It’s taken me ages to write this, because I don’t really know where to start. There’s so much to say! On my CELTA I had a whack at teaching for the first time, and despite the insane workload/hours I enjoyed it. “Had a whack” is probably the most apt description of how I approached teaching both during my qualification and during my time in Elche. Truly thrown in at the deep end when I arrived, I was one of four people told on the morning of the first day:

“Oh, by the way, you’re teaching at four. Don’t worry you’ll be fine.”
Oh, thanks. Yeah, sure, fine.

It doesn’t matter how many times or how many different sincere or experienced people tell you this. My stomach was like a washing machine on rapid rinse. It was not fine. It was quite terrifying.

Thankfully, we had our coordinator Michael, a walking EFL handbook, who saved us that day with a fantastic impromptu lesson plan. It was genius. He just produced it from his head in like 5 minutes. As a newbie to this teaching lark, it was awesome.

So when my first lesson dawned at four o’clock, fool-proof lesson plan in hand, I attempted my best calm-confident-and-assured face and took a whack at it. Sadly, my efforts in the composed department were apparently meagre, as my students told me in the last week that I did look nervous. Doh. Damn face. Thankfully, I think that was just first day nerves compounded by a lack of sleep. Despite some face issues, I think my first lessons went ok – the students did keep coming back!

I was placed with Top School as a teacher for adults in the language academy. I worked Mon-Fri and had a 2 hour lesson in the morning and taught till 8 every evening. Not the worst shift pattern – poor ol’ Steven and Abbas didn’t finish till 9.30 – but it was still one I found hard to adjust to. Some days we’d leave the house at 8 in the morning and not get back till after 10 – that’s a long day! In the mornings we taught at the new Top School building, complete with all new mod cons, like whiteboards and a photocopier. Whereas in the evenings we were given full rein of the old Top School, having our own keys and complete access to all the facilities – some white paper and different coloured chalk! Ooo! No photocopier privileges for us of an evening. But, hey, when something is lacking it forces you to be more imaginative with the materials you do have. For me, I made damn good use of the black board and brought in some coloured poster card for monster-making fun. They may be adults, but they do enjoy a good monster activity.

The first week and every week after made me realise the value of the training we had received on the three weeks running up to our trip at Howells from MJA. We were given a huge array of ideas and resources to build lessons from, but most importantly, and I think we have Michael to thank for this, the confidence to build a lesson, and a fun one, from little and nothing. This for me was the most valuable nugget I smuggled into Elche with me. MJA took me in when I was drained and dispirited by the pedantic, dull and time consuming planning processes of the CELTA and showed me that it doesn’t have to be that way. Hurrah! I now know I can make a lesson from nothing, or I can make one lesson plan last for 2 or 3 lessons because I have the confidence to extend and adapt my original plan to suit the students.

People in Elche really are great. To begin with, I was suspicious of their generosity, convinced there was some catch or trick. I have met some wonderful and inspirational people, teachers and students alike, and I know I have come away with some great friends. The students I had were all pretty amazing. They embraced the lessons and I was impressed at their commitment. Giving up 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for a slightly bonkers Welsh girl to practise her teaching on you, that’s most definitely admirable. Not only did they show up to the lessons, they were also kind enough to fill our social hours too. They bought me a couple of coca-lights, took us for dinner and in the last week I was taken to a university bridge-strength contest – it was much more exciting than it sounds, spectator sport at its best. Other students even invited us to their home for a propa’ Spanish lunch of seafood paella. Not only was this an awesome two-hour long meal, it was my first foray into seafood scoffing, and it was ace. Although, when I saw the size of the prawn nestled smugly on the top of my paella for the first time, I was a bit terrified. But I manned up and got stuck in like a true honorary Spaniard. The great thing is that is how I felt, like an honorary Spaniard. It was amazing and the superb exchange of Spanglish that was bouncing around the table was something to behold.

Despite its proximity to Alicante and Benidorm, a hot spot for the nobler and more dignified sort of Brit abroad (hah), Elche seems to be untouched by that tourist scene. It feels small, and you can quickly feel at home there. Some hot tips – Gelato Italia does some scrummy Nutella – or if you’re feeling exotic, rose-flavoured gelato, and Pilsens do a mean tomato salad (sounds dull, but was truly a flavour bomb). Don’t go in the cathedral. Go up it. Part with 2 euros and brave the many stairs. At the top there is an awesome view of mountains and hundreds and hundreds of palm trees awaiting you (oh yeah, Elche has a BIG thing for palm trees, you need to love ‘em or live with ‘em). Another good tip, if you suffer from hayfever, bring some pills mate, because them trees will have you, eh Abbas? Hang out in the beautiful parks with a frisbee (essential item to have with you) and take a stroll down the river side (never has the word “river” been more of an exaggeration!).

