Fantastic teaching experience

I spent 3 months with ABCi in Austria and it was the most incredible experience!
As a nearly qualified Primary School teacher, I had had plenty of experience of teaching children from 5-12. The experience gain at ABCi has been invaluable and I have been highly commended during my university course for taking part in such a program.
I arrived late as I had to finish my dissertation, and the program leaders were very accommodating about this and were able to support me whilst I was 'catching up' with the rest of the group.
Teaching a different class every day/week requires a massive degree of flexibility and can be challenging, however this is a skill which particularly as a teacher needs to be developed and my time in Austria has been a huge support to my teaching back in England.
The children taught were generally lovely- a big change from children in England- this is the main difference which I found. They were so eager to please, friendly and helpful!
The program was very different to what I've previously taught, ABCi pride themselves on using an active teaching approach which requires alot of energy and enthusiasm (there's no room for bad moods!) This active method means that you can have heaps of fun with your class- just make sure they dont push it!.
We were regularly observed, which I was super nervous about- but actually the feedback gained is an integral aspect of the program- and all senior teachers are very friendly and deliver criticism in a positive and constructive manner.
As part of the qualification gained each teacher was asked to create a game to trial with the children and present to their peers- this was a great way to incorporate your own thoughts and ideas into the program and feedback gained from peers and senior teachers was very useful.

All of my weekends were free and most evenings, Austrian schools finish around 1.30 (ish) so despite the sometimes very early mornings (some as early as 5am) the afternoon was generally free.
We were asked to act out the activities as a group, which I found very useful and as we were all friends, this did not seem like a chore!
There is an interactive classroom where we were asked to 'run' 1 session a month (roughly 2 hours) where we were able to talk to the children which had bought into the program- again, not really much to ask, and not a chore!
We did have reading and grammar exercises to complete each week which we would feedback to the rest of the group with the support of the senior teacher. I found these sessions very useful and motivational do actually complete the reading (this is for the test at the end).

Austria is a very beautiful country and somewhere were I would like to visit again- the nature of ABCi meant that I was able to see alot of the country!

It almost seemed to good to be true when I read the advert. If youre down for a bit of hard work, loads of fun and great teaching experience this is the place to go!
I was able to expand my teaching skills, gain a qualification and more importantly I have made some life-long friends through ABCi. So thank you!