A singing bloke

After spending the vast majority of my college classes learning how to teach foreign language I was not surprised to learn at our two day orientation that the best way to teach grammar concepts, vocabulary, and the sort is through meaningful context. Initially I felt relieved finding out the methods I was expected to teach with by were aligned with what I had internalized the past few years in school.

As the day went on, however, I began to fear that my room for creativity in the classroom was shrinking with each speaker providing use with ‘helpful tips in the classroom’. To make it clear, my job here in Spain is not a full time teaching position. Instead, my presence in the classroom provides students with a genuine reference for the English language and corresponding culture. I will be working this next year alongside a full time teacher who, I assume, will choose the classroom’s direction.

At the end of our two-day orientation I had feelings of frustration as many of the speakers demonstrated ‘creative’ ways to incorporate music, art, and other content areas while teaching in the second language. Instead of demonstrating how to teach through a meaningful context, I felt as though we were being provided with numerous songs and games (a.k.a. ‘time fillers’) to use in the classroom.

I left orientation with a bitter taste in my mouth about the upcoming school year predicting that my time working here would be full of sing-alongs in British English - which, of course, is what auxiliaries could be required to speak. After some time, though, I realized that my outcome is heavily based on my outlook on the situation. I start teaching October 1st and am welcoming it with arms open as an optimistic educator with a background in foreign language methodology instead of a living (and singing) British English dictionary. But, on a brighter note, maybe there is a chance I could come back speaking Spanish with a British accent – talk about two birds with one stone!

Un beso, Rachel