Return to normal service!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Next week
The schools managed to shove 8 of my 12 hours into only two days! Ugh.
(Blue = Collège Marlioz
Green = Collège Garibaldi
Red = Collège Jean-Jacques Perret)
Plotted are my 3 different schools (color-coded) and where I live (the house)... just so you can see, they are not all exactly close to one another..
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Currently in France..
In case you haven’t heard, there is a massive strike going on. I believe it all started around October 11th. It all has to do with a shift of the retirement age from 60-62. France (like the US and many other countries) can’t afford to give out full retirement pensions anymore (especially with the baby boomer generation reaching the retirement age) without raising the age. France also has one of the longest lifespans in the world, so more people are collecting more retirement money for longer. French people are outraged by this shift in retirement age. And EVERYONE is protesting. Transportation workers, schoolteachers, even students (I mean, really, at 17 do you really care about retirement? Because I know I don’t, and I’m 5 years older than you!). A couple of weeks ago I got a day off school because all my teachers were on strike (and students don’t even usually bother showing up on those days). On the worst days several bus lines have been cancelled. It’s also been over a week now that several of the trains every single day have also been cancelled. In that case, it may be better that I didn’t have set travel plans, but it is still frustrating to check every day and see the majority of regional and TGV trains cancelled, making the trips I did want to take practically impossible (or actually impossible when either all trains are cancelled (the case for Geneva – the one place I really wanted to go!) or the few trains that are running are sold out (the case with the big trains that require reservations, like to Milan)). This picture from the train strike website gives a good picture as to what a typical strike day looks like. Trains highlighted in grey are cancelled, due to “movements sociaux SNCF” aka “SNCF (train company) strikes”.
I’m currently on the vacances de Toussaint, a week and a half break for All Saints’ Day. This is why it sucks that practically no trains are running, because I’ve got lots of time and not a lot to do! Not to mention that the last real conversation I had with a person in France was Tuesday (today is Thursday), with the cleaning lady. Before that, it was last Friday, with a teacher at school. In between and after those times it’s just been store clerks or.. cats. So maybe I’m a little bored..
In Aix-les-Bains there are 4 teaching assistants (all teaching English), including myself. One (American) lives in the next town over with some Americans, one I have never met (I couldn’t find her at orientation), and the other one (British) lives in downtown Aix. So basically, I know one person who lives here, and I see her maybe once a week, when we meet up on one of our days off. Oh well I guess I know maybe two people if you count the couchsurfer I stayed with. But teachers aside (who are all obviously older than me, and while nice, have families/lives/don’t even live here), and the woman I live with aside (who is also nice, but our interactions are pretty much limited to conversations we have while passing each other in the hall), I know a total of two people here in Aix. TWO PEOPLE.
This segues well into my general rant about this program. Where do I begin.. I guess it’s just not what I expected. It probably doesn’t help that I was really hesitant about coming over in the first place, but the lack of help pre and post arrival here in France didn’t do much to comfort me either. I know this is the “real world” and I know I’m an adult and am supposed to be able to do things by myself, but when I’m uprooting my life and moving to your country to work in a very low paying job with minimal hours and little chance of securing outside work, you would think you would be a little more welcoming/helpful!
Now I know that every situation here in France is different, and a lot of what I have experienced is specific to my region/schools. I know this by hearing people’s personal experiences at the orientation, and sometimes by glancing at blogs of other assistants (posted on the forum) or the assistants’ forum itself. I just wonder sometimes how I ended up with the short end of the stick, getting placed in a smaller town without many other assistants (sometimes there are even multiple assistants in one school), in three different schools on opposite ends of town, contacts who don’t get back to me, unhelpful staff and just general chaos.
I’ve lived in France before, I’ve had to deal with the general chaos that is French bureaucracy, but even this was beyond my expectations. One thing I want to make absolutely clear, that was made absolutely clear to me quite quickly – this is NOT study abroad. Study abroad is a piece of cake compared to a program like this, and yes, I loved study abroad, and yes, that made it seem like this was an ideal program for me, but again, the two are not very alike.
Study abroad is a nice little program where everything is essentially figured out for you before you even get there. You know where you’ll be living, with whom, what you’ll be doing (for the most part), and probably the best part, a group of people in the same place doing the same thing as you; an instant friend group. Here, even if there are people living in the same town, they might be working at schools in different parts of town and you might not have any sort of contact information for them until you show up to orientation (by which point you will hopefully have secured some type of housing, as the first day of school is the following day), and you might not even want the same type of living arrangement. The American embassy thought they were doing us some huge favor by sending us everyone’s emails (meaning all American teaching assistants emails), but not everyone responded to those threads and once people started arriving to France and everyone was all of a sudden internet-less, you couldn’t even get in contact with those whose emails you did have.
As surprising as it must be for someone else to hear me complain about France, it’s almost as surprising to me how disappointed I am with this program. Sometimes I read the hopeful applicants’ comments on the Facebook page for TAPIF and want to be like “Noo! Don’t do it! Don’t apply!”, but again, I’m hoping that my negative experiences are specific to my situation, and that in general France has it’s stuff together (this is kind of a big ‘maybe’ though). I too thought that since I loved study abroad this would be ideal. I thought I would show up and love teaching French kiddies so much that I would apply to do it again the following year (yeah, I’m not planning on doing that now.. even I applied for another region, I feel the risk is too great that I will end up in similar situation), and that I would have lots of free time and travel all over the place with other assistants. I do have lots of free time (LOTS) but I live alone and don’t have steady enough contact with other assistants to even make travel plans (hence why I’ve sat around all break so far). I know this could change, especially since this break was so soon into the school year and everyone is still trying to settle in. And I know that I’m not the only one having a bad time, as there are a couple of threads in the forum titles “Rant about life outside of school/teaching” and “A very big rant about how awful the first 2 weeks have been”. It makes me feel a little better to know that I’m not the only one having a hard adjustment to the program/life here in France. I just can’t help but think that this is actually the hardest thing I have done in my life, up until this point. Besides the fact that this is my first “real” job in the real world (which I figure is a transition in itself.. can’t I just go back to UMD?!), the disorganization and lack of contact with others have just pushed it to the top of my list. I’ve pretty much been overwhelmed (if that word can even begin to cover it) since I arrived, but I’ve stopped randomly bursting into tears in the middle of the street, so I guess that is an improvement! And I thought nothing could ever be as stressful as having to pull all nighters during finals week! The real world is so much worse..
So it’s a lot to take in. I waver between feelings of loneliness and homesickness and frustration, some days worse than others, and I’m counting down the days until my flight back to America for Christmas break. There are, however, with some positive moments thrown in there, too, but I guess sometimes they just feel few and far between, and are not always enough to compensate for those less than positive moments. But now I need pull myself together and start planning actual lessons and stuff, because those preteens will not necessarily listen if I tell them to! Worksheets and punishments, I’m thinking. Maybe even homework if they are really bad!