I didn’t see much outside of Elche, and at the time I thought I wasn’t taking enough advantage of its proximity to some great places. But now, I’m glad I took the time to get to know the place. Some of my best memories are just chilling in La Glorietta in the centre with a large gelato and great company.

Most of my low points were in that first week, but looking back I think it was then I learnt the most. These low points included dealing with a propa’ diva student demanding much more for her 50 cents – pfft. Another was that I felt that I wasn’t getting the chance to improve my ridiculously poor Spanish as much as I’d like, but then that is a risk when all the Spanish you meet want you to speak English to them! Our apartment, whilst by far the nicest – we had a frigging awesome balcony/view – was also the furthest from anywhere and anyone, which sometimes made us feel isolated from the others and the town. But we made great use of the amazingly punctual public transport service and some of the others actually came to visit us! I learnt from these difficulties though and the experience wouldn’t have been the same without them. Most important of all, despite the occasional diva, I do like teaching, and I really want to continue. I cannot wait to get back to Spain to continue improving my Spanish and, hopefully, to teach English. So MJA, job done! Thank you very much, I have learnt so much about teaching and myself that I think this experience is invaluable, a true gift. Can I do it again next year? (Except a bit closer to town please!)

Besos,

Sarah xxxxxxx

P.S. I don’t know who Laurie Lee is, but now I might give him a go.

When I received the acceptance email for this project, I jumped for joy at the thought of teaching in Spain. Look at me, I’m all grown up, I have a proper job.

I didn’t even think about the three weekends I’d have to spend in Wales. And when I did, I saw it as a minor diversion in reaching Elche, wherever the hell that was. However, on hindsight, without these three weekends – in which we undertook a First Aid Award, Sports Leadership Certificate, Spanish lessons and a day in how to teach young learners – I wouldn’t have been able to teach in Spain.

We were given great lesson ideas and games, as well as fully formed lesson plans, which work equally well for children and adults. I was teaching adults at Top School, a language school, in the evenings until late. Not wanting to waste my mornings, I’d go with my flatmates to their morning classes and plan my lessons or walk around the town.

My advice to anyone teaching adults is this:

Don’t worry if the students divert away from the lesson you’ve spent two hours planning. Go with the flow. Give them what they’re interested in, the vocabulary they want to learn. You’re only there for a month, after all. You can always come back to what you’ve planned later and the students will enjoy your classes more.

Let them do the work. Encourage them to talk between themselves rather than to you. This’ll give you time to plan what comes next. This can be hard when there are only two students (which is usually the case) and impossible when there’s only one student (which also happens, since adults have lives of their own). However, just engage in conversation with them. They really enjoy this and required vocabulary comes up naturally.

Lastly, have a laugh. There were points when I could feel the students getting bored, because I myself was getting bored. And there were other times where we’d be crying with laughter. I like to remember the latter since it’s when the students learnt the most.

I had such a great time teaching adults and I’d like to thank MJA and Top School for giving me the opportunity to do so. I’ve made some great friends and learnt lots of Spanish along the way. It’s an amazing country with amazing people, weather and language (even the swear words sound beautiful).

There’s nothing left to say except make the most of every moment!

Abbas.

Well, that was fun! I’m back in England now and the whole Spanish thing seems like a distant dream. I learnt so much and gained everything I needed – experience, confidence, a better looking CV, a healthy glow, a few pounds.

The month has made me realise that I can be a teacher if I want to be. I know understand what is expected of me in terms of preparation and planning, delivery, organisation, and knowledge. I made mistakes, of course, but they were all vital mistakes to make. Most importantly I returned a better teacher.

Teaching aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my month in Elche. I adapted well to the Spanish lifestyle and found myself to be a happier, more sociable person than in England. The weather was perfect most days, something that took a while to grasp – I would often be found overheating in the Municipal Park, desperate to make the most of the sun before it was replaced by the rainclouds which never came.

