Exhaustion Commute

Be careful when riding the Metro when exhausted (which is generally the life of a teacher) because it's very easy to miss your stop.  As happened to me.  You doze off even standing.  It's embarrassing to have the backtrack but it's also potentially harmful to your paycheck.  No busy student likes to wait for his teacher.

So, see coffee advice...

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As much as possible, you should participate in the activities that you assign to your class.

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Longer travel time doesn't mean more money.  It just means more hassle and time.  Even if you're reading for an hour or more, you're better off waiting for a job closer to the center of Madrid.

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Always ask about their weekend.  It's a good conversation starter and can, in all honesty, eat up 5-10 minutes per student.

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Always make time for coffee

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Always watch the clock.  Time management is key in almost every circumstance.  So even if it passes slowly and painfully, you need to watch the time.  I keep an iPod Touch, which allows easy access to the clock with a touch of the button.

Advice

Review, Review, Review!!

Even more important than location...  it is an essential tool AND it eats up 10-15 minutes minimum during class.  Also, it is boss foolproof as you can simply explain that your students are benefiting from a bit of review time.

Semana Santa

Is a great time to teach if you can get it...  you can sub for more cash, and one-to-one's will want class, and finally the metro is bearable with so few people on it.

Adjective activity

Have students pick 5 cities they've been to, and 5 cities they want to go to in the future.  Then pick on city and describe it with 3 adjectives.  Now students in the class must discover the city from the 3 adjectives.

American TV

The best way to watch TV from the States is to use the internet.  Spanish TV is getting better and better but it's still hit or miss.  And quality TV is still found on the internet.  If you're going to move to Madrid, please make sure your apartment has internet.  It will save you a lot of hassles. 

You may not appreciate it, but when the whiteboard disappears from your classroom, you will.

If you find whiteboard markers, take them. You will ALWAYS never have enough. :D

When you see the bored look on your students face... IGNORE it! If you've done your job and prepared a well-done lesson, then don't let their response get you down. You've done your job, so ignore the blank looks and the yawns and the watching-looking, etc.

If you're going to go out of the city for class more than 20 minutes make sure that you are getting a block of hours. The minimum should be 2 hours. Anything else, you're better off staying closer to the center. Only newbies end up taking an hour class in Las Tablas.

If you're going to go out of the city for class more than 20 minutes make sure that you are getting a block of hours. The minimum should be 2 hours. Anything else, you're better off staying closer to the center. Only newbies end up taking an hour class in Las Tablas.

It may seem mercenary but sometimes you need to drop one class in favor of higher paying class or series of classes. It happens. You're not happy about it. But needs will out.

A good outlet for stress is being active... going to the gym or walking or running. Teaching can be very stressful for a lot of reasons beyond your control. Best to find something physical to be an outlet.

Jobs

You will lose classes all the time... Don't let it get you down. There's more around the corner

Writing it all down....

Always write down your lesson plans for the day. Sometimes it is best to keep your lessons straight in your mind and many times your school will ask you for some hard copy of your in-class activities.

A great way to teach sentence structure is to put a label of a grammatical component (subject, verb, etc) to each student and have them arrange and re-arrange themselves into a correct sentence. This is activity is effective for low level students, but it can also be used to teach complex sentence structure to more experienced students.