I can hardly believe nine months have gone by this fast! This last week at
CEIP Salvador Allende has been a whirlwind of emotions. In my last blog post, I
want to share with you my last week’s activities, what I learned at Colegio
Salvador Allende and what I will miss dearly.
Activities:
As it was my last week, I thought it would be interesting to engage the
students by playing the English Olympics. What´s that you might ask? My own
creation! Students were divided into teams and each team competed against
each other in a series of English challenges.
From a mixture of online games from Cambridge that put their listening
and spelling to the test, to the always delightful musical chairs, the famous
Simon Says, charades, guess that flag and many more, it was a very active and
engaging final activity.
My favorite, however, was the dance
challenge featuring the well known Baby
Shark or the YMCA for the older students. It was great
fun to get the students out of their shells, singing, dancing, and being silly.
Of course the winners of the English Olympics were the official gold
medalist, but all my students are winners and they mean so much to me. I´m glad
I had one more opportunity to inspire them and let them know that English
learning can be fun, meaningful and memorable.
What I learned:
It
would be too long of a post if I shared all that I have learned this year at
CEIP Salvador Allende, but I will share the highlights. First, I learned how a
motivated, driven and excellent Bilingual team can work together to create more
content and improve English learning within the classroom. Every Monday I gathered
with my team to talk about our aims, organize classes and materials with
teachers. I really felt like I was a valued member and we all contributed to
improving not only the lessons, but as educators. We worked together on the
lesson studies, got creative and listened to each others input and developed
that within the lesson.
Second, I discovered that I really love working
with primary aged students. Note this was my second year in primary, but I felt
so encouraged and confident with my students, improving my methods, and
activities and remembered to always incorporate Total
Physical Response (TPR). Learning from the teachers, the students and methodology helped me grow
as a teaching professional and will serve as a resource next year as a
Kindergarten teacher in China.
Lastly, I learned how important it is to work in a positive and encouraging
environment within a school. Teachers, especially the bilingual staff have gone
out of their way to make me feel needed, an equal staff member and my work has
been appreciated. I felt like my role as an assistant was very much respected
and understood, but they also gave me the freedom and creativity to develop my
own material, projects and ideas within the classroom. I will be eternally
grateful because I am leaving CEIP Salvador Allende with a great motivation to
continue within education.
What I will miss:
To be frank, everything! Spain has been my home for three years and it's
hard to say goodbye, especially to a school and staff at CEIP Salvador
Allende who have been so warm and kind to me. I will miss my students, who
motivated me and pushed me to be a better teacher. I will miss my bilingual
staff who always supported me in every venture. I will miss the Costa del Sol,
Malaga´s charm and beauty ánd pescaito frito. Thank you so much to the staff
and students of CEIP Salvador Allenede! Remember this is not a goodbye but see
you soon!
Jeydeleyn Martinez