After four weeks I just about came to terms with the slowness of the way of life, the laidback attitude, the sleepy Sundays. I was sad to leave but I know I will return one day soon.  

I now feel employable and have several options for summer school teaching and beyond. My only problem now is deciding where to teach!

I have just returned from 4 fantastic weeks in Spain working as an English Language Teacher.  The experience was unforgettable.  Being a language teacher is one of the most rewarding jobs that anyone could ever do, and I strongly recommend it.  Thank you MJA language for the opportunity and allowing me to be a part of the Leonardo project.

I arrived in Spain as part of a group of 15 newly qualified English Language Teachers, nervous about lesson planning and whether or not I could handle the role of teaching (especially to adults who often have higher expectations than children), though as time progressed I began to realise that I could teach and best of all I was loving it and having  the best time.

Teaching adults was part of a learning curve for me as all of my experience has been revolved around working with children, however the experience has been so enjoyable that I am now left wondering who I enjoy teaching more – children or adults.

For the 4 weeks I worked in Elche, Spain (a small city 30 minutes away from Alicante), in what only could be described as a fantastic language school (in my limited experience) called TOPSCHOOL.  With some very supportive members of staff and teachers, I began my Language Teaching experience, though whenever I needed advice, nothing was too much trouble.  My classroom became my own and I was allowed to develop my lessons using my own judgement, yet still within a supported environment.  The tips and advice for my lessons came from both TOPSCHOOL and MJA, and these pieces of advice became the most valuable pieces of advice I have ever gotten (with regards to teaching of course), as I felt I improved as a teacher during my 4 weeks from these pieces of wisdom.

I will never forget the opportunity that MJA and TOPSCHOOL have given me as I will take it into every teaching job that I have in the future.  A big thank you to all those working at MJA and TOPSCHOOL for the amazing experience, it is something I will never forget.

Amy E Coburn

It began, as these things often do, in Wales. And the three weekends of initial training we received at Howells stationary castle were invaluable ones. Thoughtfully devised around what our CVs were most lacking – and here the program devisers were spoilt for choice – we had days spent on sports leadership (great for summer schools), teaching young learners (skirted over on the CELTA) and efficient lesson planning (the thing I feared most after having previously spent hours fretting over 30 minute classes).

I took away so much from these sessions, best of all a barrowful of great activities (and even whole lesson plans), which had been practically demonstrated so even plebs like me could get the gist. Well, just about. CELTA flashbacks of waving around a picture of a bus driver as prep for an hour long lesson on adverbs were quickly dispelled, as we were wowed by a focus on task based teaching and exploiting genuine opportunities for language learning as they arose. At the end I was left feeling like I could forage salient language points from anything, like some sort of TEFL Bear Grylls. Man vs. Students. Bring it on.

Next, the continent. I admit I hadn’t heard of it before this project, but Elche turned out to be a fantastic place to spend a month. It may not have the romantic draw of some parts of Spain – there are no homages to Alicante province, and I can’t imagine Laurie Lee walking out one midsummer morning to greet the tiny Vinalopó River with the same lyrical prose as the Guadalquivir. But that just made the palm trees, wide open spaces and yes, reliable public transport system feel like more personal discoveries. I enjoyed it muchly. Even if I did find myself slowly losing a war of attrition waged by some insidious enemies – namely Tortilla, Jamon Serrano and Patatas Bravas.

Our adult students, and the town’s inhabitants in general, were open and generous. They were always quick to offer a helping hand, pay for meals, or invite us to their homes. We spent a lovely Saturday eating proper Paella at the house of two of our students, before being taken to the beach, where my stubbornness led me to swim in a freezing sea for ten minutes rather than admit our hosts had had the right idea when they dipped a toe in and proceeded to beat a honourable retreat. Not being directly on the coast, the town doesn’t have the tourist pull of places like Alicante and Benidorm, and I think this allowed us to benefit from a certain lack of jadedness. People there haven’t been too badly exposed to the brutal realities of Brits Abroad. Or, should I say, hadn’t. Erm so yeah, sorry about that, next year’s group.

For my teaching experience, I was placed with a private language academy. Along with my 3 housemates, I found myself presented with the syllabus of life and a set of keys to one of the school’s unused buildings. Here we were given free reign to customise the classrooms, to really indulge our cutting-edge, progressive pedagogical convictions. One colleague chose to have her room pasted in brightly coloured displays of helpful vocabulary and the students’ work. I opted for opening a few windows, you know, really let some air in.