Also I don’t know if I like teaching, or if it’s something that I want to do forever (which I guess I thought I would have magically figured out after 3 weeks??), but everyone is already asking me what’s next. Well I’m starting to look into programs, and a lot of them look like teaching English again.. so hopefully I like this, because I don’t really know what else to do. Suggestions welcome!
I’m currently on the vacances de Toussaint, a week and a half break for All Saints’ Day. This is why it sucks that practically no trains are running, because I’ve got lots of time and not a lot to do! Not to mention that the last real conversation I had with a person in France was Tuesday (today is Thursday), with the cleaning lady. Before that, it was last Friday, with a teacher at school. In between and after those times it’s just been store clerks or.. cats. So maybe I’m a little bored..
In Aix-les-Bains there are 4 teaching assistants (all teaching English), including myself. One (American) lives in the next town over with some Americans, one I have never met (I couldn’t find her at orientation), and the other one (British) lives in downtown Aix. So basically, I know one person who lives here, and I see her maybe once a week, when we meet up on one of our days off. Oh well I guess I know maybe two people if you count the couchsurfer I stayed with. But teachers aside (who are all obviously older than me, and while nice, have families/lives/don’t even live here), and the woman I live with aside (who is also nice, but our interactions are pretty much limited to conversations we have while passing each other in the hall), I know a total of two people here in Aix. TWO PEOPLE.
This segues well into my general rant about this program. Where do I begin.. I guess it’s just not what I expected. It probably doesn’t help that I was really hesitant about coming over in the first place, but the lack of help pre and post arrival here in France didn’t do much to comfort me either. I know this is the “real world” and I know I’m an adult and am supposed to be able to do things by myself, but when I’m uprooting my life and moving to your country to work in a very low paying job with minimal hours and little chance of securing outside work, you would think you would be a little more welcoming/helpful!
Now I know that every situation here in France is different, and a lot of what I have experienced is specific to my region/schools. I know this by hearing people’s personal experiences at the orientation, and sometimes by glancing at blogs of other assistants (posted on the forum) or the assistants’ forum itself. I just wonder sometimes how I ended up with the short end of the stick, getting placed in a smaller town without many other assistants (sometimes there are even multiple assistants in one school), in three different schools on opposite ends of town, contacts who don’t get back to me, unhelpful staff and just general chaos.
I’ve lived in France before, I’ve had to deal with the general chaos that is French bureaucracy, but even this was beyond my expectations. One thing I want to make absolutely clear, that was made absolutely clear to me quite quickly – this is NOT study abroad. Study abroad is a piece of cake compared to a program like this, and yes, I loved study abroad, and yes, that made it seem like this was an ideal program for me, but again, the two are not very alike.
Study abroad is a nice little program where everything is essentially figured out for you before you even get there. You know where you’ll be living, with whom, what you’ll be doing (for the most part), and probably the best part, a group of people in the same place doing the same thing as you; an instant friend group. Here, even if there are people living in the same town, they might be working at schools in different parts of town and you might not have any sort of contact information for them until you show up to orientation (by which point you will hopefully have secured some type of housing, as the first day of school is the following day), and you might not even want the same type of living arrangement. The American embassy thought they were doing us some huge favor by sending us everyone’s emails (meaning all American teaching assistants emails), but not everyone responded to those threads and once people started arriving to France and everyone was all of a sudden internet-less, you couldn’t even get in contact with those whose emails you did have.
As surprising as it must be for someone else to hear me complain about France, it’s almost as surprising to me how disappointed I am with this program. Sometimes I read the hopeful applicants’ comments on the Facebook page for TAPIF and want to be like “Noo! Don’t do it! Don’t apply!”, but again, I’m hoping that my negative experiences are specific to my situation, and that in general France has it’s stuff together (this is kind of a big ‘maybe’ though). I too thought that since I loved study abroad this would be ideal. I thought I would show up and love teaching French kiddies so much that I would apply to do it again the following year (yeah, I’m not planning on doing that now.. even I applied for another region, I feel the risk is too great that I will end up in similar situation), and that I would have lots of free time and travel all over the place with other assistants. I do have lots of free time (LOTS) but I live alone and don’t have steady enough contact with other assistants to even make travel plans (hence why I’ve sat around all break so far). I know this could change, especially since this break was so soon into the school year and everyone is still trying to settle in. And I know that I’m not the only one having a bad time, as there are a couple of threads in the forum titles “Rant about life outside of school/teaching” and “A very big rant about how awful the first 2 weeks have been”. It makes me feel a little better to know that I’m not the only one having a hard adjustment to the program/life here in France. I just can’t help but think that this is actually the hardest thing I have done in my life, up until this point. Besides the fact that this is my first “real” job in the real world (which I figure is a transition in itself.. can’t I just go back to UMD?!), the disorganization and lack of contact with others have just pushed it to the top of my list. I’ve pretty much been overwhelmed (if that word can even begin to cover it) since I arrived, but I’ve stopped randomly bursting into tears in the middle of the street, so I guess that is an improvement! And I thought nothing could ever be as stressful as having to pull all nighters during finals week! The real world is so much worse..
So it’s a lot to take in. I waver between feelings of loneliness and homesickness and frustration, some days worse than others, and I’m counting down the days until my flight back to America for Christmas break. There are, however, with some positive moments thrown in there, too, but I guess sometimes they just feel few and far between, and are not always enough to compensate for those less than positive moments. But now I need pull myself together and start planning actual lessons and stuff, because those preteens will not necessarily listen if I tell them to! Worksheets and punishments, I’m thinking. Maybe even homework if they are really bad!
Also I don’t know if I like teaching, or if it’s something that I want to do forever (which I guess I thought I would have magically figured out after 3 weeks??), but everyone is already asking me what’s next. Well I’m starting to look into programs, and a lot of them look like teaching English again.. so hopefully I like this, because I don’t really know what else to do. Suggestions welcome!
My third week of teaching
I’m aware then my schedule probably doesn’t make sense to anyone, because it hardly makes sense to me, so I’d thought I’d explain how last week went for me. I guess I can’t say it was typical, since the schedule changes constantly, but aside from some timing differences, this is probably how it will go for the rest of the year. (see attached photo to follow along!)
Middle school (college) in france is broken up into four grades: sixieme (6eme) = 11-12 year olds, cinquieme (5eme) = 12-13 year olds, quatrieme (4eme) = 13-14 year olds and troisieme (3eme) = 14-15 year olds. So the grade numbering system in france goes backwards: 6, 5, 4, 3. I teach all of these levels. The sixiemes, although having English in elementary school, are considered to be starting from scratch, English-wise. I guess what they teach in elementary school is very basic (hello, goodbye, etc).
