A look at my life as an auxiliar...

So I sat down last Saturday to write about what my “typical” week is like and realized two things.  The first thing I realized was that there is NO such thing as “typical” here; life is always changing (which can also probably be said no matter where you live or what you do.  If you are in a situation where you encounter other people, life will continue to change each and every day).  The second thing I realized was that it is impossible to write a short and concise blog about my experience living with a family as an au pair AND teaching as an auxiliar in a single blog post - it was 1500+ words when I stopped writing.

(Quick moment of truth: It’s actually impossible for me to write a short and concise anything! - I have a tendency of rambling.)

And then, after telling myself that I would spend time editing that post and publish it the following day (or day after that or day after that), I finally decided to just scrap it and start again.  

And voila! One week later, here we are... a look at my life as an auxiliar.  

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I have been at my school for four whole weeks now and there’s so much I wish I could share about my experience.  First of all, I love my school!  I love the teachers, I love the administrators that are there, I love the students (even with their overly-talkative nature and occasional moments of frustration), and I love the opportunity to be right where I am.

My school is a primary school, located in Arganda del Rey (the last stop on line 9 of the metro).  I have been assigned to work, primarily, with the 2nd grade classes.  As you can see (below), there are a couple of classes that I spend with 1st grade and 3rd grade, plus one 6th grade class and one class working with teachers.  But really, my main focus is 2nd grade.

I work 16 hours a week, with my workweek going from Monday (Lunes) to Thursday (Jueves); meaning, I have a 3 day weekend every week!  (Best job ever.)  I’m also really happy that I happen to work at a school that finishes at 2pm (14:00) each day.  Other schools have a lunch break from 1-3pm and continue until 4:30 or so; but, as you can see, other than Monday (when I work until 3) - I get to work a few minutes before 9 and am free to leave at 1:15.

Typically I start my classes with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students going through the daily “routines” (ie. what day of the week is it?  What is today’s date?  What is the weather like?  What is your/his/her name? What is your favorite color/sport/subject/etc?  What is your least favorite...) to get the students engaged and speaking English.  With the 2nd grade classes I do presentations on various topics or activities, based on what they are studying in their unit or the season we are in; we’re working on lots of Halloween fun right now!  With 1st and 3rd grade, since I only see them twice a week for such a short time, I usually just jump in where I can, whether with helping at their tables or sharing a song or game to add some excitement to the class.  

When I work with the 6th grade students it is a completely different story.  With that class I call in 2 students at a time and work specifically on speaking and having conversations with them in order to prepare them for their big exam taking place at the end of the year.  

My “class” with the teachers is a fun and different situation as well.  The teachers that I work with have different levels of ability when it comes to English - two of the teachers are English teachers so they both speak almost fluently, two are gym teachers so they use English but not as intensely as the English teachers, and one is the ethics teacher so he never teaches in English (and therefore has even less practice with the language).  The main goal for all of the teachers is to improve their speaking; so we have done some “Would You Rather?” questions as conversation-starters and we are also going to practice listening to parts of a TedTalk and sharing our thoughts on the topic presented.  

While that is a general overview of my life as an auxiliar, I will also say that just this past week I walked into class one morning, followed by the headmaster, and was asked to give up my classes for the day in order to go and spend the day helping to supervise the 5th grade classes on their field trip to the National Archeological Museum instead!  So, even with a schedule in place, you never know what might come up!!  :)

I promise to post more about the excitement that comes with being an auxiliar as the year continues, but if there’s anything you want to know, feel free to ask me anything!  I’ll write again soon... ¡Hasta pronto!

-Stephanie
(Mt. 22:36-40)

Pictures from the 5th grade Field Trip!

We heard all about ancient Egypt - the Egyptian culture, history and traditions... it was awesome!

Okay, so I could have done without the part where they actually showed you a real mummy... but the coffin itself was fascinating (and the stories that are depicted on it)!  
AND, I even understood the majority of what Carmen, our tour guide, was saying (which is definitely an ego-boost, as I’m still feeling pretty timid and unsure regarding my Spanish skills).

Definitely a place worth checking out - especially if you’re interested in history.  I’m not a huge history person but I’m still excited to go back to look at all the rest of the museum!  (Egypt is just one of many exhibitions!)