The first of many!

 Hello!

This is the first of many blog posts I'll be making over the course of my Erasmus + experience! I don't have a great deal to say this time (because I'm still stuck in boring old England!) but I thought I would just talk a little bit about how I'm feeling in the run up to our trip to Spain. 

I am definitely feeling quite nervous about it all! I haven't taught kids or teenagers before so that's an unknown quantity at the moment. I worry that I am the least strict teacher to have ever lived, so I think I might find situations which call for some discipline to be pretty challenging. Hopefully this is something I'll be able to work on when I get started! The prospect of working in a professional school environment is also a little daunting. Up until now, I've either been conducting one-on-one classes or doing ESOL with small groups of local refugees. Both of these have felt rather casual and relaxed. Also, I have had a great deal of freedom to design my lessons around both what I want to teach and what the students want to learn. I wonder how this dimension will change when I start working in a school, if at all! On the whole, I feel the same way now as I have felt in the past before starting any new thing (such as a swimming lesson, if we want to go really far back!) I know that once I'm in Spain and once I've got started, I'll be completely fine. Until then, however, the slight nervousness will remain!

Although I have a few worries and uncertainties right now, I'm really excited about the experience too. The thought of being immersed in a brand new environment is always extremely appealing to me. I'm looking forward to meeting new people and absorbing some of their knowledge about teaching English. Even in the few short Zoom chats we've had so far, I've met some really interesting people; I can't wait to meet them in the flesh! Speaking of the Zoom chats, they've been fantastic! I always feel inspired and optimistic at the end of our three-hour marathons. The meetings with previous Erasmusers have been super useful too; they have certainly helped to calm my anxieties (or, at least, distract me from them for an hour or so!) 

I think that's all I have to say for now! This is Ollie, signing off ;)   

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