I thought that a troisieme in one school would be the same as one in a different school, but I have found some use different books and learn different subjects and appear to have a generally different level of English knowledge. Could this be why they are trying to employ all these foreigners to teach their kids languages (because they suck at them)??
In addition to that, at the moment, I have two “euro” classes, which are students who take two more hours of English classes every week, who are considered to be the brightest English students.
For the most part (or at least, my understanding of it was), I have a one hour class, broken into two 30 minute sections where I am given half of the class (15 students max) to teach something by myself, then we switch and I get the other half to do the same thing.
So imagine my surprise, when I show up to my first class, Monday at 8:55 at College Marlioz, and find that this teacher would prefer that I only work with her best students for the entire hour. I guess that is ok, except I had just made a lesson plan about clubs in schools that I thought would last 30 minutes, and now I have to figure out a way to stretch it out!
I ended up just making the students read a bunch of club descriptions out loud before answering the questions I had written down, which I know, was probably not thrilling for them, but good for their vocab and pronunciation. It ended up working, it took the whole hour, and they still seemed like they were paying attention in the end. I felt pretty good about that. Also they were so jealous about the types of activities schools offered in the US!
So then I was supposed to do that all over again, but the next teacher hadn't read the schedule carefully and thought that I wasn't coming to her class that day and scheduled a test instead. I was supposed to have a 1 hour 40 minute break after her class (the typical amount of time allotted for lunch!) but since I had no class to go to, it turned into a two hour 40 minute break. And this isn’t the first time that a teacher didn’t know I would be there, or scheduled a test, or decided they didn’t actually want me to come. It can be quite frustrating, when the schools are too far away to actually go home for breaks and there is nothing to really do there. I’ve got to start bringing a book.
After the break, I was supposed to lead an English club during the second half of the kid’s lunch break with the youngest grade (6eme), who know very little English. The teacher from the first class made it sound like she was going to stay with me, since I didn't know what to do with an English club, and didn't know what they knew, and didn't have anything prepared, etc, but instead just showed me to the room and said "ok you can let them go in about an hour, just give them a little time to go to their lockers" and walked out the door. So there I was with like 15 little 11 year old faces just staring at me.. great. Well, it actually turned out pretty well, after the initial difficulty of them understanding just about nothing that I said.. but the teacher did say I could speak French to this group, (I’m not supposed to even let on that I know French to the rest!) so maybe it will be good practice for us both.
I just ended up speaking really slowly in English and using really simple phrases, and they surprisingly ended up getting it most of the time. I thought about playing a game I had done with the other classes last week, but I didn't know if they knew enough vocab for it, so I just ended up using the hour to ask them questions about themselves, which for the most part, they could answer. What I really liked about it was how enthusiastic they were. They took their own time to come to the English club and every single one of them raised their hand for every question I asked and would be fidgeting in their seat if I didn't call them first, calling me "miss!! miss!!", it was pretty cute. They spoke in French a lot more, but it was understandable. And they still managed to be clever with responses sometimes too, even with limited vocabulary.
Then just one more class at College Marlioz. It was my first time in this class, so again the introduction thing (“my name is Christine, I’m 22, I’m an English assistant and you?”). this had got to be like, what, the 15th time I’d done this at this point. of course the first question (always) had to be from some teenage boy asking if I had a boyfriend (or “little friend” if they choose to directly translate it from the French term – petit ami), but after that, the teacher did have some good/original questions herself (like, where were you on September 11th?). And I only had to stay for about half the class. So I was done around 2:40, or maybe a little earlier. So 8:55 – 2:40 is a pretty long day, especially to only work 4 hours (believe me I have mentioned this several times.. but apparently there is no getting around it/no way to group my hours so they fall only in the morning or only in the afternoon, like some other schools have done), but at least I was done with my 4 hours at College Marlioz for the week. Since Thursday morning is their other time from which they get to pick hours for me, it meant that I had Thursday morning this week free.
at this point I had a couple of hours until I needed to be at my next school, College Jean-Jacques Perret, for an hour of class from 4:30-5:30. That left me just enough time to make it home for about half an hour before I had to leave again to go to the next school. It was either go home for 30 minutes or go sit at the next school for like over an hour, and I’ve already described how thrilling the teachers’ lounges are, so that just wasn’t going to happen. I’ve told the school several times how inconvenient/annoying it is for me to come in for just one hour, when the commute itself is 30 minutes there and back, but they continue to stand by the fact that the euro (honors) section is the most important class to them, and needs the native English speaker, so I would just have to come in for it. I’ve also tried to get them to schedule a class before it so I would be there for at least two hours, but there is a conflict with one of the other school’s schedules that occupies that time. Again, it’s complicated, and I don’t think it will be changing.
Half of this class was on a trip to Spain, so I got the whole class (like 13 students) for 30 mins and we talked about clubs, like this teacher wanted. Then she made me stay for the second half of the class and watch them have a debate over homeschooling and made me interrupt them anytime they made a mistake or mispronounced something (kind of awkward).
Teachers here tend to be less forgiving than those in the states, and based on my past experience at a French university and what I have learned from classes about French society, this is pretty typical. Making mistakes in the classroom is not as forgivable as it is in the US. This reminds me of my Langue Orale professor from Nice who would blatantly tell us that she didn’t like our ideas/work/pronunciation and read our grades/papers out loud to class, commenting on what she didn’t like. She might have been a particularly harsh example (she was, after all, Parisian) but I don’t think that kind of attitude is completely out of line here in France. Teachers here haven’t hesitated to point out to me which students “aren’t really good at English” in front of the student themselves, or the entire class. Some teachers nitpick the pronunciation, which I guess is, in a way, useful, but I understood what they said, so do you have to be so mean about it? I guess it’s just not the style I’m used to, and I think mistakes should not be looked down upon, especially in a language class! If your fear of making mistakes causes you not to speak, then there is no reason to even be in the class. I guess it just isn’t my style of teaching either.
Tuesday, I worked at College Garibaldi. I spent the first hour being a judge for skits about speed dating, which was fun. They really went all out, costumes and all! The next hour I had a new class, so it was introduction time again. I was supposed to then have an hour break and then one more hour class, but the teacher for the last hour is out, and her substitute didn’t know I was coming and wasn’t prepared for me, so I instead went to a different class right after the second one, and got to leave an hour early.
I always have Tuesday afternoons (past 12) off. And I always have Wednesdays off. Kids in school only go for the morning on Wednesday, anyway, so even if I did work then it would only be until 12.
I had Thursday morning off since I had already completed my 4 hours at College Marlioz on Monday, and I had to go in for one hour at College Garibaldi right after lunch. The teacher had given me a worksheet and examples of things she wanted me to talk about (all in the past tense, what they are currently learning), but decided when I got there that she would rather I talk about Halloween. Well I told her I hadn’t prepared anything, but she didn’t think that would be a problem, and I guess it wasn’t really. Halloween is barely celebrated here (as evidenced by the tiny Halloween display in the biggest Wal-Mart-type store in town – it was literally, one tiny shelf, whereas the Christmas displays are in full-force here, already!), so talking about the differences, and what was typical of American Halloween celebrations was pretty easy and seemed interesting to them. No bus runs back form the school to where I live in the middle of the day, but luckily it’s only a 20 minute walk home.
