Reflection/ Self-Evaluation

Before coming to Madrid to be a teaching assistant I only had experience teaching adults one-on-one outside of class, never part of a classroom environment. I'll never forget the first day at San Pío X. I was nervous when I opened the door to that first class with all the children looking up at me. Now I feel completely integrated and in control when in class with the kids.

I have learned how to establish myself as an effective authority figure and leader to the children. See more about this here.

I have also learned how to adapt my English and speak to a wide variety of English levels, at a level where I can be understood, but also challenge them to go to the next level. As auxiliares this is crucial to make our role in the classroom effective. One of our primary duties is to reinforce oral communication. Speed and word choice are essential. One must adapt the words used based on the grammar and vocabulary knowledge each student has. It takes time to learn the level of each child and how to adapt the way you speak, but I have definitely mastered this and have become very familiar with all the children I work with. I have found it very useful with the little ones to develop a kind of sign language when introducing some vocabulary, an action for a word that can be used as a point of reference at anytime and is easy understood. One must also learn the art of correcting, to choose wisely what to correct and what not to, based on the individual learner. Over-correcting can cause children and adults to lose motivation.

I also have learned how to effectively collaborate with my fellow teachers and auxiliares. Collaboration is key. We're all in the same game and in order to progress these children effectively to the next level, or grade, we all have to be on the same page. Collaboration has been crucial in preparing the students for exams, which is a big part of how we as auxiliares contribute at my school. I have pulled students out of the classroom several times each week practicing key concepts needed to succeed in the exams they will take. We have covered the majority of the material that I practice with the children when I pull them out of class, so this time not only helps to prepare for exams, but also as a means of knowing what the children have learned and what we need to review. I take notes on each child and general observations of the class as a whole and then share my notes and discuss them with the teacher. I have found it especially important that I also collaborate with my fellow auxiliares not only in exam preparation, but also in the projects we have done, such as building a haunted house for the school's Halloween celebrations, and to make our role in the classroom the most useful it can be. Collaboration with everyone on our team increases our knowledge about the students; every teacher has a different relationship with each child. It also helps to compare and contrast what's working and what's not working, so we can be more effective as a whole, and share ideas to provide the best education and school for these children. When we share ideas and work together the result is much better than had we done it alone. My time as an auxiliar has also exposed me to and taught me how to adapt to many different teaching styles and has shown me the pros and cons of each one. This has helped lead me to develop my own style.

Most importantly I have learned how to be a better teacher and continue learning each day as a lifelong learner. See more about the guiding principles I have developed by clicking here.

Another role of the auxiliar is also to expose and teach the children about our culture and generate interest and dialogue. I have definitely exceeded those expectations. I have done several presentations on American history, culture, and customs, including one that covered a typical year in the USA, commenting on the customs and traditions of each month. The best example of how I have shared my culture was this past Thanksgiving. After a brief presentation on the history of Thanksgiving and essentially how the USA began I put on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the first graders. We made pumpkin pie, stuffing, and mashed potatoes with gravy from scratch. I made sure to include appropriate food vocabulary in the presentation to make the meal not only a cultural experience, but also a language experience. I had the children decide whether to be a pilgrim or a Native American and then had them color a picture of one of the two and wear it on their shirt. We put 40 chairs around a group of tables in the middle of the room and had a feast. They loved it, along with the teachers, although not all the children loved my stuffing. I also made enough food to share with the teachers during recess in the teacher's lounge. This was one of the highlights of the year. I also frequently discuss with the older children the differences between American English and British English. A lot of our materials are British, so having me in the classroom has been perfect to show the variety of the English language.

Find the two presentations mentioned above here!

A goal I have for myself is to expand my horizons in terms of the age range I work with. Because of the organization of my school I have spent about 80% of my time with the younger students. I have talked with my coordinator and plan to work with older children next year. As an educator I want to work with a wide range of ages. As of now I have experience with adults, very young children, and teenagers. I am excited for the opportunity to work with older children. We all learn differently at different ages and we must teach differently based on our students' age and development.

Another goal I have for myself is to be more involved with special education. My school values inclusive-learning and children from special education participate in most school activities and Art class. As auxiliares we are not given classes with special education, but I would like to participate more with the special education program to gain that experience and make a difference in their lives as well. As a person with a brother with severe autism it is particularly important for me.

A goal I have for my students is to get them to be at an English level that isn't lower than average in comparison to other schools in Madrid. Auxiliares can definitely change this and we have at my school. The third graders this year took the Trinity exam, which was taken by the fourth graders last year and they were just as prepared, which demonstrates the progress we are making.