If I were in Valencia, what would I teach?

3am is an early start to any day. It’s even earlier when you’re heading off to teach in a country of whose language you have only the slightest grasp. Despite arriving a little weary, the warm welcome (figuratively and literally) was wonderful. I was especially gladdened by the intention that we would be fed first and receive our induction information second. After settling into the accommodation quickly, Alfie and I responded to the summons from Caro to head down to Moncada in search of tapas and something to drink. So began my faltering though successful attempts to purchase things through the local language and I even managed to avoid buying anything to eat that once had a face!

On Monday morning, my alarm rang at 6.30am. I had just begun to enjoy leaving for work in Wales with the sun low in the sky but this early start meant leaving in the dark. After arriving at Parque Colegio Santa Ana, Alicia introduced me to Salud (the teacher in charge of my placement) and in turn, Salud introduced me to Maria and Maria (with whom I would be working). I also met a teacher from Spain who is working in Cambridge and has brought a group of A level students to Valencia for half-term.

A blur of classes and unfamiliar names (both Valencian and Spanish) later and somehow it was already 5pm. I was tired but only when mt brain registered that the day was over and I was on my way home. Sitting on the metro seat was a relief when I realised that this was going to be the longest I would sit down since arriving at school! Maria and Maria wanted me to introduce myself to the classes and I had explained where I was from and the different parts of the UK, six times. With the class who were learning about places in the town (museum, gallery, etc), we showed them pictures of these places in Cardiff. I showed clips of rugby world cup highlights in an effort to persuade the students that rugby is better than football and that they should stop worrying about Mr Neville. One of the Marias and Salud spent their Erasmus year in Cardiff and are enjoying catching up with how the city has changed in advance of their Easter break revisiting.

Day two was a little shorter but no less crazy with some more new classes and some spontaneous teaching – impromptu British geography and history for a 4^th ESO group; conditionals (with assistance from some of the visiting pupils from Cambridge) with another 4^th ESO group; and conditionals, wishes and regrets along with grammar analysis for the 2 Bach class. This finished up with lunch with Salud and some of the other teachers before my early finish – early in Spanish terms, it was 3pm! The accommodation in Masies is a bit of a commute but it's nice to have time to read a little on the metro and have some "English-only" time in my head at the end of the day.