Wednesdays at the American School:

I’ve been working at ASB (see “video update” post) every Wednesday in a sort of filler capacity. I get there at 9am and during the first period, I help a small group of third graders that need more practice with math. This involves playing quick-answer games and talking about shortcuts to answering some multiplication or addition problems they have had. The nice thing about kids is that anything is easily made into a “game.” In a group, have one kid throw a die and then a second kid across the table gets to throw one and between the two, they have to quickly say the correct answer. They’re so focused on being allowed to throw a die that they don’t realize they’re practicing math!

Then for the second period, I walk down to an adjacent building and walk a K5 class up to art and help the teacher during the class. Telling the kiddos “oh, very pretty!” for colouring in something completely. Things such as walking instead of running, and following a line still elude them however. I escort them back to the ECC building for their recess and I have a half hour break. I usually sit in the never-quiet library and read little bits of Steven Pinker’s The Language Instinct.

Then I help the librarian do random things until it’s time to take kindergarteners up from their story time to the cafeteria where I coerce them into eating at least half of their portions, sitting in their seats, and not touching other people’s food. Whew!

I’m known as a jack of all trades there by now because I seem to have been trained in just about everything. I file books, I know the catalogue system, how to check people in/out, and not to mention I’ve worked with almost every grade by now as well as worked in the office. I try to make myself as useful as possible to them. Although I came to teach, I quickly realized I wasn’t going to be doing any real teaching at the school so I’ll just do whatever they want to pay me for.

So, I don’t need to give you a rundown of the entire day. That’s how most of it goes. The remainder is more lunch duty, more library assisting, and an hour of watching the K5 class during snack time until their parents come around. Don’t be deceived. I have learned first hand that such simple tasks can be very tiring. I’m not a napping kind of guy, and I often fall asleep as soon as I get home on Wednesdays. The younger they are, the more of a handful they can be!

Speaking of which, I also get called in for other substitutions aside from my Wednesday assisting. Lately I have had K3 a few times. It’s getting a tad easier, but I admire the people that teach kindergarten as a profession, and couldn’t imagine dedicating myself to that every day of the week.

Substitutions I’ve done so far:

• 6th grade Catalan
• 4th grade Spanish
• Kinder 3 (3/4 year olds)
• Secretary
• MAP (standardized test) proctor for a whole week
• Librarian

Some of these were really fun (Catalan, Librarian), and some of them were hell (Spanish, MAP), but all-in-all I’m stashing it away as good experience.

So then, what do I do with myself outside of ASB?

I’ve been getting into reading again. I used to read a lot, and then I went to college and the last thing I felt like doing was reading (after all my class junk). Now with an abundance of free time and passing several days of doing nothing, I started to delve into books. Some for fun, some for learning, and some for exploring.

Stuff I’ve read since January:

• Generation A by Douglas Coupland
• Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
• The Fall by Albert Camus
• aaand I’m about two-thirds of the way through The Language Instinct. I tend to pick that up when I run out of books, then put it back down quite easily. It’s interesting yes, but not captivating.
• The Captain’s Verses by Pablo Neruda, a bi-lingual edition, for a second time
• Some short stories by Quim Monzó

In other news!

Actually, all of this stuff is “other news” for the reader, I just enjoy using h2 (heading formats) to keep your interest.

• I learned to make coffee on the stove. Completely foreign to me.
• I made paella and have had some other adventures in cooking with Jenn.
• With this book and those dice I showed you in the previous post, I’ve learned to write in the Japanese script, Hiragana (except I don’t remember the R set very well).
• I bought two new books: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami and The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb! Yay new books!
• I got an email today about a possible teaching slot for two months, three hours, four days a week! Hopefully this plays out well for me.

I’ve included a lot of links this time. So enjoy your surfing if you wanted some book recommendations. Hope this sufficiently updates everybody!

In case you were wondering, I’m planning on being here until the end of June, and then who knows what. I’ve applied to schools in Costa Rica and I might look into Turkey as well. Although I intend to go back to school soon, I’ll need something to do for another year.

Donations welcome!

Pro account! Mine is going to expire in a couple of days. This means that all of my HD videos on here will no longer be available and I won’t be able to post more until I renew. I don’t feel like spending $25 on it right now. So if you want to send me a non-birthday present, this is a good idea!

or of course… more Skype / external number subscription!

Anyway, this is what’s new with me:

The American School is a top-notch private school in Barcelona and I didn’t have any notions of landing a contract with them. I learned on the side that a teacher there must have a teaching certification (the year program you take in the USA) and at least three years of experience. So yeah, there was no way. I could however hope for some sort of point in the right direction or maybe get some students to tutor.

Here is what happened:

I got a phone call before I even arrived asking if I could also substitute a kindergarten class that day. I told the secretary that I haven’t taught kids that young but I would certainly love the experience. When I got there, it turned out they didn’t need me that afternoon but certainly for tomorrow. I met the coordinator of the Early Childhood Center (Kindergarten/pre-school kids from 3 to 5) and she told me that all of the teachers there work with assistants. For the first few times I would come in, I would be working with a full time teacher as an assistant so I could kind of learn the ropes. That made me feel a lot better since I have no clue what to do with three year olds. Maybe this will get me over my fear of raising kids (or make it worse, depending). I would be needed tomorrow from 9am to 4pm and if all goes well, more days after that.

The impression I got was that they have a staff of over a hundred teachers and it is common that the school needs a substitute for someone every day or every other one. If I worked well with the school and the kids then I would become a regular. This means that I could be going there several times a week! That almost sounds like a normal job.

I’ll take that.

In combination with the more sporadic calls to substitute from another school, things could turn out to be okay money-wise. I simply have to do my best to make this go over well.

Screaming little kids? Bring it on.