Auxiliar de Conversación Weekly Work Schedule
If you’re interested in teaching English in Spain as an auxiliar de conversación, you might be looking for answers to the following questions:
What is an average day like for an auxiliar de conversación?
What’s a typical work week like for an auxiliar de conversación?
How much free time do auxiliares de conversación have each week?
How much time do auxiliares de conversación spend planning?
With this post, I answer those questions the best I can according to my own experience working as an auxiliar in a bilingual primary school in Andalusia, Spain. Here, I’ll provide my weekly work schedule and discuss my average work day and work week teaching English as an auxiliar.
As you read about my experiences, please keep in mind that work requirements for auxiliares de conversación vary by automomous community, by province, by locality, and even by school.
And it’s equally important to note that the Spanish Ministry of Education may make changes to work requirements for auxiliares. So my experiences inn 2022-2023 may differ greatly from the language assistants who work the following year. (For instance, they announced they’ll be increasing the number of required hours to be worked each week by auxiliares in Andalusia.)
Table of Contents:
My Auxiliar de Conversación Position
My Weekly Work Schedule
Free Time as an Auxiliar
Time Spent Lesson Planning
My Auxiliar de Conversación Position
Before getting into my schedule, I should note that I taught English in a bilingual primary school in Andalusia during the 2022-2023 school year. Specifically, I worked with first, second, and third grades in academic and extracurricular areas. Rather than assist in English language classes, I assisted with instruction in English in natural and social sciences, physical education, and music classes.
My Weekly Work Schedule
My contract included 12 hours of classroom work per week. And fortunately for me, my school administrators created a timetable for me that only required me to work four days per week. So, I had Fridays off, which made for long weekends every week.
Below is the weekly work schedule I followed when I taught English in Spain.
Mondays:
10:00AM–11:00AM – Third Grade Sciences
11:00AM–12:00PM – Second Grade Physical Education
12:00PM–12:30PM – BREAK
12:30PM–1:30PM – Second Grade Sciences
Tuesdays:
9:00AM–10:00AM – First Grade Sciences
10:00AM–11:00AM – First Grade Sciences
11:00AM–11:30AM – First Grade Music
11:30AM–12:00PM – Third Grade Physical Education
12:00PM–12:30PM – BREAK
12:30PM–1:30PM – Second Grade Sciences
Wednesdays:
9:30AM–10:00AM – First Grade Physical Education
10:00AM–10:30AM – Second Grade Music
10:30AM–12:00PM – First Grade Sciences
12:00PM–12:30PM – BREAK
12:30PM–1:30PM – Second Grade Sciences
Thursdays:
10:00AM–11:00AM – Third Grade Sciences
11:00AM–11:30AM – Third Grade Physical Education
Free Time as an Auxiliar
As you can probably tell very easily from my work schedule above, I had lots of free time as an auxiliar de conversación.
I only spent twelve hours per week in the classroom, and including the hour and a half per week I spent in the teachers’ lounge during my midday breaks, I only spent thirteen and a half hours per week at school.
But how much time did I spend per week lesson planning? I’m glad you asked!
Time Spent Lesson Planning
On average, I’d say I didn’t spend more than an hour per week planning lessons. During my first couple of months, I took a little longer on average as I was getting the hang of things, but for the most part, I was able to get my lesson planning done during the hour and a half per week I spent on break in the teachers’ lounge.
Luckily, there are plenty of resources online to help English teachers and language assistants plan their lessons. I’ve compiled the materials I used for my lessons as an auxiliar here on the blog. Please feel free to use any of the materials on my blog with your students!
So, that’s how I spent each work week as an auxiliar teaching English in Spain.
Still have questions? I’d love to hear from you! Comment on this post, or contact me through the form below!
