Coming to the end of my first full week of teaching and I´m not gonna lie it hasn´t all been plain sailing.
I had a good Monday - I was feeling a bit nervous because I had six back to back lessons which I´ve obviously never expereienced before. I was a bit shakey and stressed to begin with but all the lessons went pretty well. Some better than others but I was happy at the end of the day. Had to go home for a serious nap afterwards but I felt pretty positive.
Unfortunately Tuesday was a bit of a nightmare. There was a mix up meaning that the teacher who was supposed to be supporting me with my Primero B group never showed so I was on my own. Unfortunately this resulted in the students going absolutely loco and we got through roughly 5 mins of my lesson plan. The Primero students are particularly challenging and I had approx zero control over them - not a situation I have ever been in before so I didn´t really know what to do. I was pretty close to just leaving the classroom and I had to take a calming walk around the school after the lesson. I think it is really hard not to take it personally when a class goes badly and it is not a nice a feeling when you feel like students are taking the piss and you can´t understand or communicate with them at all. They are used to being discplined in lengthy Spanish rants (and they have no problem ranting back) so me standing there looking stern doesn´t really have any sort of effect.
But what doesn´t kill you... Today was a completely different story. I had three great lessons today and I´m really pleased. With the lesson on Tues my worst fears about teaching at Sagrada Familia were realised but I got over it and at least it probably can´t get any worse (fingers crossed).
I feel like as I get to know the classes and the students I am relaxing and the more relaxed I am, the better they respond. But it could all change next week...who knows!
Also if I ever see another peice of chalk after this month it´ll be too soon.
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