My hours fell into an awkward seven-ten split, with a 9am start and a 9.30pm finish most days. During the first week, I was often cheerfully reminded that this kind of timetable was an unfortunate reality for many teachers. I hope I responded by dragging my grumpy, exhausted features into something resembling a polite grimace, but I’m afraid I can’t be sure. Work didn’t really leave time for much else Mon-Fri, and when you’re only somewhere for a month it’s harder to muffle the tourist inside shouting ‘MAKE THE MOST OF IT!’ every time you try and lie down for a quick nap. But I can now cast an eye over the timetables for potential jobs with the benefit of experience, and not get carried away by ‘this country-ing’ to imagine a 9-5 spent sipping sangria by the sea. That’s what the weekends are for.

And finally, the return to Macclesfield. A month is a short amount of time, and I still have more than ‘un poco’ to learn. But it’s also true that if I’d started in an unsupported environment, there’s every chance I could carry on making the same mistakes for years. Now I have plenty of lessons – some good, some terrible - to reflect on. Highlights include getting shot of a pesky ‘I want one-on-one Business English for €1 an hour’ student by strategic employment of a children’s create-your-own-monster game. The most spectacular low point came in an on the hoof lesson which involved emptying the contents of my pockets on a table, removing a poster from the wall with which to cover them, all to buy myself time while I desperately invented some fantasy grammar rules. Yes, charmingly inquisitive student, the difference between ‘could have been’ and ‘might have been’ is stronger probability. Why not.

But if I had to choose, I’m more grateful for the lessons that bombed. Not only can I learn more from them, they also made me question if I’m resolved to do this. The answer is that I am, but if it wasn’t, then a month is Spain is much a better way to find out than signing up to a year in South Korea.

- Steven Williams

As I sit here, writing my evaluation, I am awaiting an interview with a school in Russia. I have had a comparative plethora of interest – from all over the globe – since adding the project onto my CV and tefl.com applications so clearly it must doing some good. Just that extra dose of experience and already more leads are generating themselves. It’s going to be harder to convince myself its the lack of experience rather than poor interview skills getting in the way now….

Where to start? Well, with the assumption that at least part of the project will take place once more in Elche, I must say that I loved the city. Fair, not all the other guinea pigs were as enamoured with the city as I, but it was certainly a very friendly city and one full of people willing to embrace you. As such, it gave me a real feeling of belonging and not being an outsider. Far from feeling like I was just passing through the city, its people helped make me feel part of its whole. To be rewarded with such sentiment in a mere month gives me great confidence for turning up somewhere new for a year’s contract.

For the project, I ended up in a state secondary school for the four weeks. Initially a little grumbly about the prospect (especially as from the outset it had seemed we would be experiencing a wider breadth of teaching environments) I soon relished my time in the system. I feel lucky to have learned so much in such a brief amount of time. I now have bundles of energy, enthusiasm, and confidence when facing the task of teaching a roaring room of raging teenagers. Believe me, not nearly as bad as you would think.

The CELTA or Trinity qualifications gear you up nicely to start to teach adults, and I feel confident still that I can do that. True, I have so much to learn before I can consider myself as good as even average with adult learners, but I still feel set up enough to handle them and the teaching. Teenagers, on the other hand, were another matter. Even having taught them at a Summer school, it does not really line you up for thirty thirteen year olds who really don’t want to be there. This experience has boosted me to be ready for them.

Initially the teachers of the school were in class with us. To be honest, I think they were a little dubious of who we may have been and whether or not we were any good (and rightly so under the circumstances). It afforded us a little weaning period, but as far as we were concerned the vast vast vast majority of students couldn’t have been nicer. To have native speakers such as us, who wanted to use the book as a springboard not as a bible, engaged them so easily. Bringing in new material of a new style inspired them to use as much English as they were capable, even if that was very little. Certainly at Sixto Marco school, for all parties involved the experience was wholly rewarding.

It’s interesting to actually be within a state school system on that side, also. I felt I learned a lot in those four weeks about the bureaucratic stumbling blocks and government “initiatives” that can shape the day-to-day work of the teacher. It’s something you hear about and empathise with, but it really is something else to behold. In Spain it was an eye-opener.

