So I haven't started teaching yet, but I've been in the classroom for a few days, and I think it's going to be good. I'm figuring out my schedule, which I don't think is actually complicated but for some reason has managed to royally confuse me. Essentially, I'm teaching three different levels (called CE2, CM1 and CM2) and I think I've finally mastered the order they go in. They've organized my schedule so that I take half of two classes at a time, and then the other half of those two classes the next period. That sounds confusing, right? But I think I have it now. I've also figured out a lesson planning template that works well for me, and brainstormed for the first three weeks of classes.
I'm also settling in super well. I've been doing lots of sight-seeing-while-running, which has been a great way to see the town. We've done a lot of wandering and getting lost and window shopping and exploring in general. My favorite part is just wandering around a corner and being caught breathless by how gorgeous the view is.
My experiences observing have been interesting. Last week, I went around to all three of my schools with my adviser, Stephan, who then introduced me to all the directors of the schools and the teachers I'd be working with. I was very grateful that Stephan was there...some of the administrators were a bit much to handle right off the bat. One of them, the director of the school where I'll be spending most of my time, literally argued with Stephan about my observation dates - she wanted me to start right away, instead of easing into it like the program usually does. I was super glad I had someone there who 1-had the French skills to argue with her and 2- wasn't completely and utterly intimidated like I was.
When I went in by myself to observe, I met all the rest of the teachers and actually entered the classroom. First impression - everyone's a little terrifying. The discipline here is definitely of a different caliber. I suppose seeing what is expected of small French children should explain a lot about the French adults I've met. But jumping in like I did was a little abrupt. The kids - all around 6 or 8 years old - were expected to have perfect hand writing, to be completely silent, to raise their hand every single time they said anything....and obviously, they're 6 and 8 years old so they didn't do all these things. And the teachers seemed furious. There was a lot of yelling...Annie, the director, at one point sent her class outside to run laps around the playground. It was intense.
I also had my first hilarious language mishap...one of the teachers does speak a little (a VERY little) English, and she has tried to incorporate general English commands into her classroom (stand up, sit down, take out your books, etc.) So at one point, she was yelling at the children to be quiet, and she goes "I'm waiting! and I'm getting VERY HUNGRY!!!" She looks at me for affirmation, and sees my look of total confusion, then quickly corrected herself (to say "I'm getting very ANGRY!") before I burst into giggles. I can't wait for more of those to happen.
Outside of the classroom, things have been pretty uneventful. We did have lots of adventures at the marche on Thursday, which produced some pretty memorable stories. But like I said - we're settling well, and getting excited for the many many other adventures that are to come!
09 October 2011
03 October 2011
Just about ready for real life to start, I think....
I'm starting to feel so at home here! It's so great, and having a schedule helps SO MUCH.
This weekend was wonderful, and more or less curbed any fears I had about a lack of a social life. There are tons of people here who just seem to love foreign people. There have been assistants from my program here for quite a few years, and in the course of all their time here, Auch seems to have paved the road for us in terms of meeting people. It's a pretty small town, but it is pretty rockin, as far as I can tell. There's about 7 other assistants, and through them and Cedric, I've met quite a few other people. It's pretty exciting.
Sunday, we went on such an excursion. Cedric (who is a fantastic organizer thank goodness!) brought us out to this gorgeous lake in the countryside. Marcela and I, plus Lauren, another primaire assistant, a couple from Spain and their French bulldog puppy, Lola (!!!!!!! she was so adorbs) met at Cedric's, and then we walked about 2 km to this exceedingly picturesque lake in, really, the middle of nowhere. Apparently, we were on private property but they live nowhere near it. A bunch of us jumped in and swam for a while (in October!!) and took in the scenery. When we were done, we ate the great potluck lunch that we'd brought, then we played with the dog and relaxed in the great sunshine. It was so great it was surreal.
Today, I had my first day of orientation. It was so nice to get up and be productive! The ecoles primaires work differently than the high school, it seems like, or at least on a somewhat different schedule. But we get to have a one-on-one, personalized orientation with the people we'll be working with for the rest of the year. How great is that? I have a conseilleur pedagogique, or a teaching advisor, that I've met with a few times so far, and he has helped me get everything squared away, from a bank account to making sure I have sheets for the bed. He is unbelievably helpful, and just super fun to hang out with.
Today, all the English and Spanish assistants that are going to be in primaire here met, about 5 of us total, at the office downtown. We learned all sorts of things in the morning about the French school system, and some of the more political, controversial topics that we might come into contact with. Like, for instance, the question of 'la laicite', one of the biggest conversation topics ever. The French government passed a law saying that you cannot blatantly reference any religious symbols in a public place, including schools. So I'm not allowed to use any super Christian references in the lesson I plan about Christmas celebrations, for example. Or I'm not allowed to wear a huge cross around my neck. Obviously, the big question is for Muslim women who aren't allowed to wear their veils to school, or turbans or yamakas, etc. But it's kindof cool that this issue that I've been talking about for forever, actually somewhat applies now.
Anyway. We learned a lot. And then, because god forbid we exert our minds too much, we went out for a two hour lunch. Clearly.
Then we came back and watched videos of cute French kids speaking English, played some kids games and colored some pictures. Needless to say it was a spectacular day. Afterwords, we came home and relaxed, I went for a run (because I'm trying to do that now. And where better to start running than along a cute French river, past a couple cathedrals and chateaux?), talked to my parents and Mike, and then made dinner! Not only that, but I made dinner with my awesome roommates, and we just chatted about our days and life in general. It felt like the beginnings of a pretty nice routine, and I can't wait for it to actually take hold and be my life!
