A Day In A Life Of A Placement Student

The word "placement" may seem daunting to some yet exciting to others. What's great is that Undergraduate students are offered two opportunities in which you have to fight for (just like you would when you apply for a job) - a study and/or a work placement. The beauty of having choices and options is that you get to find something that is suitable to you, something that you enjoy doing and perhaps wish to pursue as your future job. Some students prefer to work, some prefer to study, some want to do both.

And me? I chose to work. 

I've been working as a Grade 1 Primary (5-6 y/o) TA (teaching assistant) for over three months now here in Madrid and I'd like to give a closer insight on A Day In A Life of a Placement Student! 

08:30am-09:10am

Wake up call and get ready for work. 

09:15-11:am ; first period

I arrive at work for 09:15am and begin working. 

After greeting other teachers and my students, I assign a 'captain of the books'. The students read English books every morning, either individually or in pairs and I sit with as many of them as I can to listen to them read and to offer support. From the first day I started, I've been able to see each student's capability in reading, writing, speaking in English. To this day, three months on, I can see much improvement by majority of my students. Hearing my students speak, read and write more and more English to me everyday is beyond rewarding. 

11:00am-11:30am ; break time

Break time is when I get to grab a snack and drink from the staffroom and hangout with the other GAP students here. Sometimes I work my break and carry on with any videos or worksheets I have to work on. 

Every Wednesday, I have duty. I am on playground duty during break time and second break too. I watch over the students along with another teacher and deal with any problems or conflicts that occur on the playground - which is usually the case of one student not wanting to play with the other. 

11:30am-12:30pm ; second period

12:30pm-14:00pm ; lunch break 

Usually, at 12:30pm, I take the class over to the dining hall and make sure they all sit down and eat their lunch. 

From 12:30-13:00pm, I pour the students' drinks, I make sure they are eating their lunch (some kids are very picky) and I help them with their change over. Honestly, it is a little tiring running up and down the tables making sure everyone is OK and hearing my name get called constantly gives me a headache (the students have to get permission to change their dish). 

13:00pm-14:00pm is my lunch. I eat at 13:00pm and I usually go back to my room after I've eaten to relax. Living just 5 minutes away from your workplace is very convenient. 

Every Thursday, I teach English to two primary students during my lunch break - one aged 8 and one aged 11.
14:00pm-16:00pm ; third period

In this period, the students sometimes have other subjects such as music, art, swimming.  

16:00pm-16:30pm ; final break 

The students get a further half an hour break at 4pm because their school day begins at 09:15am and ends at 5:15pm. This is quite an unusual time period for a normal school day but I guess it's because SEK is a private school! The students get a snack which is normally a sandwich, chocolate or fruit. 

16:30pm-17:00pm ; last period 

The last half hour is normally tidy up time where the class ends and there's a small re-cap on what has been learnt throughout the day. The students take quite a while to tidy up after themselves so that pretty much takes up the entire half hour! 

17:00pm-17:30pm ; bus route 

On Mondays, I finish work at 5:30pm because I take the kids to ruta (bus route) after school ends and my job is to keep an eye out on them whilst they get picked up by their specific teachers. The system is strange but it works. 

20:00pm ; dinner 

I have dinner with my colleagues (other GAP students) at the school dining hall everyday. All meals are provided - breakfast, lunch, dinner. This gets a little repetitive so sometimes I go out to the city or a nearby town to eat. 

Most days I finish at 16:00/16:30pm but on Mondays I finish at 17:30pm. To keep myself occupied, I have taken up tennis lessons at the University next door to work. I go to tennis class every Tuesday and Thursday at 18:30pm-19:30pm. On the weekends, I travel out to Madrid or try and make a day trip to another city. 

Any type of placement is not a restriction - especially if you are doing it abroad. It's really important to do as much as you can whilst you're out there; meet new people and travel to new places. 

- Tiffany 

Doing a placement abroad or any placement is a huge challenge. You must be brave and have a lot of courage to complete it. It's a new and different experience that takes time getting used to. Yes, it is tons of fun and offers you so much...but there are also minor struggles such as being homesick. Living in another country and getting used to its culture plays a big part. You must be open to trying new things. 

Next stop; Cuenca!

Good evening all, this particular blogpost will mainly consist of just photos. (Sorry that it's super boring! T__T)

On 06.12, I went to Cuenca with my roommates. Cuenca is a small city on the outskirts of Madrid (half way between Madrid and Valencia). The views were amazing and were definitely worth the short-lasting trip there. It's great that Spain has so many different historical cities/towns to offer... makes a difference to Madrid!

Please enjoy the photos! -

There were lots of different coloured buildings ^___^ 

Cuenca is known for its 'hanging houses'. Here is a picture of a house hanging off the edge... 

I have a huge fear of bridges...and this one really high! Not ashamed of holding Sam's hand throughout the entire walk over! ^^' 

One of my favourite photos from the trip! If I can say so myself... (photographer Tiff) 

Lessons of the trip: 

To not book late train journeys home as our day trips always end earlier than intended. 

Always check train times for the journey home in case we get bored. 

Research the town/city before going. 

Nevertheless, I had an enjoyable day in Cuenca :) Another memory made with my chicas! 

- Tiffany

¡Feliz cumpleaños a mi! | Turning 22 In Madrid !

