Meet Victoria Budesa, a 2017 graduate of the Special Education: General Curriculum teacher education program, who is spending her first year teaching abroad as a special education teacher in an international school in Stuttgart, Germany.

Her blog, “The Teaching Adventures of Miss B,” shares a weekly recount of the many experiences, funny moments, travel adventures, and reflections as an international school teacher over the course of her first year of teaching abroad.

Below Victoria shares her insights for the month of January.

“After three weeks of break, filled with lots of time with friends and family, it was time to head back to reality… and boy was it difficult! 

It seems like I never left for the break. It’s been a week and a half filled with student paperwork, meetings, and subbing, nothing outside the ordinary. However, it’s been nice to get back to seeing my students and starting the second half of the year. I have been busy with lesson planning as well as preparing for student reports, which come out the end of this month. January is panning out to be a very busy month!

As I have been working with ESL students, I was given the opportunity to be apart of weekly professional development opportunity on teaching ESL students in the mainstream, which is panning out to be a lot of work, but know it will be worth it in the end. I am with five others teachers going through this nine-week program, which is encouraging that there are others going through the program as well. We shall see how this course pans out. I am anxious to see what comes out of this course but know that it will be an opportunity to learn more about ESL and teaching ESL students in the mainstream. 

The international teaching job market search is in full swing, and I have been sending my resume out to different schools all across Europe, which has been stressful, to say the least. It’s a total waiting game right now and I am trying to remind myself to take deep breathes and enjoy the ‘mystery of it all. Also just keep reminding myself that things will work out the way they are supposed to in the end and keep hoping for the best.”