for those of you who know me, umm....i have never taught before. not little kids anyway, which is the post i got: école primaire (primary school), the 9 month contract. and you guessed, it was my last choice since it is the position that requires actual teaching instead of acting as an assistant. the other assistants that have lycée (highschool), collège (middle school), and a 7 month école primaire positions act as assistants to real english teachers in order to provide some english speaking authenticity and culture. they take smaller groups of students and provide speaking practice or cultural tidbits like how elections work (for the older students). basically it makes it more interesting for the students. this means: no managing of classes of 30 students, no 45 minute lesson plans and no responsibility on your shoulders. now, the best part is that you get no real guide as to how or what to teach. what i got is a 9 page 'how to' guide that briefly went over phrases that students should learn by the time they get to middle school and a booklet on some ideas for games you could play. you need to actually make worksheets, decide on what you're going to teach, design games and figure it out. basically, your only qualification is that you speak english and what you find out very quickly is that teaching 7-11 year old requires skillz: teaching skillz and french skillz. both of mine need improving. basically, i've realized that...
this is a learning on the job kind of thing.
having said all that, i'm actually prooving to be alright at this teaching gig! of course, i improve after every lesson but the kids like me and the teachers say that things are going great. so, très cool! i have 7 classes, ranging from 1st year of english (2nd graders, 7 years old) to 4th year of english (5th graders, 10 or 11 years old), which i have twice a week for 45 min/lesson. i've decided on a learning through song method and it's working out really well so far. how many more times i can listen to 'the hello song' i don't know, but it's so cute when they sing with their french accents and when they get so excited about the littlest things. i brought some american bills with me and it was all 'ooohs' and 'aaahs,' wondering whether they were real or not. even stickers are a fun novelty.
one of the most pleasant surprises of this teaching gig is drawings and presents that i get from the kids! on the left is probably my favorite to date: a flower made of pipe cleaners. i got it from a girl in my youngest class. so cute. i've also gotten various drawings, a pink heart bracelet, and other knick nacks. there is one little boy in one of my CM1 classes (4th graders) that i think is more than a little enamoured with me. since i've started teaching, he's given me something every lesson...even an actual flower. i think jonathan's got some competition :)
however, some of the older kids aren't as cute since english has lost its novelty. english assistants have also lost their novely it would seem. i have a particularily devilish class of CM2 (5th graders) who had an assistant from New Zealand (Kylie) last year and they already know the routine. they also have the scariest teacher i have ever met in my life. there is all kinds of yelling involved, from 'SHUT UP' to god knows what. in fact, he's known for actually hitting a kid with a dictionary. wow. either way, i am no comparison to this guy and the students know it. i'll keep you updated on their progress.
i've taken a few pictures of my living quarters so my trusty readers could really experience france with me :) above on the left is where i'm on the computer all the time. mostly on facebook, an addiction which i can't seem to get rid of. and on the right is my little corner that i call home. yes, that is a map of the US - what can i say, i don't like bare walls. i've decided to put up the drawing i get around the map. i've no doubt there will be additions to my collection.
as you can see, i've also put up just a few photos up...here's a close up :)
that's all folks!
à bientôt!
merima
one of the most pleasant surprises of this teaching gig is drawings and presents that i get from the kids! on the left is probably my favorite to date: a flower made of pipe cleaners. i got it from a girl in my youngest class. so cute. i've also gotten various drawings, a pink heart bracelet, and other knick nacks. there is one little boy in one of my CM1 classes (4th graders) that i think is more than a little enamoured with me. since i've started teaching, he's given me something every lesson...even an actual flower. i think jonathan's got some competition :)however, some of the older kids aren't as cute since english has lost its novelty. english assistants have also lost their novely it would seem. i have a particularily devilish class of CM2 (5th graders) who had an assistant from New Zealand (Kylie) last year and they already know the routine. they also have the scariest teacher i have ever met in my life. there is all kinds of yelling involved, from 'SHUT UP' to god knows what. in fact, he's known for actually hitting a kid with a dictionary. wow. either way, i am no comparison to this guy and the students know it. i'll keep you updated on their progress.
on another note....
i've taken a few pictures of my living quarters so my trusty readers could really experience france with me :) above on the left is where i'm on the computer all the time. mostly on facebook, an addiction which i can't seem to get rid of. and on the right is my little corner that i call home. yes, that is a map of the US - what can i say, i don't like bare walls. i've decided to put up the drawing i get around the map. i've no doubt there will be additions to my collection.
as you can see, i've also put up just a few photos up...here's a close up :)
that's all folks!
à bientôt!
merima
4 comments:
merima i know you will do wonderfully!! keep posting, I'll be reading :)
i can't believe you have 7 separate classes. do you have to come up with separate lesson plans for the four different years, based on their varying levels of previous education? that sounds like it would be a lot of work. and are the 4th year students already pretty fluent in english, or no? i wish i spoke french so that i could do this program.
i really hope you're teaching them the phrase "trés cool", by the way.
you know, i was really worried in the beginning how i would manage so many levels with no teaching experience to speak of but it's not turning out to be as difficult as i imagined. since they're so young and new to english my responsibility to them is to teach the basics with a focus on conversational and oral english. and no, none of the students are fluent in english. let me tell you, i do a lot of miming in class...looking like a fool.
unfortunately, très cool would be 'french' so i'm not technically allowed to say that in class...but it may come up on accident later on in the year :)
btw, magoo? is that you posting as public myopia?
oh i forgot to mention, that while the lessons are different for each class/level there is a lot of overlap. i just end up going more in depth with the older students.
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