Friday is one day that is always the same. College Jean-Jacques Perret has decided that they want my schedule to be the same, although they are changing it after the Christmas break a little. So I have one class from 9-10, where I talked about jobs to both sections, another from 10-11, where I did the same thing. This second class, though, is easily the worst class I teach all week. The students are unmotivated and rowdy; I am constantly having to tell them to stop talking. They refuse to answer my questions, or speak when I call on them, even if it is just to read a passage (I can’t read”, one said!). The teacher offers little support, but mentions that “this is how they always are”. It is during times like these that I begin to have that “glorified babysitter” feeling that I got while working with ASA this summer in Florence. Like the teachers just want a way to get the students out of their class, and this seemed like a convenient way to do so. I get that feeling when they continuously tell me they really don’t care what I talk about, nor do they care if it reinforces what they are teaching, or if it goes in any type of order. I guess the flexibility is nice., but I can just see so many ways that I could be better used!
On the other end of the spectrum, I actually had a teacher complain this week that it was “hard to teach a lesson in just 30 minutes”. Well, newsflash, I didn’t ask to be here or in your class, so if you don’t appreciate my help, then I shouldn’t have to come!
Fridays tend to be frustrating, but at least it is the end of the week. As you can see, with the commutes, breaks and long lunch breaks, 12 hours is stretched over 4 days and makes my week seem pretty full, especially considering that outside lesson planning is required – it’s like being a student and having homework all over again! I should mention that most assistants have Monday or Friday off, and work between two and three days a week. Those only working in one or two schools have an easier time, as they don’t have several establishments fighting over hours. I also have a “main” school that is supposed to be in charge of dealing out the hours, making a master schedule, dealing with pay roll and all that, but they haven’t been that helpful when dealing with the other schools. I have found I need to talk to first the principle, but then mainly the teachers, if I want to get anything done/changed/fixed with regards to my schedule or anything else.
More about what else is going on in France in the next entry…
Middle school (college) in france is broken up into four grades: sixieme (6eme) = 11-12 year olds, cinquieme (5eme) = 12-13 year olds, quatrieme (4eme) = 13-14 year olds and troisieme (3eme) = 14-15 year olds. So the grade numbering system in france goes backwards: 6, 5, 4, 3. I teach all of these levels. The sixiemes, although having English in elementary school, are considered to be starting from scratch, English-wise. I guess what they teach in elementary school is very basic (hello, goodbye, etc).
I thought that a troisieme in one school would be the same as one in a different school, but I have found some use different books and learn different subjects and appear to have a generally different level of English knowledge. Could this be why they are trying to employ all these foreigners to teach their kids languages (because they suck at them)??
In addition to that, at the moment, I have two “euro” classes, which are students who take two more hours of English classes every week, who are considered to be the brightest English students.
For the most part (or at least, my understanding of it was), I have a one hour class, broken into two 30 minute sections where I am given half of the class (15 students max) to teach something by myself, then we switch and I get the other half to do the same thing.
So imagine my surprise, when I show up to my first class, Monday at 8:55 at College Marlioz, and find that this teacher would prefer that I only work with her best students for the entire hour. I guess that is ok, except I had just made a lesson plan about clubs in schools that I thought would last 30 minutes, and now I have to figure out a way to stretch it out!
I ended up just making the students read a bunch of club descriptions out loud before answering the questions I had written down, which I know, was probably not thrilling for them, but good for their vocab and pronunciation. It ended up working, it took the whole hour, and they still seemed like they were paying attention in the end. I felt pretty good about that. Also they were so jealous about the types of activities schools offered in the US!
So then I was supposed to do that all over again, but the next teacher hadn't read the schedule carefully and thought that I wasn't coming to her class that day and scheduled a test instead. I was supposed to have a 1 hour 40 minute break after her class (the typical amount of time allotted for lunch!) but since I had no class to go to, it turned into a two hour 40 minute break. And this isn’t the first time that a teacher didn’t know I would be there, or scheduled a test, or decided they didn’t actually want me to come. It can be quite frustrating, when the schools are too far away to actually go home for breaks and there is nothing to really do there. I’ve got to start bringing a book.
After the break, I was supposed to lead an English club during the second half of the kid’s lunch break with the youngest grade (6eme), who know very little English. The teacher from the first class made it sound like she was going to stay with me, since I didn't know what to do with an English club, and didn't know what they knew, and didn't have anything prepared, etc, but instead just showed me to the room and said "ok you can let them go in about an hour, just give them a little time to go to their lockers" and walked out the door. So there I was with like 15 little 11 year old faces just staring at me.. great. Well, it actually turned out pretty well, after the initial difficulty of them understanding just about nothing that I said.. but the teacher did say I could speak French to this group, (I’m not supposed to even let on that I know French to the rest!) so maybe it will be good practice for us both.
I just ended up speaking really slowly in English and using really simple phrases, and they surprisingly ended up getting it most of the time. I thought about playing a game I had done with the other classes last week, but I didn't know if they knew enough vocab for it, so I just ended up using the hour to ask them questions about themselves, which for the most part, they could answer. What I really liked about it was how enthusiastic they were. They took their own time to come to the English club and every single one of them raised their hand for every question I asked and would be fidgeting in their seat if I didn't call them first, calling me "miss!! miss!!", it was pretty cute. They spoke in French a lot more, but it was understandable. And they still managed to be clever with responses sometimes too, even with limited vocabulary.
Then just one more class at College Marlioz. It was my first time in this class, so again the introduction thing (“my name is Christine, I’m 22, I’m an English assistant and you?”). this had got to be like, what, the 15th time I’d done this at this point. of course the first question (always) had to be from some teenage boy asking if I had a boyfriend (or “little friend” if they choose to directly translate it from the French term – petit ami), but after that, the teacher did have some good/original questions herself (like, where were you on September 11th?). And I only had to stay for about half the class. So I was done around 2:40, or maybe a little earlier. So 8:55 – 2:40 is a pretty long day, especially to only work 4 hours (believe me I have mentioned this several times.. but apparently there is no getting around it/no way to group my hours so they fall only in the morning or only in the afternoon, like some other schools have done), but at least I was done with my 4 hours at College Marlioz for the week. Since Thursday morning is their other time from which they get to pick hours for me, it meant that I had Thursday morning this week free.
at this point I had a couple of hours until I needed to be at my next school, College Jean-Jacques Perret, for an hour of class from 4:30-5:30. That left me just enough time to make it home for about half an hour before I had to leave again to go to the next school. It was either go home for 30 minutes or go sit at the next school for like over an hour, and I’ve already described how thrilling the teachers’ lounges are, so that just wasn’t going to happen. I’ve told the school several times how inconvenient/annoying it is for me to come in for just one hour, when the commute itself is 30 minutes there and back, but they continue to stand by the fact that the euro (honors) section is the most important class to them, and needs the native English speaker, so I would just have to come in for it. I’ve also tried to get them to schedule a class before it so I would be there for at least two hours, but there is a conflict with one of the other school’s schedules that occupies that time. Again, it’s complicated, and I don’t think it will be changing.
