A Day in the Life of an Auxiliar de Conversacion – Spain

It’s November, so you know what that means – the application to become an Auxiliar de Conversación for 2020-2021 is less than two months from opening! If you’re dreaming of moving to Spain for a year, this might be your best chance. And I highly recommend it. 🙂

I’m almost two months into my second year as an aux here in the Comunidad de Madrid. Since I got here, I’ve had a great experience at my school, so I decided to come back for a second year. Also, I’ve been really fortunate as far as my school’s expectations for me as a language assistant – which unfortunately isn’t always the case.

I’ve written a lot already about applying for the auxiliar de conversación program:

• All About the Auxiliares de Conversación Program
• The Truth About Living In Spain
• Auxiliares de Conversación Application Guide eBook

But in today’s post, I wanted to share what a typical day in my life as a language assistant looks like. Today (as I’m starting to write this) it’s Saturday, so I’m just going to talk about what yesterday looked like. Even though I normally don’t work Fridays, I was making up a day that I was missing the following week since my friend Megan was visiting! I’m lucky my school allows flexibility like that.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I only work from 9:30am-1:00pm, leaving at the lunch break. Wednesdays and Thursdays, I work the full day, like in the schedule below. So, here’s the story of one particular Friday.

My Friday

6:05am – Wake up.

6:18am – Leave home and take the metro four stops to one of the main bus terminals.

6:45am – Board the bus to the pueblo where I work, Buitrago del Lozoya.

8:30am – Arrive in Buitrago and walk to the tiny cafe where my friend and fellow language assistant Ellie and I eat breakfast every day. We have café con leche and pan con mantequilla y mermelada – toast with butter and peach jam.

9:30am – School starts.

9:30am-10:15am – I am with second grade. We start the day by sitting on the rug and talking a little bit. They’re taking a field trip next week, so the teacher reads off a list of which students have brought permission slips, money, etc. After that, the teacher asks me if I want to ask the kids some questions about space, since that’s what they’re learning in science. They’re a little confused about the difference between rotation and revolution. Next, they go to their desks and the teacher hands out a worksheet. I lead the class by asking the questions on the worksheet. “I am the red planet.” “I am the farthest planet from the sun.” The kids have to cut and paste the correct names of the planets, and then color. A lot of them come up to me to ask, “What color is Jupiter? What color is Venus?” One of them asks me if the country I’m from is on Earth or another planet.

10:15am-11:00am – I am with first grade. The teacher explains the homework to them, while I sit at the teacher’s desk. When she finishes and hands out a worksheet, I call them in twos to complete part of their second English test. They read short sentences and match the sentence to the picture. Then, they have to unscramble the letters of colors – “L L Y W O E” becomes “yellow,” for example. I’m just proctoring the test – I explain what to do and then they’re independent.

11:00am-11:45am – I’m with second grade again. There are two classes in each grade, so this time I’m with the other class. We basically do the same activity as I’d done with the first class that morning. But one table of students in this class decides they want to teach me some Spanish. “Di ‘Hola,‘” (Say Hola) they tell me, trying to get me to say “Hola.” I totally botch it on purpose. “Hooo-lahhh?” They all laugh at me, but I don’t want them to know that I can speak Spanish.

11:45am-12:15pm – There’s a 30-minute break while the kids have recess. Down in the cafeteria, the teachers gather for snacks. Since it’s Friday, there are fresh tortillas and someone even brought donuts. I go back up to the teacher’s room to print out a coloring page for one of my classes later. (The only prep work I have done at this point in the year.)

12:15pm-1:00pm – With second grade again. Instead of science, they’re having English. With the digital textbook, we listen to a story about a birthday party (in super strong British English) while the kids follow along in their own books. Then, I read it step-by-step and call on kids who want to try reading too. Finally, they do another listening activity in their activity book, as the audio tells them to “Draw a dog under the table,” “Draw a cake next to the cat.” The kids make fun of their teacher’s drawing as she does it with them, so she asks if I want to do it instead since I’m a “better artist.” The kids decide to take a vote and tell their teacher they prefer my dog drawing. 😉

1:00pm-3:00pm – Lunch break. Some kids go home, and some stay at school to eat lunch. Normally I work on some of my freelance clients work for the first hour or so. Around 2:00, all the teachers head across the street to eat lunch at the same restaurant they eat at every Friday. The waiter has put a long table with 30 seats together in preparation. We all have the Menu del Día and pay €7. Depending on the day and the teachers I’m sitting near, I might speak more English or more Spanish during lunch.

3:00pm-3:45pm – Classes begin again at 3:00. I’m with Infantil 4 Years Old. (Infantil is like pre-school. They have a class for 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and 5-year-olds.) Usually, I never work with infantil, but since I’m making up the day, I’m working with them. The infantil English teacher had asked me to prepare a story for the kids, so I found a video of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. We watch the video together and then I hand out the coloring page I’d printed for them earlier.

3:45pm-4:20pm – I do the same activity with the other 4-year-old class. This class is a little quieter and more calm, so they finish the activity more quickly, which is good because infantil classes release before the rest of the school. School officially gets out at 4:30, but I was allowed to leave at 4:20.

4:30pm – I catch my ride back to Madrid. The bus from Buitrago to Madrid takes about 2-2.5 hours with all the stops and traffic, so Ellie and I hate it. But here’s the good news: a few weeks ago, we found a guy from a nearby pueblo who was looking to make some extra money driving us to Madrid in the afternoons. I’m back home by 5:20pm.

11:00pm – Die because I’m so tired from my long week 🙂

 

Okay, so that’s my typical day. I love my school because they treat me like a teacher and give me a lot of autonomy, but they don’t expect me to prep anything or lead entire classes. I think I have a great balance of having teacher authority while also being like a special English friend to the kids.

Do you have any questions about my typical day? Or what does your typical day as an auxiliar look like? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

Originally Published on November 22, 2019.