So a couple more weeks have passed where I’ve been “teaching”. Again, I have yet to have a full 12-hour week, even if they are always scheduled as such. At least once a week (AT LEAST) I show up to school and a teacher “forgets” I’m coming, or has scheduled a test, or thought the schedule was different (see the schedule is that confusing that even the teachers don’t get it!). Sometimes they manage to stick me in another class to do some spontaneous question answer session with yet another new group of students, most of the time it just means that I either have to sit at school for an extra hour until my next class, or worse, turn right around and go back home. This week even one school didn’t schedule me for any hours, and I couldn’t get an explanation from anyone as to why (“I didn’t make the schedule and I don’t know who did” was the typical response)! So I had Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off this week and did a whole lot of nothing. From this point on, though, it looks like I’ll be working 13-hour weeks, which I guess is fine (not that they gave me a choice). So much for ever having a set schedule.. I’ve learned I just have to show up and basically be prepared for anything..
This is frustrating not just because I show up expecting one thing and then nothing happens. I’ve realized that after I do take the time to plan the lessons, I do in fact want to teach them, and if a month goes by after Halloween I can’t exactly show up on December 1 and expect to teach them about it just because I never got to see them, right? So I think I actually care a bit too much about the lessons, because I put the work into the lessons and I want to see how they will go, and because I am interested in what I am sharing with them. It’s kind of exciting to share my culture and stuff. And I want to see how my lessons that I plan, and usually write myself, will go. Oh well, if I get to use them for at least a couple of classes, I guess that is fine.
Another thing thrown my way this past week was the interruption of bus service at the stop nearest my house (and 2 other surrounding stops) due to a violent incident last Sunday. Oh course I didn’t find out until I had actually left on Monday morning to go to work and had to run to the next stop, but missed the bus and then was late for my class. Removing 3 stops from the line made the bus schedules all messed up; sometimes they came early, sometimes way late, sometimes not at all! Trying to get to my second school later that day I waited for 40 minutes and 2 buses ,which didn’t come, so I missed that class entirely. So frustrating. The non-service at those stops continued through the entire week, and then this weekend the ENTIRE bus network for all of Aix-les-Bains was not in service, out of solidarity for the bus driver (apparently someone was aggressive towards the driver). It’s just such a different way of dealing with things than I am used to, and made me realize how hard it is to get around when you rely on one method of transportation. But really, can you imagine metro like shutting down like that?! I just can’t. Regular service starting Monday, hopefully. Hopefully.
You must think that with all these days off I’d be pretty bored, and the short answer is that you are right. There are times, like last year during school, when I would have killed for free time like this, but now I would give anything for a schedule, structure, even homework! I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. At least twice a week I meet up with the other English assistant here, which is nice, but still leaves a lot of free time (and we also just go into the same couple of stores all the time in tiny Aix.. pretty lame)! Somehow I’ve learned to deal with the boredom. I think the hardest time for me was over the vacation a couple of weeks ago, when no one was around (not even the people I live with) and I didn’t have much to do. I went a little crazy then and was hating life, but since nothing really seems as bad as that now I guess I’m ok. I have lots I could be doing – reading (especially in another language), lesson plans, job applications, travel plans, learn a new language, go on walks or something, all sorts of stuff. But mostly I just end up watching several series of tv shows or movies online. I mean, it’s kind of nice, I guess, to come home after work and not really feel like I need to do anything. Downside to it all: even though I have all this time, I’m finding it difficult to get anything done, it’s horrible! I’m so unmotivated to write these job essays or do my lesson plans and since it seems like I have forever I just don’t feel the pressure to get it done. Look at me, even writing in this blog is an attempt to get out of doing the real work I have, which, for the record needs to be done for tomorrow’s class! Well I’ll just write a little more (this has actually been on my to do list forever also) and then back to the real work. Well maybe after a walk to change it up a bit.
More in regards to my schedule – I’ve finally realized why it was so hard for me to get them to give me all my hours in the morning or in the afternoon (to avoid these 3+ hour gaps of time with nothing to do) – it’s because for them, having these big breaks, like having a 2 hour lunch where you go home and come back, is totally normal. So leaving for a time then coming back to work later is not unheard of, where as for me, used to the American way of working, I just want to get it all over with and then have as much time as possible at home. I really don’t like leaving and then having to go back, it’s so hard to motivate myself to leave, and do the usual 30 minute commute one way, to the school. I’d rather eat my lunch standing up, on the go, walking somewhere (gasp! This is a huge no-no here) and get to leave 2 hours earlier, than have to teach some class until 5:30 at night!
When I do end up having a full day at school complete with 1hr45min lunch break I find that no matter how slow I eat, I cannot stretch it out to fit that amount of time. I am also one of the few that stays at school and eats in the teachers’ lounge (they all have cars and go home.. sigh) and I eat a pretty simple lunch compared to everyone else’s. French people bring multiple Tupperware containers, one of which always needs to be microwaved. Sometimes they even bring a placemat! And there are always multiple courses (main, fruit, cheese, yogurt). Me, I bring a sandwich. Sometimes chips, or an apple, sometimes a dessert. But I don’t even want anything else! I don’t know how they can prepare and eat such elaborate things all the time. I certainly don’t have the patience or appetite for it.
Another weird lunch-time thing, or just all the time thing really, is how often everyone says hello. You go in anywhere (store, classroom, teacher’s lounge, anywhere with a doorway of any kind) and you say hi. Doesn’t matter if you know them, want to talk to them, have ever seen them before in your life, bonjour is required. Same goes for good bye, oh and not to mention that one bonjour does not work for a whole room, usually. So if there are 3 people sitting in the computer room in the teacher’s lounge, all minding their own business, doing work (this is usually me), one still needs to stop and say 3 separate bonjours, and wait for response bonjours, to everyone in the room. Crazy! At lunch time this changes a little. Anyone who walks into the staff room is then required to say “bon appétit” before saying bonjour, or in lieu of it. Do you really care about me eating well or my appetite? Because I was reading my book and didn’t even notice you walk in, but ok, whatever. I find that I tend to use smiling as a response here as a force of habit, but that is not at all common here. They may seem all nice and say hi to everyone and their mom, but they do not smile! And then I am pegged as the weird one.. sigh.
More about the teachers’ lounge (my favorite place), there are usually 3 computers, 1 printer and ONE photocopier.. for the ENTIRE school! Ok this isn’t like Chantilly size, but there are still several hundred students.. how can you work like this? Not to mention the photocopier at one of my schools has been broken twice in the past month! Then everyone has to use this smaller version machine that takes an eternity. Efficient as always, France…
Another weird thing, when the bell rings here, nobody moves! Not like at Chantilly where people where people were edging out the door 5 minutes before the bell even rang (or at least packing up their stuff). Could this be because there is not a clock to be found in the entire school?!
There is no time between classes to get to the next, so students are just expected to walk straight from one class to the next and start class right away. In theory, this sounds like it will work, but in reality, the students don’t all arrive at once. Then you have to wait for the teacher to arrive (because when that bell rings and they are in the teachers’ lounge sipping on their mini-coffees, they are not about to rush to leave either!), open the door, let the students in, take roll, tell them to sit down, and then finally start the lesson, at which point 5 minutes, if not more, have easily passed. This cuts into my teaching time, though, so I’m not complaining. At the end of the lesson the students are expected to stay until the teacher dismisses them, even if the bell has already rung, and they listen (again, unlike at Chantilly)!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)