Half of this class was on a trip to Spain, so I got the whole class (like 13 students) for 30 mins and we talked about clubs, like this teacher wanted. Then she made me stay for the second half of the class and watch them have a debate over homeschooling and made me interrupt them anytime they made a mistake or mispronounced something (kind of awkward).
Teachers here tend to be less forgiving than those in the states, and based on my past experience at a French university and what I have learned from classes about French society, this is pretty typical. Making mistakes in the classroom is not as forgivable as it is in the US. This reminds me of my Langue Orale professor from Nice who would blatantly tell us that she didn’t like our ideas/work/pronunciation and read our grades/papers out loud to class, commenting on what she didn’t like. She might have been a particularly harsh example (she was, after all, Parisian) but I don’t think that kind of attitude is completely out of line here in France. Teachers here haven’t hesitated to point out to me which students “aren’t really good at English” in front of the student themselves, or the entire class. Some teachers nitpick the pronunciation, which I guess is, in a way, useful, but I understood what they said, so do you have to be so mean about it? I guess it’s just not the style I’m used to, and I think mistakes should not be looked down upon, especially in a language class! If your fear of making mistakes causes you not to speak, then there is no reason to even be in the class. I guess it just isn’t my style of teaching either.
Tuesday, I worked at College Garibaldi. I spent the first hour being a judge for skits about speed dating, which was fun. They really went all out, costumes and all! The next hour I had a new class, so it was introduction time again. I was supposed to then have an hour break and then one more hour class, but the teacher for the last hour is out, and her substitute didn’t know I was coming and wasn’t prepared for me, so I instead went to a different class right after the second one, and got to leave an hour early.
I always have Tuesday afternoons (past 12) off. And I always have Wednesdays off. Kids in school only go for the morning on Wednesday, anyway, so even if I did work then it would only be until 12.
I had Thursday morning off since I had already completed my 4 hours at College Marlioz on Monday, and I had to go in for one hour at College Garibaldi right after lunch. The teacher had given me a worksheet and examples of things she wanted me to talk about (all in the past tense, what they are currently learning), but decided when I got there that she would rather I talk about Halloween. Well I told her I hadn’t prepared anything, but she didn’t think that would be a problem, and I guess it wasn’t really. Halloween is barely celebrated here (as evidenced by the tiny Halloween display in the biggest Wal-Mart-type store in town – it was literally, one tiny shelf, whereas the Christmas displays are in full-force here, already!), so talking about the differences, and what was typical of American Halloween celebrations was pretty easy and seemed interesting to them. No bus runs back form the school to where I live in the middle of the day, but luckily it’s only a 20 minute walk home.
Friday is one day that is always the same. College Jean-Jacques Perret has decided that they want my schedule to be the same, although they are changing it after the Christmas break a little. So I have one class from 9-10, where I talked about jobs to both sections, another from 10-11, where I did the same thing. This second class, though, is easily the worst class I teach all week. The students are unmotivated and rowdy; I am constantly having to tell them to stop talking. They refuse to answer my questions, or speak when I call on them, even if it is just to read a passage (I can’t read”, one said!). The teacher offers little support, but mentions that “this is how they always are”. It is during times like these that I begin to have that “glorified babysitter” feeling that I got while working with ASA this summer in Florence. Like the teachers just want a way to get the students out of their class, and this seemed like a convenient way to do so. I get that feeling when they continuously tell me they really don’t care what I talk about, nor do they care if it reinforces what they are teaching, or if it goes in any type of order. I guess the flexibility is nice., but I can just see so many ways that I could be better used!
On the other end of the spectrum, I actually had a teacher complain this week that it was “hard to teach a lesson in just 30 minutes”. Well, newsflash, I didn’t ask to be here or in your class, so if you don’t appreciate my help, then I shouldn’t have to come!
Fridays tend to be frustrating, but at least it is the end of the week. As you can see, with the commutes, breaks and long lunch breaks, 12 hours is stretched over 4 days and makes my week seem pretty full, especially considering that outside lesson planning is required – it’s like being a student and having homework all over again! I should mention that most assistants have Monday or Friday off, and work between two and three days a week. Those only working in one or two schools have an easier time, as they don’t have several establishments fighting over hours. I also have a “main” school that is supposed to be in charge of dealing out the hours, making a master schedule, dealing with pay roll and all that, but they haven’t been that helpful when dealing with the other schools. I have found I need to talk to first the principle, but then mainly the teachers, if I want to get anything done/changed/fixed with regards to my schedule or anything else.
More about what else is going on in France in the next entry…
Aix-les-Bains
My first impression of Aix-les-Bains, while dragging my suitcases uphill, was that the population seemed to be a bit older. Since then I’ve noticed more younger people, but I still feel like they are missing people my own age. Maybe they are all in the next town where the university is located.
Other things about Aix:
I challenge you to find a stoplight in this city. It is just round-a-bouts all the way.
I think one of the neighbors might have a small vineyard in their backyard. Those certainly do look like grape vines..
There are Christmas lights up everywhere, but they are not turned on. I thought they might just be really on top of it, but after asking someone who lives here, I learned that they actually keep them up all year round.
It smells like snow all the time! You know that fire-y type smell, I guess. And now you can see snow on the tops of the mountains.
The schools, much like universite de nice, appear quite.. ghetto. Basic facilities, lights that turn off in the hallways (they are on timers, and this is actually quite typical France), heating that only sometimes works (=drafty classrooms!), and classrooms equipped with tables and chairs, and that is about it. No computers, internet, wifi, tvs, or at least not in every classroom. The teacher’s lounge is about the same – there are 3 computers (with limited internet access), one printer and one copier for all the teachers in the school. Besides that it’s just tables and chairs, not the most thrilling place to spend one’s breaks.
I also notice here, while on the bus, in the halls or in class, that the clothing seems to be quite monochromatic. Again, not really a surprise, but with my purple scarf, green coat and maroon bag, I feel like I’m wearing the rainbow in comparison to these people who like to pair black with.. well, black (or sometimes grey or brown). And I don’t even think I wear all that colorful clothing back home!
It also turns out that Christine, while a French name, is more of an older French person’s name. Greatttt. Well not really like an old person’s name, but at least people in one generation above me. I keep trying to tell them that yes, it is popular in America, and yes people my age are named this!
