Becoming a Teacher in a New Country

Location:
Essen, Germany
Journal Entry:

Even though I’m an English Teaching Assistant here in Essen, my first day of work felt a lot like I was the new kid in grade school all over again. I came to a new place where no one knew me, so I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn’t know what table to sit at in the teacher’s lounge, and I didn’t know if I should wait for people to talk to me or if I should talk to them first. I was so nervous! I only knew one teacher there, my mentor teacher, and he told me that I had to put myself out there and make my presence known to the other teachers. Since I’m not the most outgoing person, this was hard for me, but I didn’t want to lose any time getting to know the people I’d be working with. Slowly but surely, I managed to introduce myself to all the other teachers in my department. They thought it was great that I am at the school to help, and they knew the students would think the same.

For my first few weeks, I didn’t do much in the classroom. I mainly observed the other teachers and saw how they interacted with the students. Much like many people’s first days in the U.S., I had to introduce myself in front of the whole class and the students had a chance to ask me questions about America and how it’s different from Germany. Different grades asked different kinds of questions, and this gave me an idea of what the students already knew about America.

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