Day 3 (belated)

Day 1 was our first day at the school in Barcelona!!
It was very exhausting, as I did not feel well, and I was still trying to catch up to the time zone. I met my teacher and she seems nice, but she doesn't always explain what is going on. I am used to being more involved with the kids. But the day went fine. Everything people said about classroom management is true. I am in a classroom with 3rd grade boys most of the day. They are always out of their seats, yelling across the room, and calling out without raising their hand. In the US we would give a signal and calm the students back down, but here there is nothing occasionally my teacher claps twice and tries to get them quiet, but they talk over her and it doesn't work. It makes it very frustrating! But the kids are nice.

The students speak Spanish way more than they are supposed to, but my teacher doesn't say anything about it. I was told by the other teacher I go to, Miss Alex, that the teachers change their names to non Spanish sounding names, so the kids will think they only speak English and only address them in this language. It works well in Miss Alex's class, but not so well in mine. If Miss Alex says something the girls don't understand, then she has students in the class, who understand English well, translate to the other girls. In my classroom, my teacher switches between English and Spanish. On one hand this is good because it is making a connection for the students so they understand more, but it is also a disservice. The students will respond and ask questions in Spanish, which isn't helping to improve their English or their conversation skills. After being in both classrooms, I think it works better in Miss Alex's classroom. The girls are using more English and are improving their skills. They really believe she doesn't speak Spanish, and so they use English when they address her. But it could be because of the age difference, too. The third grade boys may know they can get away with it and that is why they do it.

Dinner:
For dinner, we went out for Jennifer's birthday. We walked around and a guy convinced us to go to this restaurant and we got free passes and a free drink. We were with a large group and agreed. It was right on the main road. We went in and it was a very nice restaurant. However, there wasn't much on the menu we found appetizing, so we left. We finally ended up at Hard Rock Cafe, where she had wanted to go in the beginning, but others had said no to. I didn't really want to spend a whole lot of money, but there wasn't anything cheap on the menu. So instead I ordered a vanilla shake and a side of french fries. The milkshake was good, but the fries weren't all that great. But the adventure was fun :)