I have now completed my first three weeks of school, over the course of which I have been to school a whopping 9 days. This is do to the fact that there have been ongoing strikes by both the students and the teachers regarding school hours, teacher wages, and other things that people like to complain about in relation to school. I think that there is going to be at least one day this coming week where I won't be going to school, and the strikes have the potential to go on for the next couple of months, which would be great in my opinion.
Anyway, school is set up quite differently here than it is in the US. The first difference in school is the hours that it runs. Contrary to what you are probably thinking due to the fact that they are protesting the hours, the days are shorter here than in the US. Instead of going 7:30 - 3:00 (or whatever it has now changed to), we go 8:30 - 2:20. So instead of having 7 classes 55 minutes in length, we have 6 classes 50 minutes in length. And yet they are still protesting how long the days are.
The next difference is the schedule. At Boulder High, a student has 7 classes corresponding to 7 periods that they take every day in the same order each day. Here, we have 9 different classes, but only take 6 a day. The schedule is different each day of the week. For example, you could have Math, Philosophy, PE, Physics and Chemistry, English, and Industrial Technology on Monday, but on Tuesday have Math fifth, English first, Philosophy fourth, and not have Industrial Technology, Physics and Chemistry, and PE at all. You have each class a certain number of times each week depending on which track you are on. I am on a Sciences/Technology track, so I have classes relating to these subjects more often than I have classes such as English and Philosophy, but there is also a Humanities, an Arts, and I think some kind of Language-related track. Instead of rotating classrooms and classmates like in the States, you have a single group of classmates and a single room in which almost all of your teachers come to teach you in. The only exception are the periods where you have one of your two elective classes. During this period, the class splits roughly in half and usually goes to another classroom, where they combine with one other half-group. I just realized that I have yet to tell you what classes I am taking, so here goes:
The classes I have four times a week: Technical Drawing, Industrial Technology, Physics and Chemistry, Castilian Language, Math
The classes I have three times a week: English, Philosophy
The classes I have twice a week: Sciences of the Contemporary World, PE
In case you were wondering, the two electives I am taking are Industrial Technology and Technical Drawing, which are instead of Biology and Geology and Informatics, respectively.
The third difference is the grading scale. Instead of having A, B, and C as passing grades and D and F as failing in a letter-based system, Spain uses a number based system: 5 and above is passing, below 5 is failing. It is too early for me to tell if I like it more or to give you more specifics about it, but I'll let you know more about later on.
The last, and most obvious, difference is the language. Clearly, it is pretty much all in Spanish, which makes it a little more difficult, but it should get easier as the year progresses.
And now, my first impressions, class by class:
Math: Opposed to contrary belief, the Spanish do not appear to be more advanced than the US in math, at least that's my impression. In fact, the highest level of math I will be learning this year is roughly equal to the highest I learned last year. In other words, this year I will be taking roughly the same math class that I did last year.
Philosophy: Honestly, it is hard for me to have a first impression of this class due to the fact that I have little-to-no idea of what is going on in it. Philosophy is hard enough to understand in one's native language, but when you're just learning the language, there is little point in trying.
English: Before this year I never thought I'd say this, but so far English is my favorite class. Of course it is a British English, so it is not super easy, but it is easy nonetheless. But also, it is fun. The activities we have done have been fun so far, and it is kind of funny listening to all of the Spanish kids trying to pronounce different English sounds that they are not used to.
PE: It is PE. It is really not that different than in the States.
Industrial Technology: It is really to early to tell whether this class will be hard or not (although I am thinking yes), mainly because the teacher hasn't showed up more than 4 or 5 days (I think she broke her arm, but I'm not sure).
Technical Drawing: This class is going to be hard, but it will also probably be one of the classes I try the hardest in. So far it has been quite fun, but I don't know if this will continue or wear off, so we'll see.
Physics and Chemistry: Luckily, we have started out with chemistry, so it is fairly easy because it is review from last year, and the names of most of the units and elements are very similar to the names in English. I am expecting the Physics to be difficult because all of the Spanish kids are much more advanced at it than I am, but we won't be starting it for awhile and I should have a pretty good grip on the language by the time we do.
Castilian Language: This is basically a Language Arts class, but it is in Spanish. The reading level is, of course, advanced, so it is going to be one of my hardest classes. Luckily the professor has offered to work with me and give me easier assignments, so there is the chance that I pass this class.
Sciences of the Contemporary World: I am still not really sure what exactly this class is, but it seems like it will be interesting and not incredibly hard.
I know I haven't really said anything about the teachers, but that is because, for the most part, it is too early for me to tell if I like them or not. There are two that stand out to me though, but not because they are ones that I like. The first is the math teacher. She knows her material which is always good, but she is not very good at teaching it. Also, she doesn't like anyone talking if its not to her, even if it is to ask a neighbor a question, and as a result she has moved around roughly half the class. The last part also applies to the Philosophy teacher. I cannot say if the first part also does, because, as I have said before, I have little idea what is happening in the class. The thing that she does that I really despise is she starts off be spending roughly half the class asking random people to read the notes from the past couple of classes, which isn't too bad. What makes it bad is the fact that she interrupts roughly every three sentences to criticize the students notes, which is incredibly annoying.
Well, I am done for now. I have to start on my homework for the weekend, but am looking forward to what will hopefully be a short week.
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