Boy, does time fly! As of today, I have exactly three weeks left in Barcelona, and just two more weeks of volunteering at the Pare Poveda School. I've had so much fun getting to know the kids in Isabel's 6A English class and can hardly believe that my time spent volunteering is already coming to an end. I've had a very different experience volunteering than I originally expected, but it has been amazing nonetheless.
When I signed up to volunteer at the Pare Poveda School, I thought that I'd be working in a classroom with younger students (think cute preschool aged kids) who had very minimal exposure to the English language. I expected to sing the ABC's with them, teach them about colors and animals, and do fun arts and crafts activities.
Imagine my surprise when I showed up for my first day of volunteering and was greeted not by a group of wide-eyed preschoolers, but rather by a class of talkative, energetic preteenagers. I did a double take when I first walked into the classroom and immediately wondered if the school had made a mistake. Maybe they didn't need me to help teach English. Maybe the teacher just needed some extra help organizing book shelves and photocopying papers. I was debating whether I should walk back to the front desk and double check if I was in the right room when Isabel greeted me at the door and introduced me to the class as their new teacher.
As the students continued to work on an assignment, Isabel pulled me aside and explained the lesson plan for the day. She told me that we would be learning about the water cycle, showed me the corresponding pages in the textbook and workbook, and split the class into two groups-- one for me to teach and the other for her to teach. Not only was I going to be teaching English, but I was also given the difficult task of explaining a somewhat complex concept that majority of the students didn't fully understand in Spanish, yet alone a foreign language. The fact that I was going to be flying solo without any help from a certified teacher only added to my nerves.
After a few seconds of panic I took a deep breath, told myself to relax, and got to work. Believe it or not, the lesson went fairly well. The students paid attention while I talked, actively participated in the discussion, and were eager to answer all of my questions. Each of my sessions at the Pare Poveda school have continued along the same path, and I'd like to think that they've all been pretty successful! While volunteering in a sixth grade class isn't how I anticipated spending my time volunteering in a Spanish elementary shcool, it has been such an eye-opening and rewarding experience and I'm so thankful I was able to expand out of my comfort zone and had the opportunity to work with these amazing and intelligent students!