Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year, by Hannah Roscoe

First of all, I would like to wish everybody 
a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays and I look forward to catching up with the students in January. I’m spending Christmas and New Year with my family in England. As I write this I’m sat in my living room, enjoying the heat of the fire! It is strange to be back – hearing English instead of Spanish is quite a shock to the system. It is only a quick visit home so I will obviously be making the most of my time here with my family.

This term has flown by! So many things have happened since I arrived in September. From my previous post you will know that I went to Hungary with the students taking part in the Comenius scheme. I also had the opportunity to help out with a drama production in 1ºESO. It was a lot of fun getting to know the students as I don’t actually teach the youngest students in the school. My final lesson of the year was with 2ºBACH and Carlos. I had a presentation to teach them about Christmas in the UK, and then we all sat down to enjoy a few snacks together whilst singing traditional Christmas carols.On the last day of school, some of my students from 2ºBACH sang ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ over the school tannoy system. It was a very thoughtful gesture to round off the first term.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this post since I arrived back in England. I’m not sure how many of you have had the opportunity to spend Christmas in England so it may be of interest to you to know what we usually do together. So I have prepared a short PowerPoint presentation with pictures of Christmas in the UK. Enjoy!

Christmas in the UK

Drama Workshop Performance

Students of 1º ESO-1 MET, who have the subject Drama Workshop, have just performed their first drama play in English. For many of them, it has  been their second language first experience on the stage. Their excitement was rewarded with a big clap from the audience.

In the following PPT we can see them in everyday classes.

MET Drama classes 2013-2014

The students usually take pictures of their classmates. In the next term, they will make an image project with all the pictures and materials created.

In these lines, we can see some videos of the performance: I have a dream, their first song, Back to school, Interview with a new teacher and the already “classical” song of the musical Like a Little Bird

Hannah Roscoe, the school British language assistant and a frequent visitor to their classes, recorded the images.

They finished the performance singing We wish you a Merry Christmas with a large audience of parents, relatives and friends.

Students of MET, Drama Workshop - 1º ESO are performing next Thursday

Students of MET, 1º ESO-1, are performing their first play next Thursday, December 19th, in the Salón de Actos at 19:00

Parents and friends are invited to attend the performance. The actors are looking  forward to the date, showing the first term work and receiving a big clap.

Poland Thoughts

Poland Thoughts, by Sherry Wilson

Traveling from Spain to Poland was a journey, and I could sense the students’ excitement growing as we switched from bus, plane, plane, and then finally our last bus. We were almost in Poland, on the verge of crossing the German border, and then I began to hear whispers from the students. Their excitement was turning intonervousness, and they began to worry about the details of their week in Poland. Earlier they were clapping every thirty minutes to celebrate their traveling, but now they whispered questions to each other, ”How should I greet them? A hug? Two kisses?” I told the students not to be nervous, but deep down I was nervous for them. While the students may only see me as their teacher, I am not too far removed from their roles. I’m a native New Yorker, and I’ve been living in Spain for the last two months. Six months ago I was a student just like them, and two months ago I made the dramatic change of moving to Spain. While the students worried about speaking English in Poland with their Polish families and partners, I was also worried for them. This was a complete immersion in the English language for a full week, and communicating in a foreign language is HARD. I am only a few years older than my students and I struggle with the language barrier in Spain. I had never been to Poland, I don’t know anybody who had ever been to Poland, nor did I know any words in Polish, but I was excited for a new adventure courtesy of my time in Spain.

While I was excited to spend a week in Poland, I was more interested in seeing my students utilize their English skills. As I listened to my students voice their worries out loud, I thought about how proud of them I was. The students worried about their English skills, but I was merely happy that they were so willing to step outside of their comfort zones. To be honest, I was almost in awe of these young teenagers so willing to adapt to new changes. I wish I had taken an opportunity like this when I was their age. Americans like me aren't often given opportunities to travel to other countries in order to learn about different cultures and their traditions. As a teacher, it made me quite proud to see my students adapting to Polish culture, but also making the effort to work with other students in English. While there are many differences between Basque and Polish culture, the Comenius project is an great method of bringing cultures and countries closer, especially for young students.

Views and Experiences in Września (Poland) with Comenius 

My favorite part of my trip to Poland were the people I met. I was able to work closely with all of the students -Polish and Basque- and I was proud to see them adjusting so well to new changes and a new environment. Spending a week in Poland showed me how much we can learn from each other´s cultures, but also what we can learn from our students and their open mindedness to change and new cultures.

Best of Hungary

Trip to Budapest:

The student exchange to Budapest was really exciting, surprising and educational. We learnt a lot about Hungarian culture and about the city of Budapest.

We first saw our partners in the airport, where they were waiting for us with their families. They took us home, and after dinner we went sightseeing.

On Sunday morning we went bowling together. Afterwards we went into the city centre to discover the most important landmarks in Budapest. The Hungarian students had prepared information for us about each landmark. We walked across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge, and then visited the Castle District, in Buda. The view was amazing because we could see the other half of the city (Pest). Whilst we were in the Castle District we had a treasure hunt. We also had the opportunity to see the Danube by night.

Monday was our first day at the school. The Hungarian students showed us a video they had prepared about the city, and afterwards we went to a few lessons (Spanish, English and Chemistry). These lessons were really interesting because we were able to take part in some Chemistry experiments, as well as exchange information about our country (Basque Country). In the evening we had a concert with a Hungarian folk band. They played some traditional Hungarian music and taught us how to dance. We had dinner at the school. Each family had prepared some traditional Hungarian food, which was very delicious and also very different from the cuisine in Spain.

On Tuesday we visited Eger, a town over two hours away from Budapest. It is an old town that has a lot of history. We visited the castle and learnt about the invasion of the Turks. We also visited a college to take part in some Physics experiments and to use the camera obscura.

Best of Hungary 

On Wednesday morning we met outside the Opera House and then went to Heroes’ Square. In addition, we saw the Turkish baths and visited the Millennium Castle. We had the opportunity to try some typical Hungarian food such as Langos and Salted Pretzels. In the afternoon we returned to school to work on our projects.

On Thursday morning we visited the House of Terror Museum. It turned out to be a very educational and shocking experience. It was hard for us to learn about how Hungary has suffered in recent times (Nazi occupation and Communist dictatorship). Thursday was also presentation day. We invited students from English classes in the school to see our presentations. They were very interested in learning about our culture. In the evening we went toAquaworld, a water park on the outskirts of Budapest. We all had a really good time together.

On Friday we were taken to the Parliament building. We were given a guided tour and learnt lots about the history of Hungary (monarchy and transition to a republic). The interior was incredible because of its Neo-Gothic style. In the evening we had a farewell party, where we played games and danced together. Our host families prepared some more food for us to try – especially traditional Hungarian desserts! After the party we spent some time together (without teachers!) before we had to leave on the Saturday.

Saying goodbye to our host families was very difficult. We were very emotional when we parted ways at the airport. However, we are really looking forward to seeing our partners again in March!