I would recommend this project to anybody who finds themselves in a similar plight having finished their CELTA or Trinity course with lots of jobs whisking their ways to other people’s more experienced directions. The courses beforehand were useful, and the work experience second to none, and the magic fairy dust it’s sprinkled on my CV seems to be doing the job. I cannot wait to get started somewhere (wherever…..). One thing to bear in mind; the food allowance given to you upon your arrival in Elche/France/Never Never Land will not get you much further than the supermarket. Do try to save as much as you can to take. After all, there’s little realistic experience to be had in the foreign clines if you don’t get immersed in its culture as you would living somewhere for a year (even in microsm that Leonardo month). Plus extra materials, of course (board pens, card for activities, etc). I spent about £400-500 on top of the spending money. And it was worth spending every penny.

Paul Freebury, Winnersh [not Elche], April 2011

I applied for the Leanardo project as it offered everything that I was searching for; training with regards to Young Learners, some First-aid and Sports Leadership training, the chance to live in Spain and improve my Spanish and most importantly lots of classroom hours in which to improve my confidence and develop my own teaching style.

The majority of my teaching experience took place in Sixto Marco which is a State Secondary School.   The English Department were lovely and really looked after me and Paul (another Leonardo volunteer).  They took us for a typical Spanish lunch and even bought us presents at the end.  The students also contributed to making the experience so enjoyable.  They were friendly,enthusiastic (sometimes a bit too much!) and above all pleased to have some native English speakers in their school.  Whilst each class was different, generally teaching here was very tiring but fun and rewarding at the same time.  I was also lucky enough to teach a couple of classes at the language school and also take on some private tuition.  This range of teaching experience has left me more confident in my own abilities as a teacher and eager to find more work.

The City of Elche is a very proud one, something that is obvious from the care the residents take in keeping it clean and pretty and also in the way that the students love to show it off.  The locals were very friendly and helpful and seemed happy to have us there.  A special mention must be made here to Martin and his bar Flashpoint, the scene of many a drunken night and football victory.  Chuppitos anyone? Finally one of the best things about the course was the people I got to share it with.  Everyone was always willing to help with lesson plans, discuss different issues and give the occasional  morale boost when it was needed.

Thanks to everyone at MJA and TOP School for taking the time to design the project and apply for the funding.  It was a fantastic experience and thoroughly worthwhile.

Toma!

I applied for this Leonardo project to boost my confidence in teaching and to gain valuable experience of living in a different country and teaching young learners.

We all took part in several training weekends prior to the trip. These were helpful in establishing the kind of planning that would be necessary for us to tackle classes of young learners.

We arrived in Elche and were given a day to acclimatise before the real work began. The next day I was introduced to the head of English at Misteri d’Elx high school and was given a short tour. A modern and airy school, it reminded me of an art gallery. Being the only native English teacher in the village, I became something of a celebrity – mistaken for a student by teachers and a teacher by the students. I don’t know if kids in Spain are generally nicer than in England, but they were all polite, chatty and inquisitive. I found out that in Spain a lot of their English education centres on grammar drilling. I think that I was a welcome change to their routine, offering activities that would encourage opinion and peer learning through oral activities. A lot of things didn’t work but I was able to learn from my mistakes and am hopefully a better teacher for it. I got to learn what would motivate this type of learner and what to avoid in order to keep a class of 25 chatty spaniards participating in English speaking activities. I am looking at participating in summer schools and this experience of working with young people has been invaluable. I now feel prepared to handle a class with more confidence and better classroom management.

Staff in the English department and throughout the school were very helpful and friendly. They would discuss any issues or queries I had about specific classes and even threw me a little leaving party near the end of my stay. They brought in a range of typical Semana Santa foods, and I was given licence to scoff as much as possible. I did.

Elche itself is a lovely little Spanish city. Its lively, hospitable and very very palm-tree-y. My walk to and from school was 25 mins through the municipal park (palm tree central), which provided a welcome shade from the sometimes glaring sun. Our flat was quite central and we were able to easily meet other teachers for some canas y tapas.

