Hasta luego...

I'm currently writing this final blog post on the train to Madrid. I have said my goodbyes to my students, the teachers, Maria Auxiliadora school, my host family, and Caceres. Talk about an emotional past two days!

Yesterday after school and my last tutoring session, I spent the entire evening walking around Caceres buying last minute things (gifts for teachers/students, my sister's graduation gift, thank you cards, and some more ingredients for the chocolate chip cookies that I made for today. I spent about 2 hours walking around trying to find everything. When I came home, I had exactly one hour before I had to be my cooperating teacher's house for dinner. So in that one hour, I had to bake enough cookies for the teachers and the students in my English immersion class, using a small conventional oven. Lola and Susana helped me. Susana cut up pieces of chocolate from the chocolate bars (it's ridiculously hard to find milk chocolate chips here), Lola started mixing ingredients together as I converted the recipe to the metric system and told her what to mix and how much. Then we would put about 6 cookies in the oven at a time. It took a lot of effort from everyone involved in that small kitchen, but we made about 50 cookies in under an hour, and they were some pretty good cookies if I do say so myself. 

Then at 9, Paige and I went over to my cooperating teacher's house where he and his girlfriend cooked dinner for us. We had salad, tortilla patata, fish, and some of the most delicious cheese I've ever eaten. Abraham entertained us a little on the guitar, I played a little piano, and we watched 'Friends' in Spanish. It was a wonderful last dinner in Spain! Paige and I got home around midnight, and I still had to pack. You could say I'm a little tired today. 

This morning, I woke up and got everything together - the presents, the cards, the candy, the chocolate chip cookies, and of course I had to make the Nutella/peanut butter dessert. 

Over the past 8 weeks, I've spent most of my time with a 3rd grade class and a 4th grade class. I said goodbye to the 4th graders right before break. We exchanged gifts, gave lots of hugs, and I'll admit there were a few tears. Okay, lots of tears. 

The 4th grade teacher and me on my last day

During break, I shared the desserts with the faculty and almost everyone asked for both of the recipes. Most of the teachers just asked me to send them the recipe when I had time, but one of the teachers wouldn't let me leave until I wrote the chocolate chip cookie recipe in his phone. 

I was with my 3rd grade class for the last hour of the day. This is the class that I've spent the most time with and so I knew we would have an emotional last class. At the end, the students came up to me one by one and gave me either a letter, a picture, and/or a gift of some sort. I told them about "the 3 H's" of ways that students say goodbye to teachers in the United States - hugs, handshakes, or high fives. After saying goodbye to each student, Abraham told them to give me "uno abrazo grande" and they all surrounded me in a circle, hugging me and each other until we nearly fell over. No hay palabras para eso momento de mi vida. I will never forget today.

Giving me their cards and "gifts" (This girl gave me something to give to every member of my family)

The best part of the whole day.

I taught one more English immersion class this afternoon from 4 to 6. During my last class, I brought chocolate chip cookies and popcorn. I told the students that they could bring a snack or drink if they wanted and I made sure that we would have a fun and happy last day. We made a poster where they wrote their favorite things about the English immersion class and then we spent the remainder of the class watching "Mr. Bean" and "AFV" and described what was happening in the videos in English. At the end, we gave a lot of hugs, took lots of pictures, and exchanged mailing addresses so we can keep in touch.

Enjoying their popcorn and cookies!

my 5th and 6th grade English class!

This girl wants to be an English teacher :)

You could say these last two days have been incredibly busy, a little stressful, and very emotional. Saying goodbye to Lola wasn't nearly as sad as it was two years ago. She told me she's not as sad since she knows she'll see me again in the near future because she knows about my future trip to Europe and my love for Spain and for traveling.  

This unique student teaching experience has not been what I expected it to be in the slightest; however, I'm glad for that. Because of this experience, I now have closer relationships with Spaniards, better Spanish-speaking skills, memories that I will never forget, and I know that my time at Maria Auxiliadora has changed the school, the teachers, and the students for the better, in some way or another. And that is why I love being a teacher. 

Now I'm going to respond to some of the most frequent questions that I've been asked over the past 8 weeks about my experience here. 

Which student teaching experience did you like more? Iowa or Spain? I didn't like one experience more than the other. They were both so very different so it's hard to choose one. My experience in Iowa was definitely more time-consuming. I was constantly planning lessons, writing on chart paper, grading papers, writing reflections, and getting no sleep. In Spain, it has been far less time-consuming; however, it has been more challenging due to the language barrier. There were times when I was really frustrated with how much Spanish I didn't know, and teaching in Spanish at first was very challenging because I didn't know all of the vocabulary and I didn't want to teach by reading from a paper. However, one thing that I've noticed throughout my field experiences, practicums, and both student teaching placements, is that kids are kids. Kids are so great no matter what grade they are in or what country they live in. They love you as long as you love them. 

What has been the most surprising part about this experience? I think the most surprising part goes back to my very first day, walking into the classroom,  and having somewhat of a culture shock. All of the classrooms are so bare compared to the U.S., the students sit in rows, they have workbooks for every subject, and in general, there is not much classroom management. I had never seen anything like it since I started studying Elementary Education 4 years ago. 

Has this experience helped you decide what you want to do in the future? This experience hasn't helped me decide what I specifically want to do; instead, it's helped me realize that I could be happy doing many things. When I had my first practicum experience in Kindergarten, I thought for sure that I wanted to be a Kindergarten teacher. Then I had my second practicum in 4th grade, and I wanted to teach 4th grade in future. Then after teaching grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 throughout this entire semester, I've come to realize that I think I would be happy teaching at any grade level. No matter where I teach or what grade, I know that I will be a good teacher and that's what's more important. However, I do feel more comfortable with my Spanish, especially classroom vocabulary due to this experience, so I might be leaning more towards teaching Spanish vs ESL. 

What has been your favorite part about this experience? I really really enjoyed my English immersion class because I was able to make it my own. I used numerous ESL ideas from my classes at ISU that the students had never experienced before. Speaking of trying new things, another favorite part was trying some classroom management strategies in the classrooms. For example, using wait time instead of yelling at the students to get their attention, doing experiments and projects instead of using workbooks, etc. Giving the students new learning experiences was probably the best part. 

Do you plan on returning to Caceres? I have a trip planned to Europe this summer/fall with my best friend and our last stop is Madrid. I can't see myself not visiting Caceres. I really do hope to come back for at least a day or two. Not only to see Lola and my host family, but now I have to return to see my students :)

PS - I'm posting this blog from 33,000 feet in the air en route to Iowa! See all of you fellow Iowans soon!

PPS - Thanks to anyone and everyone for taking the time to read this blog over the past two months! Maybe there will be more blogs in the near future... :)

Shea