Language Assistant Experience

School Placement 

CEIP Ramiro de Maeztu is a public elementary school located on Calle Serrano in the El Viso neighborhood in Madrid. The school serves children ages 3-12, from pre-school up to 6th grade. As it's a bilingual school, the students take half of their subjects in English, including Natural Science, Social Studies, Art, and Music. It's a large school, with 4-5 classes per grade. Most of the students have outside English classes as well, and the level of English is quite advanced. 

Role of LAs in the school 

This year, the school has six language assistants. Usually, each assistant works primarily with one grade level throughout the year. However, due to the limitations of this year, each assistant works with 2-3 grades. This year, I work with students in 1st, 3rd, and 4th grade in English class. 

The school has a unique and well-organized way of utilizing LAs in the classroom. Each week, I work with students on either Speaking, Reading, or Vocabulary. Throughout the week, I work with small groups of students (usually 3-4 per group) completing an activity in one of the areas. At the end of the week, I do a big group activity with the entire class, where we review and extend the topic we covered in the small group. In addition, I conduct the students' speaking tests at the end of each English unit. 

Goals and Expectations

Throughout my time as a LA, my goal as a teacher has always been to make English accessible and enjoyable to my students. A lot of times, as language assistants, we are the only native English speaker our students regularly interact with.  I am constantly looking for ways to make my lessons engaging and interesting in order to motivate them to use English in a meaningful way. I strive to develop a good relationship with my classes so that they feel comfortable and become more confident learners. 

For many students, communicating in their second language can be intimidating as they feel they can't express themselves at the same level as they could in Spanish. However, I am constantly surprised and impressed by how capable students are at using English and making themselves understood. My goal for my students is for them to become independent and confident learners. In the class, I encourage them to use strategies to express themselves and use prior knowledge to decode the language. 

My expectations at the beginning of the school year in a new school are to continue to grow as a teacher and learn as much as I can from the other teachers and my students. I search for the ways in which I can best contribute to my classes and their learning objectives. 

“Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery.”

— Amy Chua

 Personal Contributions and Highlights as a Language Assistant

As a language assistant, I have contributed to the program in various ways. This year has been different due to the Covid restrictions in place within the school, we aren't able to gather in school-wide events, so my contributions have been at the classroom level. In particular, I prepared special activities and games in my classes to celebrate Halloween and Christmas. My students love celebrating holidays and it's always fun to have a special class and share American culture. Also, due to the unique setup of my school, I work in small groups with the students and I can give students more individualized attention, especially students that need more support in English. I talk with the other teachers to discuss students' progress and areas where they might need a bit more time or instruction. When conducting the speaking exams, I make notes about vocabulary and grammar that seems more challenging, or common errors students make. 

When my students give me pictures in class, it always brightens my day!

Personally, the highlight of working as a language assistant is first and foremost the students themselves. Their enthusiasm for English makes me excited to come to work and teach them. Getting to know their interests, hobbies, and personalities helps me become a better teacher. In the classroom, I witness so many small moments of encouragement and kindness between students helping each other out even when they think no one is noticing.