Chao for now...
This experience has truly been a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have learnt so much over the past three months, things that I never saw myself doing both in and out of the school environment.
Craighouse has been a truly unforgettable experience, both the staff and the pupils made it so enjoyable for me and welcomed us and our ideas with open arms. I came to Chile and to Craighouse three months ago not really knowing what to expect and I can now say that this experience has opened my eyes to so many new things that I am excited to bring back with me and incorporate into my own teaching.
Throughout this experience I have learnt so much about myself as the teacher I am and what kind of teacher I now want to be, which I did not expect to change and develop as much as it has. I want my pupils to fall in love with learning and coming to school, not only for their duration with me but for the rest of their school careers, just like I saw during my time in Chile. I enjoyed seeing the pupils have the freedom to learn how they wish and tailor this to their own needs and this is something I would love to see in my classroom back home. Craighouse has taught me that children don't necessarily have to be sat at their desks looking at you in order to learn, some might learn better whilst drawing or writing notes, some might learn better sat on the carpet or stood up. Children should be free to choose the way in which they learn best and teachers should have the patience to allow children the time to discover this.
The school were very focussed on the children's learning experiences and journeys, this resulted in the children doing more concrete activities rather than writing in workbooks and also less marking for teachers (RESULT!).
Teaching at an international school where English is not their first language has made me very aware of what I say, how I say things and the pace I say things at. I often caught myself talking at a very fast pace and then became very aware of this so began to talk much slower. The effects of this were obvious as the children would ask more questions about certain words or phrases, showing that they were listening and trying to make connections. I have also discovered the value of using lots of hand gestures when delivering an input. By making my teaching style a lot more animated I was able to hold the children's attention for much longer and then the children can use these gestures to help with their learning as they can complete the actions along with the words too. Teaching at such a young grade level has been truly amazing. These year 2 aged children were all so eager to learn new things and were also eager to teach me some new Chilean things. Seeing these pupils truly loving school and learning was so refreshing. The environment around them was as much as their responsibility as it was the teachers, they were keen to make it their space and take care of that.
The school were very focussed on the children's learning experiences and journeys, this resulted in the children doing more concrete activities rather than writing in workbooks and also less marking for teachers (RESULT!).
Teaching at an international school where English is not their first language has made me very aware of what I say, how I say things and the pace I say things at. I often caught myself talking at a very fast pace and then became very aware of this so began to talk much slower. The effects of this were obvious as the children would ask more questions about certain words or phrases, showing that they were listening and trying to make connections. I have also discovered the value of using lots of hand gestures when delivering an input. By making my teaching style a lot more animated I was able to hold the children's attention for much longer and then the children can use these gestures to help with their learning as they can complete the actions along with the words too. Teaching at such a young grade level has been truly amazing. These year 2 aged children were all so eager to learn new things and were also eager to teach me some new Chilean things. Seeing these pupils truly loving school and learning was so refreshing. The environment around them was as much as their responsibility as it was the teachers, they were keen to make it their space and take care of that.
Although in the UK we are very proactive on incorporating ICT and technology into all aspects of the curriculum and the children's learning, however at Craighouse they focused more on anchor charts. Yes this takes the teachers longer to create for their lessons but instead of using a slide show, when the information is on the screen for a small amount of time and then gone, the children are encouraged to the use the environment around them to help them with their own learning journeys. As these children are learning in their second language I understand that it is important to have a lot of visuals in order to help them make connections to what they know in their own language and relate their new found knowledge to this.
During my time in Chile, I had some Spanish lessons at the University. At the start I just thought that this would benefit me for my time living in Chile. However this actually helped me in the classroom, by putting myself in the pupils position of learning in a language it helped me to understand how tough and confusing it can be for the children. This really made me become aware of my teaching and how I could adapt it in order for the children to have an easier experience learning and understanding more English. By finding ways for me to learn and understand complicated Spanish terms I could then incorporate this into my teaching in the classroom to benefit the pupils.
The teaching environment I have been thrown into, has been a completely relaxed one, which is an attitude I want to bring into my teaching.
I have come away from the experience with hopefully making an impact on my class at Craighouse but also I have come away learning a huge amount about the teacher I now want to become and more about the teacher I am. This very special experience has opened my eyes to a different way of teaching things and will continue to have an impact on my teaching career and journey to come.
Over these last three months, as well as teaching, I have had the opportunity to travel Chile and some parts of South America. When discussing the opportunity of teaching a Latin American country for three months, I never thought I would be given the chance to travel and explore as much as I have and I never thought I would love it as much as I have! Being somewhere like I am has taught me so much about what I want to do in the future. Although I am very excited to start my teaching career and have a class of my own and get completely stuck in to teaching, I am also very interested at now working at international schools. These are very different to any schools I have taught at in the UK, this made it very difficult to bring anything that worked in and English school into the international classrooms. Everything needs to become very visual to allow the pupils to make connections, this is a difference that I really liked. This forced me to become creative with my resources and displays, it also encouraged me to use my environment around me to help with my teaching. This is an attitude which I aim to bring back to teaching in the UK.
I would not change a thing about this experience, myself and my teaching have both changed and developed, ready to head into my final year at University, feeling both positive and confident.
During my time in Chile, I had some Spanish lessons at the University. At the start I just thought that this would benefit me for my time living in Chile. However this actually helped me in the classroom, by putting myself in the pupils position of learning in a language it helped me to understand how tough and confusing it can be for the children. This really made me become aware of my teaching and how I could adapt it in order for the children to have an easier experience learning and understanding more English. By finding ways for me to learn and understand complicated Spanish terms I could then incorporate this into my teaching in the classroom to benefit the pupils.
The teaching environment I have been thrown into, has been a completely relaxed one, which is an attitude I want to bring into my teaching.
I have come away from the experience with hopefully making an impact on my class at Craighouse but also I have come away learning a huge amount about the teacher I now want to become and more about the teacher I am. This very special experience has opened my eyes to a different way of teaching things and will continue to have an impact on my teaching career and journey to come.
Over these last three months, as well as teaching, I have had the opportunity to travel Chile and some parts of South America. When discussing the opportunity of teaching a Latin American country for three months, I never thought I would be given the chance to travel and explore as much as I have and I never thought I would love it as much as I have! Being somewhere like I am has taught me so much about what I want to do in the future. Although I am very excited to start my teaching career and have a class of my own and get completely stuck in to teaching, I am also very interested at now working at international schools. These are very different to any schools I have taught at in the UK, this made it very difficult to bring anything that worked in and English school into the international classrooms. Everything needs to become very visual to allow the pupils to make connections, this is a difference that I really liked. This forced me to become creative with my resources and displays, it also encouraged me to use my environment around me to help with my teaching. This is an attitude which I aim to bring back to teaching in the UK.
I would not change a thing about this experience, myself and my teaching have both changed and developed, ready to head into my final year at University, feeling both positive and confident.
