Pre-departure

Welcome to my blog! I am leaving for Barcelona, Spain on Monday for my International Student Teaching! In Barcelona, I will be at St. Paul’s Catholic School in fifth grade. I am looking forward to learning about the students, the school, and the culture. I anticipate the school to be very different from the schools in America. According to my research on St. John’s, the students go to the same school from the time they are 3 years old until they go off to college. The school also has four buildings; all have classrooms, and some contain indoor gyms. The school also has multiple soccer fields and gardens. It appears that teaching languages is very important to this school as well. They teach a large part of their curriculum in English. Additionally, the school has cultural trips and ski trips built in (how cool is that?!). Comparing the two educational systems is what I am most excited about. I am looking forward to learning and being immersed in their culture!

In the meantime, I am frantically making lists and trying to pack all my belongings. I am making it a goal of mine not to over pack like I always do. The weather seems to be similar to Kentucky, in the mid-60's. I think the biggest adjustment for me will be the meals. I am used to having a big breakfast and dinner, which is the complete opposite of how they do it in Spain. The times of the meals will also be an adjustment for me (they don't eat dinner until about 9:30-10!!). However, I am looking forward to trying new foods! Although I am very excited, I am also still waiting for it to sink in that I will be in a different country in a few short days! I know I will learn a lot from this experience and I can't wait to share this journey with all of you!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week One- First Impressions

Image
I have been in Barcelona for 3 days, and wow! The city is beautiful, the food is delicious, and the school is amazing. St. Paul’s The school is huge, it has several buildings and teaches grades Preschool through -12. There is a giant area with multiple soccer fields and a grassy area for the students to go to after they eat lunch. The buildings and outdoors have gorgeous artwork everywhere and the students are very creative. The staff are predominately from England, and everything is taught in English, except Physical Education, Spanish, and Catalan, another popular language in Spain. The students speak a minimum of three languages and many are fluent in many other languages as well (which blows my mind). I cannot imagine learning core content areas in a language that is not my first language, it just shows how intelligent these students really are. The fifth-grade students are so sweet and eager to learn about me and America. They ask me questions any chance they get. I h...
Read more

Week Two: Similarities and Differences

St. Paul’s School and Barcelona have many differences and similarities to Kentucky and the schools there. The school is set up quite different. There are 24 students in my class, which is what schools in Kentucky strive for, although it is typically larger than 24. The school day starts at 8:45 and there is a 30-minute break for second breakfast starting at 10:45. During second breakfast, everyone eats a snack provided by the school and the kids can go outside and play until 11:15. At 13:15 (1:15), everyone goes to lunch. There is an hour and a half for lunch. When the students are done eating they can go outside and play until 15:45 (3:45). The lunch is very good! The teachers usually get served slightly different food than the students and there is always dessert and wine (yes, they give the teachers free wine at lunch) on the tables for the teachers as well. Class resumes at 15:45 (3:45) and ends at 16:30 (4:30). This is much different than the schools in Kentucky. It makes ...
Read more