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My name is Jay Tipton. I am from Los Angeles, California. I moved to Spain to begin work as a Language Assistant in January 2019. I was originally teaching in Huelva, Spain. I taught at a secondary school in Huelva for 1.5 years. This year I changed regions to Madrid. I am now working in Soto Del Real, north of Madrid, at IES Sierra de Guadarrama.

Both of my parents, and many of my other family members, are teachers. I love the profession!

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I am a lucky guy because my younger brother and sister are also in Spain working as Language Assistants. My sister is teaching at a primary school in Madrid and my brother is teaching at a secondary school in Huelva.

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Pre-COVID times with students in Huelva

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Here is a short video I made last year in Huelva. It is about my experience as a Language Assistant there.

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Jay Tipton - Cultural Assistant - Huelva, Spain

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I am currently teaching at IES Sierra de Guadarrama in Soto Del Real, Madrid. The school is situated at the base of the Sierras and has a beautiful view of the mountain range. The surrounding landscape is truly stunning. The school is very organized and run. The coordinator and all of the teachers and staff are extremely helpful. The communication and expectations are very clear. The students are very motivated and the general level of English is above average.

Before moving to Soto, I lived in Huelva, Andalucia in the south of Spain. I taught in a secondary school located in San Juan Del Puerto, a small pueblo right outside of Huelva capital.

It is hard to believe that both locations are in the same country because they are vastly different in terms of climate, flora and terrain. One of my co-workers in Soto asked me which area I prefer and the truth is that I cannot decide. I love them both, for very different reasons!

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BLOG: A COMPARISON OF A SPANISH AND AMERICAN SCHOOL

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BLOG: A COMPARISON OF A SPANISH AND AMERICAN SCHOOL

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The differences between the Spanish school and the American school are quite parallel to the differences between the Spanish language and the American language - sure, you might find some similarities here and there but when you get down to it, they don't have much in common. Outside of my own experiences attending an American school, I have spent a lot of time at several other schools, so I am pulling this comparison from many different schools in different states.

Below is a comparison of my secondary school in Andalucía and what I know about schools in the U.S.

One of the biggest differences is the actual classroom. At my school the students are assigned one classroom and that is where they have all their classes. The teachers rotate rooms each period. For me in the States, in both middle school and high school, the teachers stayed in one room (my dad literally taught in the SAME classroom for 35+ years) and the students changed classrooms each period, according to their schedule.

This difference provides an interesting dynamic. First, the decorations and style are that of the students' interests and not the teachers' interests. I would say that has potential to be a great thing but there is very little ornamentation and the classrooms definitely lack personality (at least on the walls). Second, I think this lends to a lack of control the teachers have over their classes (the students, not the room). It seems to me that some things get lost when the teacher needs to shuffle to another classroom after the bell rings.

There are pros and cons to how the classroom operates here but overall, I think the cons outweigh the pros.

Almost every single day one of my coworkers asks me, "is this how students behave in America?" And I respond, "no, absolutely not." I will be the first to admit that I was a troublemaker during my K-12 years and that my friends and I loved to create chaos, with the definition of chaos evolving into a different form every new school year but WOW - the Spaniards make us look like angels sent from heaven gift wrapped in layers of patience, attention, and obedience. The majority of my classes are loud and challenging to control. They sit wherever they want on any given day, and they enjoy talking back. How much work gets done depends completely on the specific class. By about week four I was well aware of which classes wanted to learn and which classes wanted to try and goof off the entire time. I felt that although we were talkative and disruptive in classes growing up, we knew when the line was drawn. There is not much of a line here.

All that said, I love it. Each class provides a different trial and once I figured out what works best for which class, moves could be made with the education.

Lockers were a big deal to me and my friends in middle school and high school. In a way the locker felt like a second home - a place that belonged to you, that you could design or decorate the way you wanted, make a huge mess out of, and most importantly a focal point of social activity. At my school here, lockers are basically nonexistent, so this is wildly different for the students. There is a small stretch of locker rooms at the entrance of the school, but I honestly do not even know how or in what manner they are assigned because it is the strangest assortment of students who have them. The students use their home rooms as their lockers and the whole day is basically social hour so despite not having an actual locker, the students aren't missing out on what they provided us American students.

There is not a traditional student cafeteria at my school and that is primarily because of the difference in meal schedule here in Andalucía. The students have a snack break at 11:30am. During that 30-minute timeframe they can stay at school or go home. When they stay at school, they scatter across the school grounds. Lunch in Andalucía starts around 2:30/3:00pm. Class ends at 3:00pm so once the final bell rings, the students rush home for their lunch. With this schedule there is no need for the classic American cafeteria that serves stock food but creates another social opportunity for American students. Personally, I miss the American cafeteria.

