A week ago, I began one of my most exciting journeys yet! I started teaching English as a Second Language at the Centro Nortreamericano in Seville. I am working with a fabulous teacher, Elena, from Australia. Last week when we first started, I had six students in my class. All of them spoke English remarkably well and they were all super eager to learn! Throughout the week, we embarked on numerous adventures, exploring the world through English.
One of the coolest activities was the five senses activity (and I still have the super catchy song stuck in my head!) But, we did a quick activity for each of the five senses, including optical illusions, water glass xylophones, a feely mystery box, a scratch and sniff activity, and a taste test. It was really spectacular to see the students learning through engaging, as they learned how to say sentences like "I taste sour" or "I feel something soft" through teacher modeling rather than a lesson on present tense verbs. It was significantly more engaging and the students were more naturally able to learn. Afterwards, the students then applied the knowledge they had just acquired about the present tense verbs to their daily activities, as later during cooking class they said "I smell oranges!" I am so impressed with how fast the students were able to pick up the vocabulary and grammatical structure of English. I wish that I would have had a camp like this to learn Spanish because it is just so fun!
On Friday, we walked the students to the library, even in 100 degree weather, and the students loved it! It was so much fun to get to see Seville with them, as they each pointed out things that I had never noticed like the town hall. They were so excited as we passed the park they play in after school, or the street that they live on. It's crazy because to me Seville, this spectacular and stunning place, is my summer home. But they get to grow up here, and that is really amazing.
The other thing I just love about Playschool is the super sweet kids. Although it has only been a week, I have made such connections with them. They are so eager to learn and curious, and I am so grateful that I have them, so we can all learn from each other!
