I finally started my teaching internship at the university this week! Well… kinda. The whole process of starting my internship has been pretty slow in general. Being that I arrived in Spain in January, I had to wait a month before the rest of the university students started their new semester before I could actually start teaching. Then, organizing my schedule and finding classes to teach in took a couple weeks more. But this week, we finally got the ball rolling, in one way or another.

I am assigned to work with two different professors in two English language classes, one on Tuesdays and the other on Wednesdays. So this past Tuesday, I arranged to meet the professors before class to introduce myself and to get the low down on how the classes would work. After chatting a little bit about what the students are currently learning and what times I should arrive to teach, the younger of the two professors enthusiastic asked me, “So, do you have something prepared for today? Are you ready?” Bewildered, I thought to myself, heck no! But, ever so graciously I said no. 

You see, no one had really explained to me what I would be doing during my internship. I knew it was a teaching internship and that I would be an assistant in a university classroom. But, that is it. To me, assistant could have meant that I would be grading papers, or doing small lessons, or teaching the whole class. I did not actually know. Thankfully, both professors were very understanding and took the time to explain to me what I will be responsible for.

My main role in these English classes is to engage students in speaking so they can practice their speaking skills. I have forty-five minutes with each class to engage them the best I can and to get them talking. I have to plan lessons and send them to the professors ahead of time so they understand what I will be teaching that day. At first I was surprised to learn that I have such a big role in the classroom, but I am so excited. I truly think this will be an unique and educational experience for both myself and my students.

So, being that I was oblivious to my role in the classroom, the professors were kind enough to give me the week off to plan for the coming week. Phew! Now knowing what I need to do and what is expected of me, it is truly time to get to work. Even though it took a while to get everything started, I am so ready to begin teaching my students. I have never taught students who are my own age before, either, so we will see how that goes!