FDOC in Madrid?! (That stands for First Day of Classes, for my potentially slightly older fans). No matter what you call it, the day happened, and I survived.
Going into the day, all I knew was that I’d be commuting on the bus with students, meeting my supervisor in the teacher lounge, and that lunch would be provided. But with even that limited knowledge, I somehow felt like I knew more than the teachers I’ll be working with. They didn’t even know I was coming! Luckily, they were very welcoming and helped rearrange my schedule so that I’m not teaching the three year olds during their nap time.
Yes, you read that right. I will be teaching English to three year olds. But here’s the kicker: in addition to the three year olds, I’ll also be teaching one and two year olds, four and five year olds, plus 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th graders. All throughout my 18 weekly teaching hours. Unfortunately, my classroom hours are spread out in such a way that I will be at the school Mondays through Thursdays from 8:45 AM to 4:30 PM each day. But at least I have Fridays off!
Because I don’t have a Friday schedule, my first day was a bit wonky. After a brief tour and rundown of expectations with my supervisor, I was handed over to the director of the pre-school (‘infantíl’ here) English program. He happened to be rotating between the three and four year old classes as a substitute teacher, so even his day was out of the ordinary. One rule that’s already tough for me: I’m not allowed to speak Spanish with the students. The idea is that if they assume I don’t speak Spanish, they will lean into their English with me. But… I do know Spanish, and I want to connect with them! Not to mention, three-year-olds can barely string together full sentences in Spanish as it is. I’m excited to meet the older students this week. Apparently their English is more developed — as are they, as actual humans.
However, the little ones were SO. STINKIN’. CUTE! With them, I got to color, supervise recess, sing songs, and observe lunch time. There is no end to their energy. My supervisor straight up told me that the school is chaotic and loud. He didn’t lie. You can also imagine me trying to converse with the teachers in Spanish during lunch whilst squeals and laughs are echoing throughout the cafeteria.
One of my favorite observations of the day was during lunch. One kid started squeezing his orange slices into his cup to make OJ, and soon enough the whole table followed suit. I also saw pantless children on the playground and listened to the teachers gossip about the students. Of course, I only really understood every three words because they speak so dang fast, and my vocabulary is limited.
At 12:45 PM, the students went off with the many PE teachers to swim, play tennis, etc., so I got to go to the faculty and staff cafeteria. Lunch was a wonderful buffet of bread, pasta, salad, meats, veggies, fruit, yogurt, coffee, and more. The menu changes daily, and I’m so grateful that school can be a consistent exposure to Spanish food. After all, it’s a lot of work — and money — to whip up full Spanish meals at home for just one person.
Again, since I won’t typically be at the school on Fridays, I was allowed to leave after lunch. The other language assistant from my program and I then had quite an adventure exiting the property. We tried a few different gates before finding one with a security guard on duty to let us out. Next, we took the wrong path and ended up at a highway, so we turned back and eventually found the dirt path to the metro stop that is 1.1 miles from the school. Using the school bus (which is quite luxurious BTW, comparable to a custom coach), my commute is about one hour and 45 minutes door to door. However, I think it could be closer to 70 minutes with public transport, so I am going to experiment with all of the different routes this week.
I’ll keep you posted! And until then, please reach out with podcast and music recommendations for my commute!