I took the opportunity at weekends or days off to travel a bit. I sampled the surrounding beachy areas of Altea (just past Benidorm on the tram), Aranales and Santa Pola. Short bursts of swimming in the surprisingly English* water were accompanied by long periods bathing in the afternoon sun. I had planned to visit the small island and marine reserve of Tabarca for a spot of snorkeling but a Spanish heat wave prevented this excursion. Valencia is a 2 hour bus ride away and well worth a visit for the architecture and feel of a big Spanish city. On my final day teaching I was invited to accompany 6 teachers and around 200 6th formers on a trip to Benidorm, to interview English people (mostly consisting of eighty-something geordies with shearer tattooed on their lower arms). I jumped at the chance and spent a lovely day with my colleagues sampling the culinary delights of southern Spain whilst hoping that the students wouldn’t return traumatised at the end of the day.

An important part of the experience was the support from fellow teachers on the trip. I would often discuss successful (or less so) lesson plans with my peers. This was a really useful way of gauging what works and what doesn’t. As we were sharing ideas, we could feed back to each other on ideas or topics that really grabbed students’ attention, and use that information to create more effective plans.

Overall I’d like to say thank you to everyone involved in the experience, as it was incredibly beneficial to me. I arrived with a lot of doubts and anxiety but left Elche having thoroughly enjoyed living, working and immersing myself in Spain.

*Absolutely freezing

This teaching placement was a gift really – a chance for us all to practise, experiment even, with what we had learnt on our various TEFL courses within a real-life setting, that was at the same time still supportive.

I was placed in a private school called San Alberto Magno High School just outside of Elche, which was set in a rather dramatic setting – I will always remember the big black toro looming above us from a distance! Our co-workers at the school turned out to be both exceedingly helpful and patient with our inexperienced ways, as well as eager to learn as much from us as they could- it was a nice two-way street to be on.

I had the opportunity to work with ages ranging from three years old to eighteen years old. This age range added challenging dimensions to the teaching placement, as each age seemed to require a different style of teaching and learning. If I take anything from this experience, it’s that I showed myself able to adapt. It helped me to realise that I CAN COPE, and that I won’t break down if things don’t go the way I plan them to! I think that that is an important lesson to learn – that not every lesson goes to plan, but it’s how you handle it that matters.

I’m going to miss the school a lot, from the runny-nosed 3 year olds with their little characters just starting to develop, to the highly motivated 18 year olds, and everyone in between! The students were great – even those few that weren’t all that interested, weren’t completely averse to learning something. I think perhaps, that the challenge of trying to capture the interest of the ‘uninterested’ actually added to the experience and a sense of achievement if you succeeded, even for just a moment. I was very happy there and learned a lot about teaching and about myself. Thank you to all the people that got me there and were there for me throughout it all – muchísimas gracias a todo el mundo!

Last week I tried out my well thought out ‘Desert Island’ lesson;  it involves students discussing what they would need on an Island and then working in groups to design and Island and make the rules for the Island. It’s a fun lesson and works with nearly all age levels and abilities.

The first class I tried it out on were my year 1’s 12/13 year olds, it was the first lesson of the day for them (08:50) and most of them were half asleep when the lesson began. However, they soon woke up and engaged noisily in the activities, discussing in English what was more important for the island a school or El Corte Ingles? (the school stood no chance). The lesson was a great success and I ticked that lesson plan of as solid gold a winner for any class at any level.

After lunch I had another group of year 1’s, time for the invincible ‘Desert Island’ lesson, an easy 50 minutes for me I thought. My confidence/arrogance couldn’t have been more ill-judged. Same age group and the same ability; but this class just didn’t seem to care about the island or believe in me. They were constantly talking in Spanish and were disinterested at the task at hand. When asked what three things they would take on their island every student said the same “Water, food and clothes”, these answers aren’t wrong but they are not very inventive, especially as I told them they had water on the Island and plenty of food in the shape of fish, wild animals and fruit, my first class had been coming out with boats, fishing rods, iPods, books on island survival and one lad even came out with Bear Grylls! The lesson never really took off and I felt like I was just watching the clock and waiting for the bell.

What went wrong? Was it a bad class? A poor lesson plan? The time of day? It was probably all of the above. I was so convinced I was onto a winner with my lesson that I never really sold it, I didn’t have to give it too much of a build up at 8:50am as the children were quiet and attentive if not a little sleepy. With the class after lunch what happened in the playground was far more important than a fictional island, so I needed to really sell it to them early on, convince them that this island was more exciting than the game of football at lunchtime.

Since that day I have used the island again and overall its been a success and a lesson I will use again and again but I’ll be sure not to be too cocky with my own lesson plan ever again. It is true that the more effort you put in the less exhausting teaching is!