{"id":1318,"date":"2016-10-26T16:12:28","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T16:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/?p=1318"},"modified":"2022-04-13T15:42:52","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:42:52","slug":"5-ways-to-get-the-most-out-of-a-british-council-teaching-assistanship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/5-ways-to-get-the-most-out-of-a-british-council-teaching-assistanship\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to get the most out of a British council teaching assistanship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As I walked up to the school gates on my first day as a teaching assistant, I truly felt like it was my first day at school again. A new environment, new faces and lots I needed to learn, but this time I would be sitting in the staffroom. (Even typing that sounds strange!) I have had such a positive experience so far, with a really warm welcome from all of the teachers and so much enthusiasm from the children to learn English. Having said that, getting the most out of it still requires a little effort on your part! Therefore I have come up with 5 ways to ensure you are making the most of the experience and jumping in with two feet.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The expression goes, \u2018Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.\u2019 This is something I have definitely struggled with in the past, finding another episode of my new favourite series much more enticing than sitting at a desk and doing my work for the following day. As a teaching assistant however, with your time spent at the school limited, it is essential to do some preparation. Whether that be learning the topic specific vocabulary or learning a whiteboard game, it will not only be a more valuable class for the children but for you as well.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>SAY YES TO THINGS<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On my second day at the school, two of the younger teachers asked me if I wanted to go for lunch with them. With a three hour (Yes, three hour!) lunch break, I was certainly tempted by the idea but was concerned that I wouldn\u2019t have enough to contribute to conversation! I decided to go anyway and had such a nice time. We spoke mostly in Spanish, although at times they also wanted to practice their English. We talked about things that didn\u2019t relate to the school and got to know each other more as friends than \u2018work colleagues\u2019. Now the next time the opportunity arises I won\u2019t have any reservations and in turn this will hopefully improve my Spanish no end!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>BE PUNCTUAL<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Avoid walking into school ten minutes late for your class. It avoids any sort of disruption and also means you instead have fifteen minutes or so to sit down with the other teachers, have a coffee and feel ready for your first lesson of the day!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>JOIN THE TEACHING ASSISTANT FACEBOOK GROUPS<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I only found out about these a few weeks ago, even though they are easy to find, I just hadn\u2019t thought about looking for them. Lots of information is posted everyday, from which bank has the best student deal to the quickest way of obtaining the dreaded NIE number. There is also information posted about Erasmus trips and events or suggestions for cheap places to hang out with friends.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITY<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unless you fancy a career in teaching, this may be the only time you experience what it\u2019s like to work in a classroom and be the one standing up in front of lots of young people! It\u2019s important to use this chance to try and inspire the children into wanting to learn. Working with a native English speaker will be one of the best opportunities they will have in school to learn English, so help them to enjoy it and in turn, I\u2019m sure you will enjoy it too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I walked up to the school gates on my first day as a teaching assistant, I truly felt like it was my first day at school again. A new [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[268],"tags":[200,71,114,142,199,277,197],"class_list":["post-1318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe","tag-british-council","tag-spain","tag-teaching","tag-teaching-abroad","tag-valencia","tag-working","tag-year-abroad"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-lg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5888,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/incoming-exchange-yin-yui-from-the-hong-kong-polytechnic-university-hong-kong\/","url_meta":{"origin":1318,"position":0},"title":"Incoming Exchange \u2013 Yin Yui from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong","author":"Global Opportunities","date":"March 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yin Yui: International Exchange Student Home institution: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Subjects studied: Geography and planning What motivated you to take up a year abroad in Cardiff? As a Hong Kong native from an internationally renowned city, I have always had a desire to broaden my international horizons and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Incoming Students at Cardiff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Incoming Students at Cardiff","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/incoming-students-at-cardiff\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/03\/IMG_3981_Yin-Yui-Pang-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/03\/IMG_3981_Yin-Yui-Pang-scaled.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/03\/IMG_3981_Yin-Yui-Pang-scaled.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/03\/IMG_3981_Yin-Yui-Pang-scaled.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/03\/IMG_3981_Yin-Yui-Pang-scaled.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/03\/IMG_3981_Yin-Yui-Pang-scaled.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5899,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/incoming-exchange-celine-from-nanyang-technological-university-singapore\/","url_meta":{"origin":1318,"position":1},"title":"Incoming Exchange &#8211; Celine from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore","author":"Global Opportunities","date":"March 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Celine: International Exchange Student Home institution: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Subjects studied: English and Philosophy What motivated you to take up a year abroad in Cardiff? I was motivated to take up a semester abroad in Cardiff because of the interesting way in which ENCAP [School of English Communication and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Incoming Students at Cardiff&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Incoming Students at Cardiff","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/incoming-students-at-cardiff\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/04\/tempImageffmNHN_Celine-Ho-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/04\/tempImageffmNHN_Celine-Ho-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/04\/tempImageffmNHN_Celine-Ho-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/04\/tempImageffmNHN_Celine-Ho-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/04\/tempImageffmNHN_Celine-Ho-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2025\/04\/tempImageffmNHN_Celine-Ho-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4574,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/katie-goddard\/","url_meta":{"origin":1318,"position":2},"title":"Katie Goddard","author":"GO Student Ambassadors","date":"January 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"School of English, Communication and Philosophy Summer volunteering placement Where did you go? I volunteered with the SAFE Foundation charity in Cambodia What motivated you to take up a Global Opportunity? I have always wanted to visit South East Asia and I have always wanted to gain teaching experience. Global\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GO Student Ambassadors&quot;","block_context":{"text":"GO Student Ambassadors","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/go-student-ambassadors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/IMG_1109-e1579081669656.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/IMG_1109-e1579081669656.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/IMG_1109-e1579081669656.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/IMG_1109-e1579081669656.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/IMG_1109-e1579081669656.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2020\/01\/IMG_1109-e1579081669656.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2366,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingomap-school-and-college-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":1318,"position":3},"title":"LingoMap: School and College life","author":"Sarah Gregory","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Finally I am back with another LingoMap blog! I hope you have enjoyed reading about my year abroad journey so far! For this blog I am focusing on school and college life in Spain. The first thing I will say about school life in Spain is that it is extremely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;European Placements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2368,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/lingomapcareer-plans-skills-and-employment\/","url_meta":{"origin":1318,"position":4},"title":"LingoMap:Career plans, skills and employment","author":"Sarah Gregory","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"My final LingoMap blog! As an undergraduate, it can be scary to think about leaving the student days behind. Student life is great, it has given me a huge amount of freedom, independence and courage, without which I would not have been able to fly the nest and live abroad!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;European Placements&quot;","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/07\/Lingomap-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/07\/Lingomap-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/07\/Lingomap-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/07\/Lingomap-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/07\/Lingomap-5.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/07\/Lingomap-5.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5873,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/incoming-exchange-nicolas-from-sydney-university-australia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1318,"position":5},"title":"Incoming Exchange \u2013 Nicolas from University of Sydney, Australia","author":"Global Opportunities","date":"March 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Nicolas: Incoming Exchange Student Home institution: University of Sydney, Australia Subjects studied: Philosophy What motivated you to study abroad at Cardiff University? 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