Teaching English in Beja Portugal!

Our first day teaching in a Beja was without a doubt successful. All 5 of us had nothing but positive things to say about our experiences with our students.
Claudia taught an enthusiastic group of 6th and 9th graders. Many students in her 9th grade class impressed her with their knowledge. One especially bright boy ran into her on her walk back to the hotel. He escorted her here, supplying her with explicit and much better directions.
Jane had a wonderful day with 4 classes of 6th, 8th, and 9th graders. She entertained them with the history of California and the Gold Rush which led to a discussion of the San Francisco 49ers football team.
Kris had 10th and 11th graders, some of whom were as old as 20. With the 11th graders she spoke about the environment and natural disasters. She observed that the students who were in the Science and Arts programs were more motivated than those enrolled in the Humanities Program.
Marcie’s 9th grade classes were large–about 30 students. Her teachers had no specific lesson plans for that day, so after she and the students introduced themselves, she let the students ask her questions. One student wondered whether she liked Tupac.
Cass had a great time exploring Beja in the morning before her class at the Polytechnic Institute in the late afternoon. Her 9 students are between the ages of 23 and 59. For no credit they are voluntarily spending 2 hours a day for the next 2 weeks in the hopes that their all-ready good English becomes even better.
Our day ended with the first of two 30-minute lessons in Portuguese given by Joaquin.
Boa noite!