Training week

Well what a week it’s been! I decided to visit family in London the weekend before training commenced. So, I set off Monday morning on the tube with a big suitcase and backpack in the middle of rush hour. Oh boy did the locals give me dirty looks! However, when I got to Marylebone things were much more civilised. I then recognized Oli, Amanda and Audrey at the station from my interview day and we got the train to Gerrard’s Cross together. We then saw Edd at the station and got into two taxis together and made our way to Newland Park.

When arriving into the training room for the first time on Monday, I was a little nervous. But after a few warmers, get-to-know-you activities and an introduction from Carolyn and Jenny, I had a really good feeling about the week ahead. I also wondered where the others from the Cardiff contingent had got too. It turns out they broke down just 20 minutes into their journey time! They arrived slightly later than they’d hope and missed lunch! Not the best start guys! ;)

Monday involved an introduction to young learners. It was a very useful introduction to the content of the week ahead. We also delved into task-based language teaching and its benefits for young learners. Believe it or not, there is more to teaching English than the typical PPP approach! I’m definitely excited to try TBLT out for real in Spain. Monday night involved heading off to the bar for some vino time and getting to know one another.

Then came Tuesday. A very early start. Breakfast at 8am and back to the training room for 9am. We were greeted by the wonderful Raphael. Who by the way is Italian, but you really cannot tell by his accent! Raphael covered being prepared for the unprepared in the classroom and the way a teacher is performative in the classroom. He also led a lesson in Italian which gave a nice flavour of what we are doing. We only had Raphael for Tuesday and Wednesday, but I cannot thank him enough for his very informative sessions and his honesty and humour mixed in. He also used to play Ryan in High School Musical in Italy. The man has so many strings to his bow.   

Our group who are going on the first placement also found out more about where we are working in Spain. I’m in Valencia downtown with Diana, Rhiannon and Jody. Jody and I are working in the same school; a semi private school located in Valencia. I will be teaching mostly secondary students from 12 – 17 years old. There will also be some sessions with primary students and one to one lessons with adults. I am very happy with what I’ve got and will certainly get to cover and practice all bases.

On the Tuesday evening, we met Celine and looked at how to improve CV’s and learnt more about working for UKLC in the summer. Celine was lovely and it really showed how close all the UKLC team are.

On Wednesday, we split up in the morning into our placement groups. We had lots of useful tips from Jenny on how to manage young learners, including the ‘wake up, shake up’ warmer song. We looked at the importance of routines in the classroom and getting student’s attention. Jenny has so much energy and is so bubbly. You can imagine how much her young learners love her. In the afternoon we looked at drilling and chanting with Jenny as a whole group. Fair play to Jenny, we were all flagging at this point, but she managed to keep us all going. We had free time on Wednesday evening. Well needed too! Which meant socialising in one of the classrooms with some alcohol (Richard kindly drove to Tesco to buy it). It was a very good night and I got to know people a lot better.

Thursday was a very long day. 9am until 21:30. But oh boy did we cover a lot. Spanish lessons, sports leadership and First aid all in one day! I’d just like to mention I was slightly nervous about sports leadership as I’m not the sporty type, but I absolutely loved it! So many useful tips on how to lead sports games and how to be a good leader. It was also a great bonding experience for us in the first placement group with lots of laughter and special moments. Such as Jody who wasn’t very keen about catching balls who won the ‘catch and clap’ game. We were all absolutely shattered on Thursday night and went straight to bed. A well-deserved early night!

On Friday we looked at presenting grammar to young learners and lots of games one can use in the classroom. Friday was also a little sad as the placement group had to leave us. It’s sad to see them go as we built up such a rapport with one another and were all very supportive of each other. There’s been a real sense of community and like-mindedness from everyone this week. This week brought together a room full of 30 adults who come from all different backgrounds and ages but yet all support one another and enjoy what we do. So group 2, I really wish you all the best when you head off to Spain!

I’m off to Spain tomorrow and am feeling a lot more confident and prepared for what is ahead.  I just want to say a massive thank you to Carolyn, Jenny, Raff, Laura, Keith, Celine and the Spanish teacher for this week. Especially Caro for organising such a huge project! Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving us lots of great ideas, tips and activities to chew over and test out in Spain.

Other highlights from this week include Oli’s pineapple jacket becoming a running joke throughout the whole week, Roisin saying ‘bollocks’ in the middle of mime game and the moaning from us all about the inedible toast at breakfast!

Right, that’s it from me. I need to head off now to eat some dinner and pack. We’re up at 3am tomorrow! Wish us all luck on the next step of our adventure. And thank gosh I’m not teaching first thing on Monday and can settle in and get to know the school and my classes first.

Hasta luego,

Caroline