I knew it couldn't last.
Twenty four degrees of sunshine, a soft sea breeze, sunbathing in January... it's hard to believe that this time a week ago I was paddling in the sea on a beautiful remote beach in Valencia.
This morning I woke at around 5 a.m to flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder, followed later by heavy intermittent downpours. It's a blessing in many ways, as apparently there has been no rain here for months, and sitting in the flat on a dull Sunday afternoon listening to the rain hammering down outside is a good way to prepare myself for a return to Welsh weather (rain) and conversation (complaining about rain).
It's the end of my third week here in Gandia; one more week to go before we fly back next Sunday. When I reflect on my time here, the first thing that comes to mind is the wonderful welcome that I have received from the teachers at my school. Even the dinner ladies speak to me in English, going out of their way to help me. Nothing has been too much trouble for anyone, and I feel very lucky to be placed here. But it's the children that have really made it for me.
It is obviously a novelty for them to have a foreign English teacher, but the way that some Primary students call out and wave when they see me is nothing short of delightful, and more than makes up for the deafening noise they make when they are all together in class! They pronounce my name as three syllables, so everywhere I go in school I hear 'Hello, Cath-e-rine!"
Watching the way that lessons are carried out has been a revelation, and there are some surprising paradoxes. All the children have ipads now, which I think is a double-edged sword, as pupils often start playing games of their own, or use the translation service to hand me a screen with a sentence of English that they have merely pressed a button to reveal. This is not how they will learn a language.
But technology brings advantages too, not least the wide range of speaking and listening exercises that can be carried out. Several lessons have involved a Kahoot, which is an interactive multiple-choice quiz that is displayed on a whiteboard in the class. The game is taken very seriously: scores are kept, and at the end the winner's name appears on the screen. He or she is then treated to a round of applause by the rest of the class, followed by ecstatic hugs and kisses from close friends.
Instead of handing work in, pupils take a copy of it, email it to the teacher, who then marks it, makes comments and sends it back to them via the school's internal software. Yet the school has no colour printer, and when I asked for blu-tac to stick my Rules on the board, none could be found. (Luckily Anna gave me some, which has been a blessing.)
Each teacher takes their own white-board pen to class, so I have had to order four for this week in order to be able to do a Board Rush with one class. And classrooms are not heated, but the Staff Room is heated to 22 degrees, which is often unbearably hot for me.
I do think that it would be a great idea for UKLC teachers to be issued with coloured, laminated copies of the Rules, as they have gone down well. One of my teachers commented that she had noticed a change in the behaviour of the students since we started using the Rules. But my four black-and-white copies need replacing now, and would stand out far more in the classroom if they were in colour. In the future, good quality laminates could perhaps be left as a reminder for pupils once the teachers have returned home to the UK.
On Tuesday it's the Day of Peace, and the whole school will be singing a song for Peace in the playground. I wonder how long peace will last once they go back to their classrooms afterwards....!!
