The beginning of a new school year

The excitement of your new Spanish course

The beginnings of a new school year and new Spanish course are now upon us, and teachers and students alike are nervous and excited to get started. At some point in our lives, we’ve all felt the excitement of the first day of class: the curiosity to know what our teacher and classmates will be like, the eagerness to find out what we'll be learning and doing throughout the course… For that reason, it's so important that the first day of class is as close to perfect as possible.

To achieve this, we must consider one of the most important things in education: the motivation all teachers have for teaching and the passion to see their students to learn. Of course, we also strive to be one of those teachers all students remember fondly: to hear laughter in our classroom and see the smiles of our students throughout the course.  

Tips on how to prepare

Creating a good atmosphere in class is something fundamental that should not be overlooked. For that reason, the beginning of any course definitely requires some previous preparation on the teacher's part. We're bringing you some tips that will hopefully help you in your preparations:

• Give your students a run-through of everything you'll be doing together during the course.  We love being teachers and are passionate about our profession, but we are also professionals, and like to be considered as such. So a good way to achieve this is to show our students all the time and work we've put into our lessons. Allowing our students to see that we're not just improvising in class, but rather following a specific methodology, helps our students understand that we're there to guide their learning and help them achieve the goals they have set – of course, with the contribution of their own efforts as well.
• Have a plan: make a course syllabus or program. Take the time to organize yourself a bit before the start of your Spanish course. Use digital tools that you will also be able to share with your students; this will help you work faster and more efficiently during the course. For example, share a Google Calendar with your students or upload documents in Google Drive for group work... Ah! And also remember to leave some time in your day-to-day just for you; sometimes as teachers we forget. ;-)
• You are not perfect, continue educating yourself. Not only should your students study... you should as well! No doubt there are some areas in which you could use a refresher to get up-to-date, or maybe you could simply share ideas and resources with fellow teachers in some type of workshop. Now is a great time! The beginning of a course is not only a good opportunity for your students to learn, but for you too. Find something to study and deepen your education as well.

Are you ready to get started? Have a great start to the school year!