Teresiano is a beautiful, amazing school. It is a private, catholic school and they are inspired by Santa Teresa de Jesús y San Enrique de Ossó. From the beginning of their time there, students have a billingual education with 50% of their classes in english, and 50% in spanish.
I was placed in a second grade English class. There were 36 students (19 in group A and 17 in group B) and only 2 boys. The students had language, science, and occasionally computer in English. I would help the teacher (Nayeli) with anything she needed. She taught the class mostly in English, and would only use Spanish when the kids did not entirely understand. I would often help a group of students who needed more help with English and I would translate for them and help them with their work. I would also often check work, and help other kids when needed.
Eventually, I was able to teach both grammar and science lessons on my own. They were learning about habitats and different body parts on different animals in science, and I gave lessons on plural and singular nouns as well as a lot of vocabulary lessons.
These kids were the sweetest, most genuine kids. I enjoyed every second I got to spend with them. In class, the kids were very nice and when I did not understand them, or they did not understand me, we would try really hard to help the other understand. At recess, there was always a group of girls that would crowd around me and ask me to help them with their English by asking them questions. They were always talking to me and always wanted to hang out with me.
On my last day in the classroom they surprised me with gifts, candies, letters, and hugs. They asked me if I could stay and teach them forever. These kids will always be very special to me and I will miss them very much.
In sixth grade, the students have a Key English Test, which tests their English speaking, listening, and reading and writing. While I was there, I helped with the speaking section. There were 2 groups, and it was only girls. I was in charge of being the examiner, I asked them questions and then would evaluate them with a rubric. The girls came in two at a time for the test.
The beginning of the exam was short questions between me and each individual student, and then they talked to each other.
The students did really good. It was amazing to see how well spoken they were and how much they had to say. Because I was usually with second grade, it was really cool to be able to see how the progression of english skills from second grade to 6th grade. Having the 100% bilingual system is very useful, and I was very impressed with how well the 6th graders were able to understand and speak.
Juliette Gagliardi
January 2024