There are certain bus lines that end at the school, which, since they don't have school buses like we do, are pretty much the same thing as school buses. Except you have to pay. So one of those comes right outside the house, and as long as I am working when school starts in the morning or after lunch I can take it (since it only runs based on school hours). I’ve taken it about twice now, but I’ve decided it's really awkward because even though it is a public bus, it is pretty much a school bus.. aka the only people on it are loud rowdy middle schoolers, and they all stare at me since I obviously don't fall into the 10-15 age range.
Well I hope that is obvious anyway. Sometimes I don't know if the adults at school can tell. Sometimes they stare at me too, like, should she really be in the teacher's lounge? But no one has ever said anything, thankfully. Maybe it's because European kids look like mini adults..
Anyway this sometimes makes me feel like I’m just the cool, slightly older, American friend come to visit and tell you all about my life. I don’t have to dress up for work, and none of the real teachers do either, everyone wears jeans; it is pretty casual.
There are still some things I don't get about school. Like the students seem to come from all over the place, but I do think that they have to go to a school based on where they live. Also I think sometimes they have free periods, which we never had, not even in high school. But I think this because no matter when I am there, there are random kids sitting outside the school, sometimes smoking (like really?! you are 12!) Probably coming up with schemes to go on strike or overturn cars. You know, the usual.
Already, even though I haven’t seen many students more than once, I have kids recognize me on the bus, in the halls and even downtown. They love to yell my name or say “hello”..
Other things about Aix:
I challenge you to find a stoplight in this city. It is just round-a-bouts all the way.
I think one of the neighbors might have a small vineyard in their backyard. Those certainly do look like grape vines..
There are Christmas lights up everywhere, but they are not turned on. I thought they might just be really on top of it, but after asking someone who lives here, I learned that they actually keep them up all year round.
It smells like snow all the time! You know that fire-y type smell, I guess. And now you can see snow on the tops of the mountains.
The schools, much like universite de nice, appear quite.. ghetto. Basic facilities, lights that turn off in the hallways (they are on timers, and this is actually quite typical France), heating that only sometimes works (=drafty classrooms!), and classrooms equipped with tables and chairs, and that is about it. No computers, internet, wifi, tvs, or at least not in every classroom. The teacher’s lounge is about the same – there are 3 computers (with limited internet access), one printer and one copier for all the teachers in the school. Besides that it’s just tables and chairs, not the most thrilling place to spend one’s breaks.
I also notice here, while on the bus, in the halls or in class, that the clothing seems to be quite monochromatic. Again, not really a surprise, but with my purple scarf, green coat and maroon bag, I feel like I’m wearing the rainbow in comparison to these people who like to pair black with.. well, black (or sometimes grey or brown). And I don’t even think I wear all that colorful clothing back home!
It also turns out that Christine, while a French name, is more of an older French person’s name. Greatttt. Well not really like an old person’s name, but at least people in one generation above me. I keep trying to tell them that yes, it is popular in America, and yes people my age are named this!
There are certain bus lines that end at the school, which, since they don't have school buses like we do, are pretty much the same thing as school buses. Except you have to pay. So one of those comes right outside the house, and as long as I am working when school starts in the morning or after lunch I can take it (since it only runs based on school hours). I’ve taken it about twice now, but I’ve decided it's really awkward because even though it is a public bus, it is pretty much a school bus.. aka the only people on it are loud rowdy middle schoolers, and they all stare at me since I obviously don't fall into the 10-15 age range.
Well I hope that is obvious anyway. Sometimes I don't know if the adults at school can tell. Sometimes they stare at me too, like, should she really be in the teacher's lounge? But no one has ever said anything, thankfully. Maybe it's because European kids look like mini adults..
Anyway this sometimes makes me feel like I’m just the cool, slightly older, American friend come to visit and tell you all about my life. I don’t have to dress up for work, and none of the real teachers do either, everyone wears jeans; it is pretty casual.
There are still some things I don't get about school. Like the students seem to come from all over the place, but I do think that they have to go to a school based on where they live. Also I think sometimes they have free periods, which we never had, not even in high school. But I think this because no matter when I am there, there are random kids sitting outside the school, sometimes smoking (like really?! you are 12!) Probably coming up with schemes to go on strike or overturn cars. You know, the usual.
Already, even though I haven’t seen many students more than once, I have kids recognize me on the bus, in the halls and even downtown. They love to yell my name or say “hello”..
the first weeks continued..: where i am living
After several apartment visits (another discouraging task, after quickly finding out I was going to need someone – in France – to sign saying they would pay if I couldn’t, and I was going to need to buy insurance, and pay a security deposit, and the first months rent, and maybe an agency fee etc etc), I decided on renting a room in a retired French couple’s house. I finally moved in about two weeks after I arrived. There are a lot of pros: I’ve got my own room and bathroom, get to use the internet, TV, kitchen, washing machine, they give me clean sheets and towels and there is a cleaning woman that comes once a week! It also comes complete with two crazy cats – just like home! I also don’t have to pay utilities and it was cheaper than any apartment/studio. Yeah it’s not my own place, but they are away a lot, so the house is then basically mine. It’s not a bad deal.
The house is in a residential area, but there is a bus stop right outside the door and it’s probably only a 20-minute walk from downtown. One thing I knew, but forgot about, was the use of gates/fences/doors in France. This house, for example, is surrounded (like all the other houses in the area) by a automated gate, which opens with a garage door opener remote thing. Then once inside, every room/floor has a door, which is always kept closed. Sort of the opposite of American houses, where people look for big open spaces and rooms that lead into the next.
The house is in a residential area, but there is a bus stop right outside the door and it’s probably only a 20-minute walk from downtown. One thing I knew, but forgot about, was the use of gates/fences/doors in France. This house, for example, is surrounded (like all the other houses in the area) by a automated gate, which opens with a garage door opener remote thing. Then once inside, every room/floor has a door, which is always kept closed. Sort of the opposite of American houses, where people look for big open spaces and rooms that lead into the next.
the first weeks in france
So here I am… in France.
I know I say that like I am surprised, but anyone who knows what has been going on the past month or so, would know that even though that was “the plan”, that it wasn’t necessarily what I thought was going to happen.
The first few weeks here have not exactly been easy. Contact before reaching France was minimal, I received my placement paperwork late (as in months late.. apparently there was a problem in my region) and found out even later that I was working in 3 schools, not one like I had thought. After emailing to introduce myself to those 3 schools, I got a response much later from 2, one of which only told me to email my main school instead.
