Spain is Different: Colegio Edition

Welcome to my beautiful little colegio

There are obviously many things about my school here in Spain that are different from what I'm used to (especially since I work at a private, Catholic preK-10 school after 16 years of public education). I could probably write an entire book about the differences: classroom management and discipline, special education, even recess, everything is obviously different. But here's a list of a few of the differences I've noticed for all of you back in the States wondering what my life's like every day at la Anunciata:

• The kids stay in their classrooms, its the teachers that change classes each period. Even the infantil and elementary classes work with several different teachers everyday.

No students in the hallways except at the end of the day!

•  Uniforms and smocks- Everyone in infantil and primary wears uniforms and smocks everyday, right up through 6th grade (I can´t even imagine if they tried to make 6th graders at Timberlane wear smocks every day!). I love them because a) They´re adorable and b) they´re adorable, but I have no idea what their actual function is.

Batas hung up on their hooks before lunch

• Lab coats for teachers! The teachers all wear matching batas, basically just white lab coats. I finally escape my lab and everyone's still wearing lab coats. I wish I brought mine! Also jeans are totally fine. No casual Fridays here. Spaniards aren't uptight about "no-jeans" rules like we are. Probably because they all look amazing all the time. 
• The teachers all go by their first names. No Miss Hilary or Ms. Miller here. Just Hilary. Even the principal goes by his first name. 

• Modesty just doesn't exist. When the preschoolers have to go to the bathroom, the teacher pulls their smock and skirt up and tucks it in their neck and they wander off down the hall to the bathroom in their underwear. 
  Equally shocking was the first time I was in a class right before they had gym. At the end of the period, the gym teacher came to collect them, and I turn around to find the classroom full of 1^st graders running around in their underwear while they changed for gym. 

• Full day for Infantil! Even the 3-year-olds do a full day of school. From 9-1, then they come back from 3-4:40. This just blows my mind. I only did half days until first grade, and I'm pretty sure that's the norm in all of the US. I have no idea how they make it a full day without ending in tears. Oh wait, they don't. It's a constant “I want my mommy, I want a nap, I'm hungry, I'm tired” round of tears. This afternoon, in a 45-minute period, I had 5 kids in time out, at least 2 in tears, and one wet his pants. 

• Smart boards. Every classroom has a Smartboard. This makes me feel so old since when I was in elementary school we used overhead slides and projectors. Amazing how much technology has changed in 10 years! 

Smartboard  for my 3-year-olds

• There's no nurse's office- either the teacher takes care of it or the parents come take their kid home. Which is a lot of fun when you have a class of 35 3-year-olds and one of them starts throwing up, let me tell you.
• Patio instead of playground. I always had a big playground full of woodchips and slides and swings and monkey bars. Here it's much simpler, some concrete, a basketball hoop or soccer net, and a couple slides and swings for the pre-schoolers. 

  

  The "playground" for the infantil students

• Special education program is almost nonexistent. There is one student who has a full-time aide with him, but other than that kids with learning or developmental disabilities are grouped in with the rest of the students and receive little special attention, other than occasional refuerzo hours, where they're pulled out of class to work one on one with a teacher. 
• They actually teach languages. The program at my school is only 2 or 3 years old, so there's no long-term results yet, but there is nothing as impressive as a 5-year-old who comes up and asks you in PERFECT English, “Can I go to the toilet please?” or when you say something in English and a 4-year-old can translate it word for word to Spanish.