Claustre

That was an interesting meeting. It was long (3 hours) and a bit tiring, but teachers received many interesting information.

It is not easy to discuss school issues with so many people participating. Sometimes one issue may take too long, if many teachers want to give their opinion on it. But I guess this is the price one has to pay to keep cohesion in the group, share the information with every one and make all participate in the school maters.

No voting system was used to approve or reject decisions and for that reason they were made when teachers with ‘lauder voice’ proposed or opposed something. It would be more democratic to apply a voting system that would allow shyer teachers to participate in the decision making process.

There was one thing that surprised me. The Principal seemed not to have any power at all above the rest of teachers. He was more like a secretary than like a Principal. I studied in a private school and there the Principal was The Principal.

Claustre, equip docent’s meeting and evaluation

It is the end of the trimester. Today teachers met to discuss the marks. The meeting was short because most of them agreed on the way students will be evaluated. Kids with learning difficulties were awarded better marks than other kids with better academic achievement but worse attitude and behaviour. There were no surprises at all during the meeting. All the teachers agree on which students are disturbing the rest of the class, which of them are lazy, which of them have made an effort to improve, which of them have learning difficulties but they try hard…

I was surprised by the comments they made on one of the students, who (apparently) is studying too hard and is too obsessed about marks. Instead of being happy about her results (she managed to get all ‘excellent’ for the first time), teachers said they would warn the family about her excessive effort. I had the feeling that if she was studying in a ‘private school’ no one would be worried about her but they would encourage her.

If she likes studying, why shouldn’t she do it hard and get better opportunities than the rest of her classmates. Her brother is studying in London. Why shouldn’t she aim the same, if she is happy with that and capable of doing it? Teachers always complain that students in that school haven’t proper studying habits and that they could perform better. When they have a motivated student, they want to push her down? This doesn’t make sense. She deserves being motivated and reaching as far as she wants!

However, I had the feeling that some students behave slightly differently with different teachers. In fact, I think that some teachers know better how to manage certain students.

This week one of the kids has been temporarily expelled due to violent behaviour and will be sent to a centre of the Generalitat with psychiatrists that will try to help him.

Almudena starts teaching..

I have recorded Almudena’s second lesson. She has a slightly different style than Cristina, but she also gives very interactive and very recreational lessons, with lots of materials and games. Kids like it very much. Both of them have accomplished their job! I think the nationality of our students has inspired them to choose flags and countries as the main topic of their unit. In fact, I thought about choosing that topic, but I will have to choose a different one, because Almudena is teaching the same group I will have after Christmas.

It is very useful to see my classmates teaching, I learn a lot from their experiences and most of my fears have disappeared.

Classe d’acollida???

I think only few schools have a classe d’acollida. It is easy to guess what it means. Foreign students that arrive to the school spend some time attending these classes, which allow them an adaptation period. There, they basically learn the language and get used to the new learning environment, with easy lessons on different subjects (maths, geography..).

Many students in my school have started in that group because many of them have arrived from a foreign country. Moreover, quite a few of them join the course at half term (families don’t plan their migration taking into account the school term).

Students of different age are mixed in the classe d’acollida. They don’t spend the whole day there, but attend some lessons with their regular group and join the aula d’acollida the rest of the day. Therefore each student has a different schedule.

As a general rule, they spend one semester in that group. After this adaptation period they join the regular group. One semester is never enough to master the language, but it is usually enough to follow (more or less) the classes.

What impressed me the most was seeing how difficult is for newcomers to understand our language. They always say kids pick up a new language very quickly. However, it is not so easy. It was sad to see teenagers (even those coming from Latin America) trying to read a book for preschool kids and not being able to pronounce a single word properly. And not to talk about their understanding!! They teach them to read mechanically at a first stage, so they try to read the letters but don’t understand what words mean.

Can you image a class with students aged 13, 14 and 15, all from different nationalities, with different educational background, unable to say or understand a word in the language, unable to communicate with each other, trying to read a book for kids? I felt like in a refugees’ camp. They don’t feel like rich students learning English in Brighton in a summer camp!

They know they are in a normal school, they know they are immigrants, they know they are not able to learn and some of them have hardly been to school before. At least, this is how I felt. Some of them were trying hard to overcome this situation but some of them had no motivation at all.