I arrive in France on a Wednesday (and dragged 100 lbs of luggage uphill for about 30 mins.. did I mention I took a wrong turn… twice? Yeah, direction is not my forte, especially on no sleep), leaving me all day Wednesday and Thursday to house hunt before leaving for an orientation in Grenoble/Autrans on Friday morning. I arrived extremely overwhelmed and homeless, with mounds of paperwork to be done (immigration, health insurance etc). They told us to save the apartment search for when we arrived, which is understandable; visits and calls can’t really be done from abroad, nor can the paperwork. But the crazy frantic emails and internet searching? Yeah, I wish I had started on that a bit sooner, since I spent the majority of my first day in France on the computer, emailing and then waiting for responses, since I hadn’t gotten a phone yet. I finally started to get some leads, only to have to move to Grenoble for the weekend for the assistant orientation.
So two days in France pretty much completely alone, and then the next 3 with hundreds of other people from English speaking countries (and also Spanish/Italian/german etc assistants). Woah. It was a bit overwhelming. And also not super helpful. I felt, on more than one occasion, that it was a bit of a waste of my time, especially when I was at such a crucial place in my housing search. The first day in Grenoble was a 3-hour presentation on immigration paperwork, then we took a bus to Autrans, some middle of nowhere mountain top town, and stayed at the centre de jeunesse in some cabins with child-sized beds, no heat, and no hot water.
Most of the other assistants I met were settled, with places to live, contact with their schools, and many more days in France behind them than I had. It was hard to listen to their excitement when I personally was so stressed and homesick. I had luckily found a place to stay for the next couple of days (thank you couchsurfing) for when I got back to Aix, but I even just found that the day before I left.
The next day in Autrans, we were split by language of instruction and age group, so I was in a group with people teaching English in college (middle school). The first three hours we spent playing games that we could use in class, so games for beginning English speakers, games are were really easy and boring for us native speakers! Not to mention, there were even mistakes in them! And a lot of the time they were written in British English, which gave the majority of the group, Americans, a harder time. In the next 4 hours after lunch we managed to make up some of our own activities and watch videos of our teachers’ classes. This was slightly more useful, why it was at the end, I don’t know. The rest of our time was spent being cold and bored, and the second night was optional so many people left. I had signed up to stay because, I thought, hey free housing and food. While true, another day without hot water sucked.
I had the whole day Sunday to kill before I could meet up with my couchsurfer that evening, so I spent it walking around Grenoble and Chambery, which was nice, but hard to do with a heavy backpack. Not to mention that I ran out of things to do quickly seeing as it was 1. A Sunday (and everything was closed) and 2. I was alone.
The couchsurfer was probably one of the first good things to happen to me since I got to France. Marion, whose English is practically better than mine, took my two huge suitcases over the weekend so I wouldn’t have to drag them to Grenoble. When I returned to Aix Sunday evening, she took me to her house where she lived with her parents and 18-year-old sister. They cooked me dinner, let me use their phone and internet, and kept their eyes open for housing options. Monday morning Marion drove me to school and even went in with me, then waited for me to fill out paperwork and drove me back. I was only planning to stay a couple of days, but ended up there for a week. The whole family made me feel truly at home, they even gave me a key so I could come and go as I pleased! And every evening at dinner they listened to my horror stories of the day, and said that they would help me sort everything out. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I probably would have left France!
The first week, it was almost like no one even expected me. I’m working at 3 schools (in 4 different classes of different levels each a week each! So 12 different classes total every week, ugh!), in 3 different parts of the city, which is a nightmare in itself. Much like Italy, France is crazy disorganized and has this, “it's not my problem” attitude, which has made it quite hard to get answers out of anyone. That or they tell me not to worry, “tout va s’arranger” (everything will work out)… yeah well not if no one does anything about it! Those first two weeks were spent trying to get the school just to make a schedule (yes, even though they should have known I was coming since June, they didn’t think to make a schedule for me!) and then trying to fight with certain schools to make my schedule a little more convenient for me. Split between three schools, with 4 hours each, all of the schools also chose to split those hours among two days. But the madness doesn’t end there. Each school has two blocks of hours on two separate days a week that they get to pull my 4 hours from. These hours are not set (except for at one school) so every week, essentially, my schedule changes and every week I see new classes/kids. Sometimes it repeats, but at most I will see the same kids once a week, and I will end up seeing some as little as once a month. If this makes any sense at all to you, you will realize that this makes it incredibly hard to 1. Make lesson plans, 2. See progress with the students/class, 3. Even remember students’ names, 4. Try and judge where a class is in their English level, keep up with what they are learning about, and finally, 5. Make a difference in their English abilities overall?!
I’ve “taught” three weeks now, and during week three I was still getting new classes and having to introduce myself like it was the first day. It probably also doesn’t help that I see differences among the same grade level English classes in different schools, I have honors classes that are better at English, and every teacher I have worked with has different things they want (not to mention I will be switching teachers here in a week or two, and that won’t be the end of it!).
Some teachers tell me I can do whatever I want, some prepare things for me to do (which makes my life so easy!), some tell me things they would like me to present, and some just expect me to show up day 1 and take the whole class by myself and already have a handout prepared! It certainly makes my life difficult, having all these different teachers that want different things.
Case in point, I made two lesson plans for last week, one about clubs in schools, and one about jobs, both at the request of different teachers. Seeing as I hardly ever see the same students, I thought these lesson plans would last me for maybe even a couple of weeks, and that I’d only need to start rotating material once I’d used in it all of my 20+ classes. But then I will get to school and a teacher will forget I’m supposed to be in their class, or I’ll get switched to another one, and then the plan is changed, and “oh and can’t you just talk about American high schools or Halloween instead??” “Well I guess, even though I was saving that for next week..” and the confusion continues.
I’m trying to make a schedule where I write down what lesson I use for every class every week so that I will know which classes haven’t had which lesson etc. Basically I’m trying to combat France’s complete lack of organization by being extremely organized.
In addition I’m trying to plan my lessons for the rest of the year, and realized that one school has failed to give me a schedule for the classes past next week. Upon emailing the English teacher I’ve been in contact with there, she says she doesn’t know the precise hours and figured someone would have put a schedule in my mailbox.. so much for my attempt at organization.
Still I will try my best to plan and make lesson plans that will carry me through the rest of the year, with enough variety so that if a teacher just all of a sudden decides they want a lesson on stereotypes, for example, I will already have something ready. That or I will have enough time to figure something out, without having to plan my regular lesson on top of these crazy French teachers’ whims.
On a more positive note, I got paid the other day! Yes it seems a little absurd given the actual amount of hours I have worked, but given the amount of WORK I have done to try and get my schedule and everything else here together (with no help from them, thank you very much), it doesn’t even seem like they are paying me enough.
to be continued..
I know I say that like I am surprised, but anyone who knows what has been going on the past month or so, would know that even though that was “the plan”, that it wasn’t necessarily what I thought was going to happen.
The first few weeks here have not exactly been easy. Contact before reaching France was minimal, I received my placement paperwork late (as in months late.. apparently there was a problem in my region) and found out even later that I was working in 3 schools, not one like I had thought. After emailing to introduce myself to those 3 schools, I got a response much later from 2, one of which only told me to email my main school instead.