This weekend was wonderful, and more or less curbed any fears I had about a lack of a social life. There are tons of people here who just seem to love foreign people. There have been assistants from my program here for quite a few years, and in the course of all their time here, Auch seems to have paved the road for us in terms of meeting people. It's a pretty small town, but it is pretty rockin, as far as I can tell. There's about 7 other assistants, and through them and Cedric, I've met quite a few other people. It's pretty exciting.
Sunday, we went on such an excursion. Cedric (who is a fantastic organizer thank goodness!) brought us out to this gorgeous lake in the countryside. Marcela and I, plus Lauren, another primaire assistant, a couple from Spain and their French bulldog puppy, Lola (!!!!!!! she was so adorbs) met at Cedric's, and then we walked about 2 km to this exceedingly picturesque lake in, really, the middle of nowhere. Apparently, we were on private property but they live nowhere near it. A bunch of us jumped in and swam for a while (in October!!) and took in the scenery. When we were done, we ate the great potluck lunch that we'd brought, then we played with the dog and relaxed in the great sunshine. It was so great it was surreal.
Today, I had my first day of orientation. It was so nice to get up and be productive! The ecoles primaires work differently than the high school, it seems like, or at least on a somewhat different schedule. But we get to have a one-on-one, personalized orientation with the people we'll be working with for the rest of the year. How great is that? I have a conseilleur pedagogique, or a teaching advisor, that I've met with a few times so far, and he has helped me get everything squared away, from a bank account to making sure I have sheets for the bed. He is unbelievably helpful, and just super fun to hang out with.
Today, all the English and Spanish assistants that are going to be in primaire here met, about 5 of us total, at the office downtown. We learned all sorts of things in the morning about the French school system, and some of the more political, controversial topics that we might come into contact with. Like, for instance, the question of 'la laicite', one of the biggest conversation topics ever. The French government passed a law saying that you cannot blatantly reference any religious symbols in a public place, including schools. So I'm not allowed to use any super Christian references in the lesson I plan about Christmas celebrations, for example. Or I'm not allowed to wear a huge cross around my neck. Obviously, the big question is for Muslim women who aren't allowed to wear their veils to school, or turbans or yamakas, etc. But it's kindof cool that this issue that I've been talking about for forever, actually somewhat applies now.
Anyway. We learned a lot. And then, because god forbid we exert our minds too much, we went out for a two hour lunch. Clearly.
Then we came back and watched videos of cute French kids speaking English, played some kids games and colored some pictures. Needless to say it was a spectacular day. Afterwords, we came home and relaxed, I went for a run (because I'm trying to do that now. And where better to start running than along a cute French river, past a couple cathedrals and chateaux?), talked to my parents and Mike, and then made dinner! Not only that, but I made dinner with my awesome roommates, and we just chatted about our days and life in general. It felt like the beginnings of a pretty nice routine, and I can't wait for it to actually take hold and be my life!
02 October 2011
I DON'T WORK ON FRIDAYYY!
This is the best news from this week. Well, maybe not the best. Some pretty great things have happened (some super super great things, actually) this week. But that was pretty exciting.
So I've been pretty much working full time on getting my life in order. Which, I think, is a pretty worthwhile occupation. But my gosh it is EXHAUSTING! On Thursday, I met with my pedagogical adviser. He seemed to be super impressed by how much I already had together in my life...which was a little shocking, to me. But I guess a vote of confidence is always good. But I did find out great things. One, that I actually get a fairly extensive orientation, which will be very helpful. They are very very patient too, so I can ask all my questions. ALLLLL of my questions, of which there will be many. I also found out the schools where I will be teaching. I'll be in three elementary schools, all of which are within walking distance of my house, which is great. Not only that, but I'm only working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-4. I'm going to peace out so many Thursday afternoons it's not even funny. WOOOO. I also went about opening a bank account, getting renter's insurance, buying train tickets, meeting a ton of people, and oh my goodness so many things.
Today, I BOUGHT A BIKE!! I was so very excited. My adviser told us about a bike sale that only happens once a year, and it conveniently happened the first weekend we were here! It was operated by this biking club here in Auch...people donated their used bikes and then the group sold them for a fundraiser. The family that donated our bike was there, and according to them this bike once won the Tour de France haha. I'm super excited about it, and she's a beaut! This is me, in front of my house, with my bike. We're definitely going to have to name her. It might be a him, actually....I'll have to do a little more testing her out and I'll let you know.
So I've been pretty much working full time on getting my life in order. Which, I think, is a pretty worthwhile occupation. But my gosh it is EXHAUSTING! On Thursday, I met with my pedagogical adviser. He seemed to be super impressed by how much I already had together in my life...which was a little shocking, to me. But I guess a vote of confidence is always good. But I did find out great things. One, that I actually get a fairly extensive orientation, which will be very helpful. They are very very patient too, so I can ask all my questions. ALLLLL of my questions, of which there will be many. I also found out the schools where I will be teaching. I'll be in three elementary schools, all of which are within walking distance of my house, which is great. Not only that, but I'm only working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-4. I'm going to peace out so many Thursday afternoons it's not even funny. WOOOO. I also went about opening a bank account, getting renter's insurance, buying train tickets, meeting a ton of people, and oh my goodness so many things.
 |
Tomorrow, I'm going on a picnic to a lake that's apparently nearby, with a ton of people from town. Cedric, who I met with the other night, seems to be quite the expert at organizing super fun, multi-national get togethers. Tonight, we went out to a bar, and I was there with a few other Americans, one of whom has lived in Korea the past five years, a few Spanish people, a few French people, a Bolivian and a Mexican. How cool is that??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)