Wow, do I miss my Harbor Lights kids- Shout out to those of you reading this. Not that my Spanish kids are bad, they are fine, they just aren't the same.
The school is thrilled to have a native English speaker, it's like I am a celebrity or something! They all know who I am, and I am struggling to memorize their names, luckily, there are 4 Marta's in my 6th grade class so odds are I can call out that name and get it right. They have me observing Social Studies, Spanish, and French classes (I am going to learn French while I am here), and then I am planning and such for the English classes. I have 6-10th graders for English, but most of my time is spent with an 8th grade class and a 6th grade class.
What I have actually found most interesting is the French class. Like the 6th graders, this is my first experience with the language, so I am learning it with them. It is interesting to watch the same teaching methods implimented in a language I do not understand. Oh! And what is more entertaining- so in a language class, 90% of the instruction is supposed to be in the new language. The other 10% is then what is usually your native tongue. I find this extremely exhausting because the target language in the class is French. BUT the other 10% is in SPANISH, another language I am still perfecting! I just think it is so funny, and I now know how all those ELL students feel if they were to be thrust into a Spanish or French class. Crazy.
Either way- I have noticed so many differences in between schools in Spain and schools in the US! First of all, they have public Catholic schools- where the teachers are just teachers, they don't really say a prayer at any point throughout the day- they have a quote to think about each day, but it isn't even a bible quote. They have a religion class, but it is twice a week. You also don't have to be Catholic to attend. They have Asian kids (which I am only assuming are not Catholic) and Jewish kids.
First of all, let's start with the teachers- they arrive about 5-15 minutes before the school day starts. I have shown up the past few days at 7:45 (class begins at 8), and have consistently been the first person there. The teachers have even commented on how I am always early. They asked what time American teachers got there and were ASTOUNDED when I told them on average an hour and a half to forty five minutes early. Seriously, it was all they talked about all break. The other thing is that the teachers do not have offices. They do not have their own desks, or cubicles, or space of any sort. There is a shared Staff Room, with a conference table, 2 desktop computers, a printer and a kitchen. This is all the area that the teachers get, for their planning, grading, and break time. I really don't know when they get their work done, because many of them bike, so they leave their materials at school, and that place clears out once the school day ends (everyone is probably starving for lunch since it's 3PM!). When I was a student teaching and subbing, I was always given a planning period- apparently that is not a right, but a privilege. The teachers here do not get planning periods, they teach all 6 hours and only get the standard break that the whole school gets.
Since Spain is on its own eating schedule, everyone eats lunch at about 3 pm- this is after the school day. Therefore, what we Americans consider our "lunch hour," the Spanish call their "descansa" or breakfast hour. This often runs from 10-11:30 (and usually lasts a half hour). In this time, people go to cafes and enjoy cafe y tostadas (coffee and toast) or Churros. They also eat a lot of sweets in the morning. That must be why they are all so skinny. They take care of their sweet-toothes and then just walk it all off throughout the day.
Back to the schools. When they say class starts at 8, they really mean about 8:10-8:15. This does not just go for the first class of the day, but each class after a passing period. The kids do not change classrooms, the teachers do, so the kids get about a ten minute break after every hour when the teachers change classes. The bell does not mean class is over, class is over when the teacher stops teaching (just like in America, but here the teachers hold the power because it is them who will be late to their next class, not the 30 students, so they finish teaching when they see fit). After a short chat in the Staff Room, the teachers part to their designated classrooms for the next class, and only then, walk in, and start to situate themselves (logging on to the computer, gathering materials, etc.) Not that this is by any means bad, and I do not mean to have any negative undertones, it is just very different.
The amount of distractions in one given period exceeds those in an American school. Teachers ask students to go make copies for them, go run errands for them, other teachers come in to ask kids to sign up for things, find missing forms, you name it. It's a wonder any learning occurs because every time you get in a rhythm, someone is getting up or knocking on the door! Either way, they graduate proficient in multiple languages and literate in the arts, a real Renaissance man it seems, so they must be doing something right. What is more, the noise level in the classroom is so loud it is a wonder the students can pay attention to anything. Whether it is the echoing walls within the classroom or the open windows streaming in the screams from PE, I felt like I was shouting just to have my voice heard. At times, I couldn't even hear the students talking because the background noises were so loud, and it makes me wonder how a child with Autism might be able to function in that setting.
Another minor difference I noticed is the kids don't raise their hands, they raise a finger. Just interesting. Once again, I thought it went unsaid that maps belonged in classrooms, I have been privileged to grow up in map filled classrooms. Like the inner city charter school I subbed at in Grand Rapids, these classrooms have no maps. They only have inspirational quotes or standard phrases in English and French. However, the kids are much more literate in Geography than American students. The 6th grade students were able to locate all 7 continents (which unfortunately is not a task all 6th graders in America can complete) and were able to name countries on each of those continents. They also had an advanced knowledge of North American geography, and when they didn't know where something was, were able to quickly find it using map skills. What is even more peculiar is that they only have Geography once a week AND it is taught 90% in English (their second language).
In my College of Ed classes, we were taught to always be moving around the room. This makes sense, because you want to be accessible to all students and using that proximity to control classroom behavior. First of all, I have not really noticed any discipline problems, but more interestingly, I have not noticed any teachers be anywhere except the front of the classroom. Obviously there are a few teachers who meander around the classroom, but for the most part the teachers stay right around those first two rows. It is also very normal to call on students who do not have their hands raised. I personally, strive to stay away from this practice for fear of embarrassing a student, but here I have noticed both at the collegiate level and the middle/high school level, it is a standard practice. The students do not seem to get as embarrassed though when they are wrong, which is nice to observe.
All of these differences are so interesting to watch, because the kids are still happy and healthy, and at first I thought they seemed more focused, but now I think it just doesn't bother the teachers as much. The teachers have a much higher tolerance for noise and the unfocus than the teachers in America. Am I going to abandon all my American habits a teacher? No. Am I going to adopt all the practices of the Spanish teachers? No. It is just interesting to note the differences and hopefully is making me a better teacher as time progresses. These are just what I found in 3 days- I haven't even been there a week yet!
