Internet Problems

The last couple of days have been hectic enough. We've had busy classes with fun activities for the students (bowls with horrible stuff in them for them to imagine its brains etc) lots of VR stuff and recording messages for the Year 9's, which was good fun. Year 8's are getting through their worksheets very well and are creating interesting characters and drawings.

Internet is scarce, and I'm currently using the Montessori one to access blog, email and to chat with friends and family. Immersing myself in the Alpedrete culture, eating out at some nice Cafe's when I can, and really enjoying it and especially, the class weather.

Loving teaching, and loving Alpedrete. #AroundHalfway

Today's Activities

Scott and I went to lunch at a local resturant in Alpedrete today, before the festival activities began. There was a band playing in the town and we stayed there for a while to listen. Good day in Alpedrete!

Madrid

Yesterday I went into Madrid to see a few sights.

After taking the 681 bus to Moncloa I got the Metro from there to Vodafone Sol, where I found a range of street performers. Some of them were dancing in the middle of the square. I also saw a few statues that are in the square and took pictures.

The first stop on my list was to see the Palace. The gardens outside the Palace was beautiful with hedge mazes and colorful flowers. 

There is a statue in front of the Palace that a street performer was blowing huge bubbles at to entertain the children visiting.

Next I went to Museo Nacional Del Prado. On the way there I found a roundabout that had a water fountain with a statue of Posidon in the middle. There were many exibitions open in the museum, my favourite being Goya's section.

It was amazing to stroll around Madrid and see such interesting art.

Exploration

Spent my first Saturday in Madrid exploring the Spanish mountain range. Sierra de Guadarrama. 4 hours of trying to figure out a map, taking photos and enjoying the peaceful nature. Unfortunately couldn't reach the summit as I was entering snow territory and I was wearing shorts and runners! Another day for sure.

First Day Off

Spent the first day off having a read over the students work so far. Some fascinating stories and characters have been developed already. Great feeling to see progress and the student s enjoying the project so much.

Tried cooking some Spanish sausages, ended up burning them......settled with Pizza. Slowly exploring the Spanish culture and food, but not tonight! Hopefully a fun weekend looking around Madrid and getting a start on the classes stories.

First Week of Teaching: Terminado

Our first week of teaching is done....a great 3 days with Years 7,8 & 9. Really enjoying getting to know the students and helping them progress with the project and learn more about creative writing, and their assigned modules (Gothic, Detective Stories and Horror)

The weather has been the only shortcoming to our first few days, but its slowly picking up as we get more and more accustomed to Alpedrete. Hoping to sort our some extra classes with the students, should be fun. Super first week with them, and will only get better and better (As will my Spanish)

We Have Entered A Virtual Reality...

Sort of. For today's class we used the masks we made last night to help the students create their own virtual reality. We did this by having the students put on their VR's for two minutes and imagining that they are trapped in a room, kidnapped by some sort of evil overlord. The setting, characters and dangers they face are theirs to create. After two minutes they write a short description about what they experienced in their virtual reality (guided by a worksheet we provided).
Here are some photos of the students wearing the VR masks.