Today's post is a fairly short one on my first day working at an elementary school in Sevilla. Unfortunately, I have no extra pictures to share!
Through the SAIIE program I get the opportunity to volunteer at Padres Blancos, an elementary school on the other side of the river in Sevilla. I have to take the bus over since it is pretty far from my house, but I don't mind. Once a week I go volunteer from 4PM-6:30PM to help students with their English. However, this is not the normal time for class to be at in Spain, so I help with the after school program. Most of the kids are there because their parents make them go, so they are a bit on the rowdy side. When I said I wanted to work with the youngest kids (about 6-7 years old) one of my program coordinators warned me that it might be crazy. I knew I could handle it though because my home in Wisconsin is probably more crazy.
I rotate between three classrooms during the first hour and a half. All these students are ages 12-13, so they know English pretty well. Basically, I just sit at a table in the back of the room and they take turns coming to talk to me in pairs. I ask them questions in English from a prepared list, or I ask them questions that are from a study book for the Cambridge Exam (which is a test students take that gives them the certification that they speak English). Before we switch, I give them the chance to ask me questions. I am never prepared for what they want to know. Mostly I get "why are you not wearing a shirt with sleeves?" or "do you know somebody famous?" My least favorite question that at least each classroom asks me is "why are you so red?" Honestly, I thought I've been doing pretty well to avoid the sun in Sevilla. I put on sunscreen when I go for runs and I always have a jacket with me. I guess nothing slips past these kids though.
After my three classrooms, I head downstairs to work for an hour with the 6-7 year olds. I'm glad I do this last because if I helped them first I would be exhausted by the time I got to the older kids. The younger kids are separated into three classes as well, so I help with a few English activities and then switch out to a different room. Sometimes we play a game or review vocab, and they always tell me their introductions where they say their name, age, hair color, eye color, and what they like and dislike. This part is pretty cute. Then they wait for me to do my introduction back. Sometimes they try to ask me questions, but it is hard for them to speak in English. The teachers at Padres Blancos push them to practice, so they say I don't speak Spanish to the class. However, one day a little boy went off on me in Spanish. He said something along the lines of "why is this girl here if she doesn't even speak Spanish? How is she able to do anything?" which is not the response I expected from a 7 year old. It kinda cracked me up to be honest, because sometimes I wonder the same thing.
The students like to ask me what soccer team I prefer (there are two major rivals in Spain) and I am not really into soccer so I switch off between the both of them. Regardless of what I say, the classroom always explodes at my answer and kids start arguing about which one is better.
Another funny thing that has happened to me at Padres Blancos is that all the teachers tell the students that I am a teacher too. This is funny because I am clearly not a teacher! I think they say that so the kids listen better to me.
The teachers at the elementary school are so kind. They love all of their students and they help them feel confident, which is really hard to feel when you are learning a new language. My experience so far has been fun and it is great to learn about Spanish culture from a different point of view. During the week I have felt pretty bored, so it is nice to get out!