Vigo Secondary Schools So Far September 20,2011

Vigo Secondary schools so far....
by Lisa Geibel on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 9:19pm
Well, after 2 days of school, I have a little better idea of what I'm going to be doing. I've met w/4 classes so far, from ages 12-17...not in one class! They have so few failures and so little moving that most kids go thru school w/their same classmates! I take 1/2 of the class - about 10-12 kids - to a separate room and engage them in conversation in English. These first few days have been me talking about Texas and asking them their name, what they like to do, Qs about activities in Vigo, what they are going to do after high school (for equivalent of seniors), etc, etc. They have curriculum in English classes very similar in content to what I teach kids in US about Spanish! So, my job will be to use their vocab, subject areas, skills that their teacher works on w/them in class in my time with them. Classes only meet 3 times/week...different days and times each time. Teachers don't have to be at school when they are not teaching or being available at their assigned times for potential sub duty. No outside subs are ever used!
Daily schedule is 8:30-9:20 1st
9:20-10:10 2nd
10:10-10:30 Break
10:30-11:20 3rd
11:20-12:10 4th
12:10-12:30 Break
12:30-1:20 5th
1:20-2:10 6th and end of day!
Except on Monday PMs, classes go from
2:10-2:50 Lunch
2:50-3:40 7th
3:40-4:30 8th and end of Monday.
No lunches served at school but there is a bar to get snack or more important, a great cup of coffee!
Kids have been exceedingly good for me and in classes I have observed..if this continues, it's amazing! I have not seen even one cell phone or earphones attached to anything in use at school...when I asked about it, they said they would get in big trouble at school AND at home...interesting, eh?
I am helping primarily w/kids enrolled in their bilingual program which means career oriented, but not necessarily University. School only has 275 kids so feels like Garza. Teachers make no copies - they have a small office w/3 people who do everything like that. No supplies like paper, pencils, etc given to teachers - kids bring all of their own supplies. Only 4 computers for teachers in the teacher workroom and none in classrooms. 4 more in the library. No wifi anywhere in the school. Bilingual dept just got a Smartboard and projector and several laptops - all is Dell that I've seen so I make sure to tell kids that he's from Austin! Remember, teachers move classrooms, not kids!
Most important, everyone is very nice to me and each other....there is a 3 day strike in Madrid right now to protest increase in teaching hours without increase in pay...I don't really know what teachers make here but their hours seem pretty good compared to US schools! Enough for now....