Is this really happening?

So I still don’t think it’s hit me that I’m leaving today to student teach in another country for almost a month. However, the stress of packing and getting to the airport definitely helped it start to set in. It's always hard with goodbyes, but it is even harder since my nephew is on the verge of walking and I won't get to watch, but I expect an overflow of pictures and videos! As I sit here waiting for our flight to prepare for boarding all I can do is smile about the amazing adventure I am about to embark upon and the incredible impact it’s going to have on me, not only as a teacher, but as a person in as a whole.

I will be internationally student teaching at Anne-Frank Gymnasium in Werne, Germany for the majority of my time in there and at Lambertus Grundschule Walstedde, which is another school nearby. My personal challenge for this trip was to push myself to get outside of my comfort zone and to go somewhere that language would be a barrier in my time there. As a future special education teacher it will give me the personal experience of knowing what it is like for some of my students who are English as a Second Language  (ESL) learners in my classroom and for the students that feel overwhelmed when asked questions they don’t know the answer to. Getting that personal insight on their everyday experience would definitely help me grow as a teacher and better help me to handle these situations when they occur in my classroom. With that being said, I expect this international student teaching to be a complete challenge, but I definitely welcome it. 

I am really looking forward to meeting and staying with my host family. They have been extremely nice thus far and have made sure I have everything I need for my stay. They have a 15 year old son who also attends Anne-Frank so we will travel together to school and I can already tell we are going to be practically brothers and quick. In fact, he is going to be a foreign exchange student at Greenwood High School in Bowling Green in the Fall! We’re practically switching places and we have a lot to share about with our own insights.

After taking two semesters of German at WKU and doing further research, I can easily say I am beyond ready for some German food! All of this anticipation has built in me ever since my professor bragged about how much better their bread is than here in America. And with bread and cheese practically promised for most meals of the day, what’s not to love?! 

One big adjustment I will have to make is teaching lessons on short notice. After receiving emails I know we will all have our rounds with spur of the moment lessons, but with my educational background in special education and behavioral management I can only hope my content skills are adequate enough to teach the lesson to the level it deserves to be for these students. But I know I will have all the help I need from my peers, and anything is possible!