I told myself to expect the unexpected...Why is it that I never listen?
I've been in Florence for 12 days now, each day feeling more like a week to itself, each moment more novel than the next. If I thought that the previous two semesters of college were challenging, I was in for a shock, because to put it bluntly, reality took the opportunity to smack some sense into me! Diana, our "Teacher Trainer," duly warned us about the difficulty of the course, her words emphasizing exactly how the last week has gone for me. "Have you seen the Duomo yet? Because you won't be seeing it until August!"
If I were a better student, she would have been telling the truth. I'm lucky enough to have found some sort of balance between school work and exploring, between new found friends and lesson plans.
Speaking of lesson plans. For the first time ever, I questioned whether I really wanted to be a teacher...for about 2 seconds. That's all it took for me to finally realize that this is what I've been working towards, and now is my chance.
After teaching my first class on July 8th, four days into the course, I realized that I can do this. Not only did I manage to stand in front of 10 adults and teach them Elementary level English, I was able to improvise almost an entire lesson. Let's just say that the beginning of my lesson did not go as planned, but I chose to move on and keep a cool head. I'll admit it, I'm both proud and disappointed in myself. Proud that I made it through my first class with only a few scratches, but disappointed all the same.
It's the second Tuesday of the course and I'm taking a break from the usually 10 hour day of studying to write. Times pretty much up now, I have two classes to prepare for. I hope the Intermediate level Italians are prepared for a lesson on "The Telltale Signs of Lying!" tomorrow. As for my Thursday class, well that's still up in the air!