...I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22! 

My first birthday away from home and to tell you the truth, I was really dreading it. My twenty second birthday went from a strong 0 to a solid 10 within the space of three days.

I had the worst start to the week last Monday or Tuesday because I was feeling very homesick - I felt emotionally weak. I was missing home so much; my family, friends, home comforts and on top of that, I knew my birthday was creeping up. I just wanted it to pass by in a flash, I didn't want it to happen. I'm not a massive birthday person in general but spending my birthday away from home automatically put a downer on me. To cut to the chase, I 'broke down' at work. Embarrassing, I know. Throughout the morning, I was feeling down and upset. Questions and feelings such as "why am I here?", "what am I doing here?", "I just want to go home" were going through my mind. My mood was foul. I wasn't really talking to anyone, wasn't interacting with many students - every negative feeling was growing bigger and bigger. And what's worse is that it was all being bottled up inside my brain. After lunch, I cracked. I cried on a friend (literally) as soon as I saw her. I had never felt so low before and I know I just needed to let it out before I drove myself crazy. Although I was able to let some my emotions out, at the same time I felt embarrassed for crying in front of many colleagues. To be honest, I felt stupid.

Within the next two days, I began to feel better; slowly but surely. After speaking to a few close friends and family members, I started to feel slightly happier and managed to convince myself that everything is going to fine. Friends were reminding me that I will be going home for Christmas soon and to stay strong. These positive messages made me feel warm inside. I told myself to get over this little bump and to strive on. My amazing mother told me to "treat everyday positively, to enjoy going to work as much as possible because time flies when you're having fun and before you know it, you'll be home". These wise words really helped me and on top of that, they came from the person I miss the most. So, thank you mum - you truly are the best.

But enough of the negativity, I'm here to tell you all about how my birthday went from bad to good! ^^... So, here's how it began:

On Friday 27th - I walked into work as normal and class began as normal. The students were reading well and everything seemed fine... Up until class 1B (from next door) all gathered into my classroom with 1A. Before I could even question it, the word "surprise!" was whispered to me by my tutor, Mako. 5 seconds later, all 40 students or however many were present at the time started singing "happy birthday" to me. I stood there in shock, happiness and awe - I felt touched. My tutor then handed me many homemade birthday cards made by my students as a surprise to me. At the same time, I was being attacked by all of them giving me a birthday hug and kiss ^^'... I honestly will never ever forget this moment. It was so so sweet.

Thank you to Mako for planning this surprise for me and thank you for the present :) This moment had put a smile on my face the entire day. After work, myself and Esther went to Gran Plaza 2 to do some 'Black Friday' shopping. I really wanted to have some retail therapy because it seemed like we hadn't done so in such a long time! I ended up not buying much... but it was still nice to go there! We ended our night in an Indian restaurant that was nicer than the first one we tried for sure. The only downside to that day was the fact that our food took so long to come out that we missed our last bus home and had to taxi it home. But as S.M says, "It's all part of the experience" :)

I decided to go bowling with a few of my work colleagues during the day at Majadahonda on my birthday (Saturday 28th) because I am quite a fan of bowling ^^' and I didn't want to let the day go to waste by sitting at home doing nothing! Bowling was good fun; one big laugh! Guess who came first? ...birthday girl! ^___^ we paid 8euros 45 for one game and a drink which I thought was quite decent for Spain.

For dinner, I picked out an Italian restaurant called 'Reginella' located in Nuevos Misterios. I've walked past the restaurant numerous times when en route to the Korean restaurant that I've been to a few times and it caught my eye instantly. The restaurant is dimly lit, not too big and just looked pretty. The atmosphere was nice and the food was good too! Many thanks to my roommates for the little surprise! Here are some photos of our delicious food and my companions :) 

The night ended with a nice, hot original bubble tea from the hidden gem we had discovered recently. 

Thank you girls for taking the time to come out for dinner with me. 

...my birthday lasted the entire weekend (thanks to Esther and Samra) so on Sunday 29th, we went to the sports café which is about 5 minute walk from where we live, to have brunch. The weather was lovely; sun was out and we were able to sit outside on the terrace, in the sun. Only in Spain is the weather like this at the end of November! You'd never be able to do such thing back home in England. It was really nice to relax in the sun with good grub and good company :). After relaxing for a few hours, we headed home to begin our Harry Potter movie marathon! What more could you ask for?

I would like to note down that my 22nd birthday was overwhelming. I didn't go into too much detail for a reason... because everything that happened; every happy moment will be stored in my heart for as long as I live. I'm so lucky to have such kind, loving friends around me. Although I felt so crappy at the beginning of the week, all my worries had disappeared by Friday and that's mainly down to my roommates. I can't thank them enough for all the things they did for me. I am really thankful to them and I don't know how I can repay them. Friends like these are hard to find nowadays...and I hope our friendship will continue to grow, even after we part ways when our time on this placement comes to an end. Not only did my friends 'make' my week/birthday, my teachers did too. So for that, I thank them too but being so good to me. I may not show my gratitude openly but I appreciate every effort made to put a smile on my face this birthday.

Thank you all for a fantastic 22nd birthday.

- Tiffany

Special thank you to these to nutters. So much love for you guys!