TGIF

Gandia exceeded my expectations! You can find beauty - or peculiarity, on every corner, like a rogue donkey. There’s a large community feel that radiates across the city, which has consequently made this place feel like a home from home, very quickly. The school is gorgeous, the name translates into something such as the ‘school of oranges’ as it is surrounded by orange blossom/trees and mountains. The children are lovely but typically Spanish in their attitude towards learning. A very boisterous bunch indeed which has activated my classroom management schemata on many occasions!

Since the school is private, the class sizes are significantly smaller than is to be expected of a typical Spanish school, with the largest class comprising of 20 students. They have access to a wide range of technological resources, tending to mainly use apps on their iPads (including duo-lingo!). Although these seem to have mostly benefited the students’ learning experience, it did get me wondering about how this impacts their writing accuracy — with the use of predicted text being depended upon greatly… 

Overall, Gandia and the school are very welcoming places. I feel I have settled in the city nicely, and I’m excited to see what unfolds in the upcoming weeks! Hopefully more time for sleep !!