A 'normal' day as an American Teacher in IES Complutense

One of the first things I learned is that there is almost no such thing as a normal school day, let alone a normal week. I think we've had one complete week of school so far this year. The weeks are interrupted mainly by holidays, with a couple of strikes still happening occasionally. But setting those regular 'exceptions' aside, this is how a typical day is for me (and the two other teachers at my school).

I need to be at the school between 815 and 10 AM, depending on when I have my first class. If I do have class at 815, then I should show up at 810 at the earliest, because getting to school any earlier pretty much guarantees that you will see the school deserted. The students aren't allowed in the building until 810 anyway, and even though the bell rings at 815, there is a leeway of time for the teachers to get to class (most arrive around 817, but really you have until 820 before it's kind of late).

During the school day there is only one official class break from 1055 to 1120. This isn't a luch break (because 25 minutes is entirely too short to actually have lunch :). But in practice many students eat.

The class structure seems somewhat predictable, but there are less student activities than I remember having when I was in middle school. Well, in some of my classes. I remember doing more projects. But in my middle school, I had the same classes every day. Here, some teachers only see the students once or twice a week. The only classes that students have every day are English and maybe Math. So it is a lot harder to cover the same amount of material and still do activities if you only see the students three days a week instead of five. It's a strange system, but it is what it is.

In my school, we are lucky enough to have a fantastic coordinator (José-Luis) who understands the importance of actual coordination, so we have two coordinating meetings a week: one meeting with all of the CLIL teachers (Content Learning In Lanugage...? it's the teachers who teach their subjects in English), and one meeting with all of the Americans with just José-Luis. There are three American teachers and one American auxiliare at our school. These meetings are necessary because it makes it easier to brainstorm solutions to common problems.

Each of the Americans work with several teachers. However, as we have a specialty, we each have one main teacher that we work with. We all have time set aside each week in which we can help plan out the lessons. In my case, Irene and I schedule out what topics are going to be taught on what days, and then I pick the days and topics that I think would be fun to teach. Sometimes we decide that we need to spend the day doing some sort of activity, and then I usually volunteer to research and find something because that leaves Irene free to spend more time with her other classes. Irene lets me know exactly what material she needs covered and what parts she wants emphasized. This makes my life much easier because then I don't have to worry about Irene having to go back and re-teach what I taught because I did it wrong.

I finish with the day between 115 and 305 every day, and then I go home and am done with the teaching part of my day. The work day is sufficient for me to complete all of my lesson planning (such as it is) and the English department has been very welcoming. It is a fun office to have as a base.

From talking with some of the other teachers here, Complutense is by far one of the best to work with. The staff has been welcoming of all of our input and it has a very colaborative feel. I understand that for many of the other teachers they act as a language assistant or spend a good portion of their day in PE, and their schedule is designed to keep them at school whether they have a teacher they are working with or not. But I think the situations in the other schools stems from the fact that the coordinators there think that is what they are supposed to do (and maybe it is). Here at IES Complutense we are treated as if we belong, and I like that.

Let me know if you have any questions about anything!