1 00:00:04,209 --> 00:00:11,210 Hi, my name is Valerie, and this past year at Las Faredas, I worked with the second and third graders. 2 00:00:11,210 --> 00:00:20,210 A lot of times in the class, I would administer the spelling test so that they could hear the correct pronunciation of a lot of English words. 3 00:00:20,210 --> 00:00:29,210 I would help kids individually if they didn't understand the assignment or the activity that we were supposed to be doing, 4 00:00:29,210 --> 00:00:35,090 and try to explain things always in English using different vocabularies so that they would understand. 5 00:00:36,570 --> 00:00:43,070 I also this year worked a bit with the 6th graders in preparation for their PET and KET exams, 6 00:00:43,369 --> 00:00:47,969 so we would take out individual partner groups and do different scenarios 7 00:00:47,969 --> 00:00:52,109 and help them practice their English, correct their grammar, do things like that. 8 00:00:53,070 --> 00:00:58,450 And I also did a few video projects for the kids along with my coworkers. 9 00:00:58,450 --> 00:01:17,290 We made a Halloween video to try to bring some of the Halloween culture from North America to Spain and we also did different videos in English just as fun little things for the kids to see and so that they hear our accents and practice their English. 10 00:01:17,290 --> 00:01:25,519 Hi, my name is Alexandra. I was an auxiliar with sixth grade. Some of my responsibilities 11 00:01:25,519 --> 00:01:32,480 as an auxiliar included taking a small group out into the English room where I worked with 12 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:37,120 them on basically the same lesson that they were doing in class, but in a small group 13 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:42,719 of four to six students. That way the students could get a chance to really speak more English. 14 00:01:42,719 --> 00:01:48,260 In a class of 20, 25, 30 students, they really don't get a chance to speak. They're listening 15 00:01:48,260 --> 00:01:51,260 and understanding but they don't really get a chance to speak so in a small 16 00:01:51,260 --> 00:01:54,799 group you really get a lot more out of the students they can practice their 17 00:01:54,799 --> 00:02:01,280 speaking more and if I didn't pull a group out if I was in the classroom with 18 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:06,799 Esther I would teach alongside with Esther contribute anything that I had to 19 00:02:06,799 --> 00:02:11,780 say or circulate around the classroom making sure all the students were on 20 00:02:11,780 --> 00:02:16,340 task or asking them individual questions while they were doing independent work 21 00:02:18,259 --> 00:02:25,259 Another cool part of the job is you get to bring as much creativity and fun into the classroom as you want to. 22 00:02:25,259 --> 00:02:33,259 Especially for the holidays, that's a good chance to bring some of those traditions you had from, you know, your classroom growing up. 23 00:02:33,259 --> 00:02:40,259 Like from an American classroom, we had hand turkeys on Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day exchanges, things like that. 24 00:02:40,259 --> 00:02:43,259 I did with my kids and they really liked it. 25 00:02:43,259 --> 00:02:48,259 It was a cool way, not only to teach them English, but to teach them a little bit more about the culture. 26 00:02:48,259 --> 00:02:55,259 Something you might notice in the first couple of weeks at your school is that in Spain, in the public bilingual school system, 27 00:02:55,259 --> 00:03:01,259 most of the classrooms are inclusive. So there may be students with special needs, with disabilities, 28 00:03:01,259 --> 00:03:05,259 or just varying degrees of cognitive functioning in the classroom. 29 00:03:05,259 --> 00:03:12,259 And as an assistant and someone who often your role is to float around the classroom, 30 00:03:12,259 --> 00:03:17,259 It's really important that you're checking in with these kids for their level of understanding, 31 00:03:17,259 --> 00:03:20,259 not only of English, but their development as children. 32 00:03:20,259 --> 00:03:26,259 And because you're kind of the eyes and the ears of the classroom, the teacher is the head of the classroom, 33 00:03:26,259 --> 00:03:31,259 and sometimes the teacher doesn't have the time to go around and work with all the kids on an individual level. 34 00:03:31,259 --> 00:03:36,259 So since you have the freedom to do that, maybe it's not in your job description, 35 00:03:36,259 --> 00:03:40,259 but when you see that a kid is falling behind, 36 00:03:40,259 --> 00:03:43,259 it's really helpful to the teacher and to the student, 37 00:03:43,259 --> 00:03:44,259 to the family of the student, 38 00:03:44,259 --> 00:03:46,259 for you to talk with the teacher about that 39 00:03:46,259 --> 00:03:50,259 so that these problems don't slip through the cracks. 40 00:03:50,259 --> 00:03:53,259 That can be a really, really helpful added benefit 41 00:03:53,259 --> 00:03:55,259 of having an auxiliar in a classroom 42 00:03:55,259 --> 00:03:56,259 or an assistant in general. 43 00:03:56,259 --> 00:03:59,259 One last tip is if you feel like you're not being utilized 44 00:03:59,259 --> 00:04:01,259 as much as you could be, 45 00:04:01,259 --> 00:04:04,259 it's totally okay to propose to the teachers that you work with 46 00:04:04,259 --> 00:04:08,939 ideas for activities you could do with the kids maybe in smaller groups or if 47 00:04:08,939 --> 00:04:10,259 you want to plan a lesson 48 00:04:10,259 --> 00:04:14,439 teachers are usually really receptive to that every you might work with four 49 00:04:14,439 --> 00:04:17,019 different teachers and they all could have a different approach of 50 00:04:17,019 --> 00:04:20,300 how they want to use you in the classroom but 51 00:04:20,300 --> 00:04:24,259 if you feel sometimes teachers they have a lot going on and they just that's not 52 00:04:24,259 --> 00:04:26,100 the first thing on their mind is what can I 53 00:04:26,100 --> 00:04:30,259 do with my auxiliar today so it's really helpful to them if you come up with some 54 00:04:30,259 --> 00:04:30,879 ideas 55 00:04:30,879 --> 00:04:37,399 And maybe they won't accept all of your ideas, but I think that working with them in that way is really beneficial. 56 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,660 I would teach those kids again in a heartbeat if I could. 57 00:04:41,220 --> 00:04:45,240 We all had really good connections with our kids, and you're going to have an awesome year. 58 00:04:45,339 --> 00:04:46,579 I hope you enjoy it. Bye.