Oh the places I'll teach!: My first day in the classroom!

Today was my first day to meet my two classrooms of second grade boys! I was very nervous to find out what it would be like to be in the classroom, but I was also very excited to see what teaching is like in Spain. I walked to school early with Marc and Imma to help Marc decorate the school for the "red" team. The school is split up into four teams this week to celebrate Santa Isabel de Hungria! Each team competes and at the end of the week they have a day of games to find out the winner. The winner gets a day of fun next week during class time. It was so great to see Marc and the entire school get so excited and competitive!
After helping Marc decorate, I met the coordinator downstairs to get a tour of the shcool and finally meet the students in my class. When I got to the door, all of the boys stood up and starting screaming "Ms. Sarah, Ms. Sarah!!" They were super excited to see me and that made this experience already so rewarding. Mrs. Couto gave me a stack of handwritten letters and pictures from the students welcoming me to their class. I even got to read my book about WKU to my students at the end of the day and they loved it!
One thing that is very different from American schools is the schedule. School does not start until 9 a.m. and it ends at 4:45 p.m. One great thing that I found was that they teach classes using three different languages: Spanish, Catalan, and English. I am in a classroom that is taught using English, and I will be there to help Mrs. Couto with students who are having difficulty speaking or writing in English. Throughout the day there is one thirty minute break for teachers in the morning. This break is used for getting a mid-morning snack. The students have thirty minutes of recess everyday as well as physical education. There is at least 45 minutes to an hour of planning time each day as well for the teachers, which is amazing because they are able to get so much done and plan much better lessons! And finally, everyone gets an hour and a half break for lunch, or siesta. This is a time for students to either eat at school and have time to relax or go home and eat lunch with their families, and teachers to go out and eat lunch as well. It was so great to be able to sit down and enjoy the amazing food that is offered in Barcelona!
By the end of the day, I had noticed many different things about classrooms in Spain compared to classrooms in America. Classroom management is so much more challenging here from what I have already noticed. The children naturally have a loud voice, so it becomes more difficult to lower the classroom volume at times. I have also noticed that the students are challenged on a greater level at this school. They take homework and exams very seriously, as well as grades. That is something that parents think is extremely important, and I greatly admire that!
After school, my friends and I went to one of the malls today to shop around a little, and we found an H&M! It was great to see how many different stores that are offered in Barcelona. We ate at a restaurant called Cafe y Tapas and it was absolutely amazing, especially the Cafe Con Leche. The coffee in Spain is one of my favorite things so far!!
Well I just made it home from the mall and I am absolutely exhausted! I look forward to posting many more pictures about my experiences and cannot wait to share more great stories about my second grade kiddos!!

Until next time,
Ms. Sarah