Hey, friends! Welcome back to the blog! If you’re new, subscribe to my emails and if you’re new then, you don’t know that I’ve moved abroad to Madrid for a gap year! I’m currently a language assistant and its been an interesting experience so, I want to share my 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Teaching Abroad
I’m currently teaching English in a primary school to third and fourth graders and it’s a nice experience. I love the students and I love getting this opportunity to learn and explore a new culture.
Now, I decided to make this post because a lot of people ask me about how the job goes, how living abroad feels and just the logistics about everything. So, I wanted to share the 5 things that I think are important to know before you make the decision to teach abroad.
Lets get into it
Work Shift
This is something that surprised me and that I wish were a little different. In my opinion, the programs make it sound like you’ll only have to work 16 hours a week, over a course of 4 days and it will be so simple. No.
My main goal was to travel, blog, make some youtube videos and simply just explore my new city but, my days are literally spent at the school for hours. Its
My schedule is Monday through Thursday and I’m at my school from 9am-5pm. We have a snack break from 11-11:45 and then lunch break from 12:30-2:30. Almost every primary school is like this. The reason this bothers me is because, I live about 35 minutes away from the school so, I can’t leave and go home during break as well as, I would love to be doing other things with my time.
During my break, I sit in the English room, roam the nearby mall, or try to take a nap on the table. Since there’s no wifi, it makes everything a little harder. I simply just wish it was 9 am to 1 pm and my day could be over. Plus, I private tutor students after school, which results in me waiting an hour to an. hour and half for the students to be done with after school activities so, I don’t get home until 8 pm.
Not to sound whiney but, this can be extremely annoying and cause stressful feelings.
Tutoring
You are 90% going to end up tutoring just to let you know.
Teachers will ask you if you’re available to tutor students after school and if they can give your information out to the parents and that literally means that you’ll be tutoring
I personally like tutoring because I get to be in charge and do my own lessons and plan everything out but it is tiring. Its a little bit of babysitting and teaching mixed in one and if you’ve been at the school since 9 and now you’re at a students house until 7 pm, you’ll be exhausted.
I guess you could get out of it if you don’t need the extra cash but, even so, I still enjoy the children I tutor and getting to create cool lesson plans so, don’t warn it off immediately.
Teaching
Sorry but, you’re not the teacher. A lot of people think that they’re coming in to actually command the classroom and be in charge but no, you’re just the assistant and you need to answer to your teachers
The program tells you that you’re there to assist and take out groups and simply just take orders from your teachers. So, don’t come in thinking that you’re going to walk in every morning and control things.
I won’t lie, I honestly thought it was going to be a tad bit different. I would like to actually do certain lesson plans and activities with my groups and have a nice and big enough space to do so in but, hey, we’re not the ones with the education degree.
Money
Save money if you’ve decided to move abroad. Yes, first things first!
!000 euro a month may sound a lot but that’s all you receive, at the end of each month. So you have to make that stretch for about 4 weeks. If
I probably pay almost half of
The Experience
At the end of the day, your experience is what matters! With almost everything you do in life, its going to be new and shocking but, its the experiences that matter. Just being in a new country alone is great and getting to learn how a different culture runs and operates is cool.
You’ll get to learn so much more from the students, teachers, and lessons. I’ve got to brush up on all of my elementary studies! You’ll also learn more about yourself, your likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and your passions and focus. I feel like being here has definitely made me more aware of what I want to do in life; career-wise and I’m genuinely excited to head home and focus solely on my life path.
Thats all that I have for you guys! If you’re planning on teaching abroad or thinking about it, definitely research. Its great experience nonetheless and the kids are sweet and being immersed in a new culture is awesome.
I’m expanding my knowledge in so many areas and am having an amazing time. Yes, some days aren’t perfect and they can be stressful but y
Check out my moving to Madrid post here!
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Shay, Bye!