MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Monday, 14th of November 2022

Today has been my first day in high school El Joncar. I moved into my flat in Barcelona, this year I was living in Girona a city in the north. Although I haven’t done my internship in Girona I believe that the opportunity to be able to do it in Barcelona in such a lovely sunny city is amazing. For the past five years, I have lived in Toulouse, France and it definitely has been a cultural change for me to come back to my roots this year. My high school is located in Poblenou, a lovely neighborhood not so far away from my Univesity, UPF. We got to the school early with my practicum colleague Víctor Villanueva. Laura Vendrell our mentor was there to meet us, she was lovely and very charming. She showed us around the school, the walls were filled with drawings and different projects that the students had been working on it was so impressive to see all of their hard work. The school used to be an old factory it is curious to see how they modified the space and reorganised it so that today it can be this amazing space for students to learn in. We soon afterward entered the classroom, Laura introduced us to our students, and both Víctor and I presented ourselves. The first impression I had was that they were really curious to know more about us, they were really impressed with the fact that someone from UPF University would come to their school and teach them English! They felt quite excited. Laura proceeded to start a session we observed and when it was time for the students to begin the task we helped students with the different doubts they had. They were sitting in tables of four, Laura had told us that they were strategically placed so that they could work better. I felt really well about this first day at work, I felt that I really enjoyed being useful and helping students improve their work. It was my first time working in a class of thirty students. They say that first impressions are the ones that really matter, and my first impression has been that I will have a good time teaching and learning.