Pau Romeva
Fact Sheet
Type - Public Primary, Urban, Inner-city, Mixed
Official Language - Catalan/Spanish
Students - ~700
# teachers (full time) - 32
# English teachers - 3
Ages I taught - 6 through 12
Independent group size - between 5 and 15 students
Full class size - 30 to 35 students
School Website - external link
Brief
My second year as an English Assistant was outstanding. After securing a second grant through the Ministry of Education to continue my work with in public schools, I relocated to an inner-city primary school on the south side of Barcelona. The atmosphere was very postive and I was delighted to begin assisting in the econmically and racially diverse classrooms of Pau Romeva.
Daily Expectations
Much like my experience working in Teiá the year before, I was asked to help students with proficiency and fluency in their written and oral assignments. Pau Romeva emphasized more rote memorization and book work than El Cim, which directed learning through the pedogical concept of "learning through play" - i.e., games and skits. Because of this, I requested some time to observe the three instructors whom I would be assisting to better understand their philosophy of teaching and to define my role in their classrooms. During this time, I quickly decided that I would it would be best if I worked with small groups of students for 15 to 20 minutes at a time while their main classroom instructor focused on pushing the students through the textbook-outlined curriculum.
I was delighted and a bit surprised when I learned I would be assisting in first- and second-year classrooms along with third through sixth. The majority of my classes, however, were composed of fifth- and sixth-year students.
Sample Activities
I believe real language learning, or any learning for that matter, cannot begin until students develop a desire to learn. One way to help in the development of that desire is to make learning fun, engaging, and in line with the learner's interest. In this case, the students with which I worked expressed an early interest in music and skits. Fortunately, I love both. In a way, it was perfect. Through trial and error (and a lot of questions thrown at any teacher that would listen) I learned a number of effective strategies for incorporating English language lessons into music and performance.
Authentic Learning Matieral and Activities
Check back soon for great examples!
Books and practice
In our class, we used the Bugs English book series and activities by Macmillan Publishing Company to supplement our authentic learning materials.
- For information as to how the Spanish Ministry of Education uses this book series, follow this link to an external Word document!
- For an example unit (Full color, 6 page PDF) click here --WARNING-- big file!
Cultural Exchange
Part of my experience in Catalunya involved an understanding of Catalan tradition and culture. After 15 months in the country, I participated in a number of festes that helped me understand the rich and distinct cultural heritage of the Catalan people.