at nine and finishing at five, with a two hour luch to break up the day.
However, even though the majority teachers did not speak a lot of english, they were all very warming and made an effort to make me feel at ease, with the english they had. The students were all very friendly too, and most of them also made an effort to speak to me too as much as they could with the english they also had!
My job here is to try and talk to the students as much as possible in english, through oral activities such as games with the assistance of the english teachers at the school. I have to say I do prefer the older kids as you can do much more with them and the time in the classes goes much faster! At first I was not sure what exactly I had to do within the classroom but after a week or two I adjusted to my timetable with the help of the teachers and knew exactly what was expected from me by the teachers I worked alongside.
The different food and eating times was something which I found the toughest to adapt to….The big meal at luch time and the late dinners in the evenings……However, as I said before with time I adjusted! Now I am enjoying this experience a lot….Im meeting lots of new people, getting to really know the kids individually and I have also started a spanish course online. I know this year will go too fast!
By júlia verdaguer, on octubre 28th, 2010% “I am really enjoying my experience as a Conversation Assistant so far! I was greeted with a very warm welcome at the airport by Raquel (the home to home co-ordinator), Carmen (the English tutor from the school) and of course my host family.
I could not have asked for a nicer host family, they have made me so welcome into their home and always include me in their family arrangements. I feel like a member of the family now!
Carmen had been extremely helpful, giving us a guided tour of the school on the first day and introducing us to the other teachers, who are also very friendly and keen to help us if we have any doubts about anything.
The students at the school are very polite and welcoming, and so enthusiastic to improve their English!”
Conversation Assistant: Laura McGarvey
By júlia verdaguer, on octubre 25th, 2010% Good morning from Girona!
Ciara Mc Intyre, our conversation assistant for this year school year, has been interacting with our students since her arrival, on the 1st of October. From the little kids in P3 to our youngsters in 6, she will be helping us in developing oral skills in our students. We are all very excited about her work at our school and are very sure that her stay is going to be a great success!
Here is a picture of our Conversation Assistant on the day of her arrival at Barcelona airport.
By júlia verdaguer, on octubre 20th, 2010%  Ja fa tres setmanes que els auxiliars de conversa són a les nostres escoles. Com ja sabeu, cadascun d’ells s’allotja amb una família durant la seva estada a Catalunya; alguns s’estan amb la mateixa família fins al juny i d’altres van canviant cada trimestre. En alguns centres, estan buscant famílies per acollir l’auxiliar al segon i tercer trimestre. Des d’aquí us animem a ser una d’aquestes famílies: tenir un estudiant de parla Anglesa a casa, convivint amb vosaltres, és una gran oportunitat per millorar el nivell d’anglès de tota la família i per aprendre més coses sobre la cultura i tradicions d’aquests països.
By júlia verdaguer, on octubre 13th, 2010% El 26 de setembre, els auxiliars de conversa d’Anglaterra i Irlanda van aterrar a les escoles i famílies d’acollida. Ens han explicat que estan molt bé i que poc a poc es van acostumant a l’escola, als professors i als alumnes. També es van acostumant a les seves noves famílies, que els han obert les portes de casa i acollit com un fill o filla més.
Hem elaborat una petita guia per a les famílies acollidores que ja tenen l’auxiliar a casa seva, que els vam donar quan van venir a recollir l’auxiliar a l’aeroport. A la guia s’hi expliquen tant les obligacions legals de l’auxiliar com les obligacions per part de la família, i es donen unes pautes per a la relació entre la familia i l’auxiliar.
Per tots els que estigueu interessats en saber com funciona l’acollida (i així animar-vos l’any vinent!), podeu llegir la guia sencera fent clic en aquest enllaç.
A més, a partir de l’1 de novembre, podreu saber més coses sobre els Auxiliars de Conversa i les seves experiències al Blog dels Auxiliars de Conversa de FECC: Pac News.
De moment, us recordem que podeu veure totes les fotografies de l’arribada dels Auxiliars a l’àlbum que trobareu fent clic en aquest enllaç.
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