Profe Mikey?

Last Thursday was my first day as an elementary school teacher. Suffice it to say that almost everything they told us/taught us was useless and incorrect; however, the job itself is a lot of fun. While we are only working four hours a day, we are actually at the school for seven (thank you Spanish work schedule). The idea of working more than an hour and a half without a break is complete absurdity to these people. At 10:30 we have our coffee break and at 12:30 we have a two-hour lunch break (and no details are sparred including a full three course move with waiters….I am at a public school in a poor part of Madrid). They are going to be long days; however, I was fortunate enough to get a schedule with no classes on Fridays so I cannot really complain.

As for my classes, I teach English and Science (in English) to 3rd and 4th graders. I work with all the teachers from the aforementioned grades, taking control of the classes when it is time for those subjects. In English they are studying very basic vocabulary, but in the process of me explaining what the objects are, they are forced to learn English. Science was never my strong suit and even 3rd grade science seems foreign to me. Luckily the book is very simplistic and I can just read ahead to stay ahead of the 10 year olds (and they gave me a college degree).

Apparently there is not a strong emphasis on classroom etiquette here as there is in the states so discipline can be a problem in some of these schools. The rules are just different here. One thing that transcends cultures, however, is the threat of losing free time. One of the teachers let me in on his classroom control strategies. Soccer, as you probably can imagine, is kind of popular in Spain so this professor parlays the love of the game into keeping order. If a child speaks Spanish during English lessons, misbehaves, etc. then he gets a yellow card. A second offense (or a serious action like fighting draws a straight red) produces a second yellow card. Like in the game, two yellows or a red equal suspension, but instead of missing their next match, the students just miss recess. Once the first yellow is pulled on a student, the problems all stop.

It is the first full week of work this week, which will be nice to finally settle into a routine, but it has been nice having so much free time to get to know the city. I am sure hours spent at an elementary school will provide more than enough stories this year as long as I can keep my sanity.