Back to School!

Well Wednesday was my first day back to work!  Holy long Summer.  It was orientation, where we got to learn more about the program, meet the teachers we will be working with, and meet other people who are from the US, France, Ireland, the UK, and Australia who are doing the same thing we are doing.  It just shocks me how I am reminded every single day how HUGE our world is.  There are so many people out there who are doing amazing things that I am completely unaware of. 

I think of one the coolest parts of our orientation was that I got to see more of the teacher strike up close and personal.  The director who is trying to implement this new language law, check out my post here or here for more information, spoke to us.  As soon as she was introduced, all of the teachers who are striking stood up and faced the back of the room.  Talk about awkward!  The director continued to share her speech with us in Spanish, English, and Catalan, obviously trying to make a point that she was able to speak multiple languages.  The teachers faced the back of the room the entire time she was speaking and when the director finally stopped {about 20 minutes later}, they all faced forward and sat back down. 

You can see the speaker on the stage and the teachers {in the
green shirts} facing the back of the room.

Before we went to break, the director’s assistant asked that we all went up to take a picture with the director.  It was obviously an attempt to make it appear like everything is kosher, but it was very awkward and uncomfortable.   So, it was cool that we got to see everything in action… not so cool that it was super weird. 

I start in the classroom on Monday!  My official job is to teach English to Spanish speaking students.  The most exciting part of this is that I will be working with ALL age groups {kinder to high school} and bouncing from classroom to classroom.  I can’t wait to be back in a class with kiddos!