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The comparison between schools in the States and here in Andalucía is fun. When it is all boiled down, I do not believe there is a right or wrong way in how they operate; however, I am having a fantastic time learning the differences and adjusting myself accordingly. Que guay!

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A COMPARISON OF A SPANISH AND AMERICAN SCHOOL

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The differences between the Spanish school and the American school are quite parallel to the differences between the Spanish language and the American language - sure, you might find some similarities here and there but when you get down to it, they don't have much in common.

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I am here to teach, baby! Yes, there are an infinite number of awesome perks to living and working in Spain but the reason I signed up for the program is to teach some youngsters how to speak English. I will be the first person to admit that I feel extraordinarily lucky to be placed at my school with awesome colleagues and interesting students, but I will also admit that I put in a lot of work to be the best auxiliar (assistant) that I can be. It is harmony.

Below is a day in my work life.

Depending on the day, I have different methods of getting to and from school. Three days out of the week I ride with teachers. Monday is back/forth with one teacher and Tuesday/Thursday I ride to school with another teacher in the morning and back to my city with a different teacher in the afternoon. On Wednesday, I do not start until 1:00pm so I ride the bus to school which is 1,75 euros and takes about 20 minutes. The bus stop is very close to my school, so I just need to walk a couple minutes.

The first day of school my coordinator helped me sort this, but it was on me to initiate the conversation. I suggest doing this ASAP. After determining who I was going to be riding with, it was once again on me to chat with each teacher and figure out the best time & location to meet each day. This might seem like a daunting task for the first day, without knowing a single soul, but just have to suck it up and make it happen. Riding with other teachers is clutch time to practice Spanish too.

I teach Music, Geography & Social Sciences, and Physical Education. My awesome coordinator told me on the first day that she assigned these subjects to me because of my former job and my interests that I sent her a couple months before which I thought was pretty cool of her to do. Teaching is hands down the best part of my day. Prior to working as an aux I was not sure if I would like teaching but after a couple months in, I love it. I am lucky to have awesome teachers that: 1) collaborate with me on what they want and 2) give me free reign to implement what I want.

In Music class, I run the show - I am at the front of the class for the entire hour teaching material or playing games. In Geography & Social Sciences, it is the same situation - the teacher lets me know what she wants the prior week, so I have time to prepare material and the for the majority of the class I am teaching. For PE, I am working with the other teacher in the gym, or outside, to explain the activities. After that, I am monitoring them and joining in to play from time-to-time.

What each auxiliary wants to do and what is expected seems to vary from class to class, and school to school. Make it yours!

Every day from 11:30am-12:00pm the teachers and students have a snack break. My school has a café right across the street so a large group of us walk over there for coffee and some light grub. I love this time because it is a great way to practice Spanish and get to know my coworkers. Some teachers use this as chance to do some school work done but for me it is an opportunity to hang with the crew.

CLASSROOM PREPARATION

I probably spend a total of 3-4 hours a week outside of school prepping whatever I plan on teaching. Power points, games, flip cards, etc. - I try to make them as interesting as possible. One of my teachers is very vocal about what she wants while the others are free-range chickens. It is fun to get creative and changes things up each week.

It was very important to me to know the names of my colleagues and students, so a couple days into my first week I asked the administration team if they could print off lists of the teachers and students. Lucky for me they had documents with names and pictures for all the classes and they were happy to print for me. I know it is a tad extra, but I spent some of my free time each day studying the documents. No way I know the name of every student, but I do know most, and I know that it goes a long way for both the teachers and the students. Just like in the States, a person would prefer to be called by their name instead of "hey man!" I still holler "hey man" and "yo dude" to students but they know that I know their name.

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A day in the life of an aux is a pretty dang sweet day. The variety each day keeps things interesting and seeing improvement in the students' English is rewarding.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN AUXILIAR (ASSISTANT)

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I am here to teach, baby! Yes, there are an infinite number of awesome perks to living and working in Spain but the reason I signed up for the program is to teach some youngsters how to speak English.

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- hiking
- nature/environment
- films/documentaries
- motorcycles
- soccer
- traveling
- sailing
- reading
- politics

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Here is one short video from a series of videos that I produced before moving to Spain. This series focus on JOBS. I have been showing these to my students in the Bach groups as a way to get them thinking about the different types of jobs that are available to them in the working world. We use these videos as a point to begin our discussions and conversations.

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I Want That Job! - Wind Turbine Technician | WorkingNation

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This is my third year as a Language Assistant. I have taught English, Music, Physical Education, History, Geography, Social Sciences, Maths and Arts.

This year I am teaching Arts, History, Geography and English.

I have also taught private 1-1 classes and at a private English academy.

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Pre-COVID times with students in Huelva