The final countdown……………..

As I start my 4^th and last week here at School in Gandia, I am amazed at how different I feel about this now.  Whilst lesson plans are still a time-consuming and onerous activity, and teaching the class is still scary, I am much better both activities, and of course, I know the children now which makes it all so much better.  It is a particularly good feeling when the children ask when you will be doing their next lesson.  I’m sure games, fun and stickers have all contributed towards this! 

The children are often noisy and enthusiastic, generally I’ve managed to keep control of the classes and they have all participated in the activities I had planned.  There have been lessons where I could have done better, sometimes the activities were too hard or too easy, but I’ve learnt from those.  It’s a challenging experience and definitely has provided me with much needed practical experience in being in front of a class, without this experience I don’t think I’d have enough confidence or ability to go straight into the teaching world.

Living in a shared flat with 3 others is great fun, and the comradery has helped us all though those days when we can’t imagine why we ever thought this was a good idea. 

I’ve done my Observed Lesson – a massive relief to have that behind me now, and I wonder what the comments will be – time will tell.

Now I’m starting to say God Bye to my classes and the lovely teachers who’ve helped and mentored me and whose experience has given me the ability to stand at the front and teach the class!  Being in a school and seeing how it is actually done is really invaluable to any newly qualified teacher be it Celta or any other teaching skill – no matter how good the teachers’ learning is, you have to be in the school class to appreciate all the teaching skills and how to implement them. 

It’s been a great experience, thanks to everyone at UKLC and everyone else who has been involved, particularly the flatmates……………………The Gandia Groovers!