Barcelona Adventures

St. Paul's School is not at all what I was expecting when I arrived on Tuesday. The campus is incredible and the staff is quite diverse. During my first days at the school, I have started to get to know my students and their abilities in the classroom. One major difference I have noticed is that the students advocate for themselves in their education. What I mean by that is that they are eager to learn and they make sure that is what they are doing.  My experiences, so far, in the school have been very pleasant. The staff is eager to help us in both during school activities and give advice on our exploration of Barcelona. My cooperating teacher, Martin, has helped me get used to the different inflections and accents of the students' names, which is one thing I always struggle with at a new school. The staff seems very close as well as collaborative in planning and discussing student progress. They have a common place they go during planning or off times to discuss with one a...

As a rule of thumb in my life I try to keep my expectations low for something in order to be pleasantly surprised rather than utterly disappointed. However, that normality is quite hard when looking forward to my trip to Spain. It is also hard picking one thing that I am most excited about because the thought of every second of it excites me to my core. However, the thought of seeing the incredible architecture is standing out on my list, such as the Gothic Quarter, as well as experiencing the cuisine such as Formatgeria La Seu. My research has led me to believe that I will definitely have a hard time getting in as much of Barcelona as I want so I know I need to make it a priority to budget my time well so that I can soak in as much of this incredible opportunity as I can. I am expecting to learn a lot about the differences in education between Barcelona and Kentucky and how teaching strategies vary. I know that it will definitely take some adjusting when I first arr...