YL Chester training week- January 2017 and the first two days of my placement at Escuelas San Jose- Jesuitas

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the training week in Chester. The UKLC team are brilliant and I’d like to thank them all for how fun and informative they made the whole experience. I have learned so much! Emile and Jen, you are the best, good luck for the future.

After two days I am well settled into a lovely Airbnb apartment in Godella (which boasts a toaster, cafetière, and kettle to name just a few amenities). There are no complaints on the accommodation front.

Escuelas San Jose is a school in downtown Valencia that teaches almost two thousand children, teenagers, and adults. I have been placed in the secondary school part of it. Being from a small town in England I found the school quite overwhelming at first. Classes can range from between fifteen to thirty-five children, so I get a nice variety. After two days I have already gotten lost twice trying to find classrooms and have been bombarded with countless names, only five of which I can remember and none of them called Maria! Another aspect of my school is that I seem to be getting passed around the department like the common cold. Juggling seven different teachers obviously comes with its own positives and negatives but I have met the majority of them already and will enjoy getting to see their different styles and whether or not they are reluctant to use a more student-focused approach.

The teaching style is similar to British secondary schools, high TTT and levels of L1 in the classroom. On the first day, I took the opportunity to run open class feedback. My main focus now is to set some class rules that will hopefully manage the volume levels over the next few days. If not, perhaps an Emile sneeze will do the trick?

 Felis anno! xx