I arrive in France on a Wednesday (and dragged 100 lbs of luggage uphill for about 30 mins.. did I mention I took a wrong turn… twice? Yeah, direction is not my forte, especially on no sleep), leaving me all day Wednesday and Thursday to house hunt before leaving for an orientation in Grenoble/Autrans on Friday morning. I arrived extremely overwhelmed and homeless, with mounds of paperwork to be done (immigration, health insurance etc). They told us to save the apartment search for when we arrived, which is understandable; visits and calls can’t really be done from abroad, nor can the paperwork. But the crazy frantic emails and internet searching? Yeah, I wish I had started on that a bit sooner, since I spent the majority of my first day in France on the computer, emailing and then waiting for responses, since I hadn’t gotten a phone yet. I finally started to get some leads, only to have to move to Grenoble for the weekend for the assistant orientation.
So two days in France pretty much completely alone, and then the next 3 with hundreds of other people from English speaking countries (and also Spanish/Italian/german etc assistants). Woah. It was a bit overwhelming. And also not super helpful. I felt, on more than one occasion, that it was a bit of a waste of my time, especially when I was at such a crucial place in my housing search. The first day in Grenoble was a 3-hour presentation on immigration paperwork, then we took a bus to Autrans, some middle of nowhere mountain top town, and stayed at the centre de jeunesse in some cabins with child-sized beds, no heat, and no hot water.
Most of the other assistants I met were settled, with places to live, contact with their schools, and many more days in France behind them than I had. It was hard to listen to their excitement when I personally was so stressed and homesick. I had luckily found a place to stay for the next couple of days (thank you couchsurfing) for when I got back to Aix, but I even just found that the day before I left.
The next day in Autrans, we were split by language of instruction and age group, so I was in a group with people teaching English in college (middle school). The first three hours we spent playing games that we could use in class, so games for beginning English speakers, games are were really easy and boring for us native speakers! Not to mention, there were even mistakes in them! And a lot of the time they were written in British English, which gave the majority of the group, Americans, a harder time. In the next 4 hours after lunch we managed to make up some of our own activities and watch videos of our teachers’ classes. This was slightly more useful, why it was at the end, I don’t know. The rest of our time was spent being cold and bored, and the second night was optional so many people left. I had signed up to stay because, I thought, hey free housing and food. While true, another day without hot water sucked.
I had the whole day Sunday to kill before I could meet up with my couchsurfer that evening, so I spent it walking around Grenoble and Chambery, which was nice, but hard to do with a heavy backpack. Not to mention that I ran out of things to do quickly seeing as it was 1. A Sunday (and everything was closed) and 2. I was alone.
The couchsurfer was probably one of the first good things to happen to me since I got to France. Marion, whose English is practically better than mine, took my two huge suitcases over the weekend so I wouldn’t have to drag them to Grenoble. When I returned to Aix Sunday evening, she took me to her house where she lived with her parents and 18-year-old sister. They cooked me dinner, let me use their phone and internet, and kept their eyes open for housing options. Monday morning Marion drove me to school and even went in with me, then waited for me to fill out paperwork and drove me back. I was only planning to stay a couple of days, but ended up there for a week. The whole family made me feel truly at home, they even gave me a key so I could come and go as I pleased! And every evening at dinner they listened to my horror stories of the day, and said that they would help me sort everything out. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I probably would have left France!
The first week, it was almost like no one even expected me. I’m working at 3 schools (in 4 different classes of different levels each a week each! So 12 different classes total every week, ugh!), in 3 different parts of the city, which is a nightmare in itself. Much like Italy, France is crazy disorganized and has this, “it's not my problem” attitude, which has made it quite hard to get answers out of anyone. That or they tell me not to worry, “tout va s’arranger” (everything will work out)… yeah well not if no one does anything about it! Those first two weeks were spent trying to get the school just to make a schedule (yes, even though they should have known I was coming since June, they didn’t think to make a schedule for me!) and then trying to fight with certain schools to make my schedule a little more convenient for me. Split between three schools, with 4 hours each, all of the schools also chose to split those hours among two days. But the madness doesn’t end there. Each school has two blocks of hours on two separate days a week that they get to pull my 4 hours from. These hours are not set (except for at one school) so every week, essentially, my schedule changes and every week I see new classes/kids. Sometimes it repeats, but at most I will see the same kids once a week, and I will end up seeing some as little as once a month. If this makes any sense at all to you, you will realize that this makes it incredibly hard to 1. Make lesson plans, 2. See progress with the students/class, 3. Even remember students’ names, 4. Try and judge where a class is in their English level, keep up with what they are learning about, and finally, 5. Make a difference in their English abilities overall?!
I’ve “taught” three weeks now, and during week three I was still getting new classes and having to introduce myself like it was the first day. It probably also doesn’t help that I see differences among the same grade level English classes in different schools, I have honors classes that are better at English, and every teacher I have worked with has different things they want (not to mention I will be switching teachers here in a week or two, and that won’t be the end of it!).
Some teachers tell me I can do whatever I want, some prepare things for me to do (which makes my life so easy!), some tell me things they would like me to present, and some just expect me to show up day 1 and take the whole class by myself and already have a handout prepared! It certainly makes my life difficult, having all these different teachers that want different things.
Case in point, I made two lesson plans for last week, one about clubs in schools, and one about jobs, both at the request of different teachers. Seeing as I hardly ever see the same students, I thought these lesson plans would last me for maybe even a couple of weeks, and that I’d only need to start rotating material once I’d used in it all of my 20+ classes. But then I will get to school and a teacher will forget I’m supposed to be in their class, or I’ll get switched to another one, and then the plan is changed, and “oh and can’t you just talk about American high schools or Halloween instead??” “Well I guess, even though I was saving that for next week..” and the confusion continues.
I’m trying to make a schedule where I write down what lesson I use for every class every week so that I will know which classes haven’t had which lesson etc. Basically I’m trying to combat France’s complete lack of organization by being extremely organized.
In addition I’m trying to plan my lessons for the rest of the year, and realized that one school has failed to give me a schedule for the classes past next week. Upon emailing the English teacher I’ve been in contact with there, she says she doesn’t know the precise hours and figured someone would have put a schedule in my mailbox.. so much for my attempt at organization.
Still I will try my best to plan and make lesson plans that will carry me through the rest of the year, with enough variety so that if a teacher just all of a sudden decides they want a lesson on stereotypes, for example, I will already have something ready. That or I will have enough time to figure something out, without having to plan my regular lesson on top of these crazy French teachers’ whims.
On a more positive note, I got paid the other day! Yes it seems a little absurd given the actual amount of hours I have worked, but given the amount of WORK I have done to try and get my schedule and everything else here together (with no help from them, thank you very much), it doesn’t even seem like they are paying me enough.
to be continued..
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