Goals Met

So before coming to Spain, I had a few goals  that I wanted to attempt to meet. 1.) Learn more Spanish. 2.) Be able to teach at least one class/lesson. So far, number one has slowly started to come along. I know more Spanish now than I did when I first came here, so that’s a plus. Number two has happened multiple times, which has been a major relief. After the first time of me walking into the classroom and being expected to teach, I’ve communicated with my mentor teachers more often to decide what I would be teaching and then planning a week in advance. It has helped me to be less stressed than I originally was. Last week, I taught multiple lessons, and although it was a bit difficult at times (with me not knowing Spanish) some of my mentor teachers helped me by translating some of the things I said so that my students could understand me. Some lessons went better than others, but that’s to be expected. Nothing’s ever perfect. It’s been a huge relief to have a host family that is willing to help me with a lot of things in regards to settling down in the city, as well as having teachers at my school to help me. Some of the teachers that can speak English have helped me communicate with my other teachers that only speak Spanish and it has definitely helped ease the weight I felt like I had on my shoulders. These teachers have also helped me learn about my students and have given me insight on what activities the students like to do, so I’ve tried to incorporate those into my lessons as well. I’m feeling more and more comfortable as time goes on, despite it already being the 4th week. Better late than never, right?