So this week started off with a BANG! I was "observing" in both of my schools on Monday. So from 9am-about 4pm I was busy busy with meeting teachers, working in classrooms, and trying to figure out the french academic system. At the beginning of my week my two contact teachers at both of my schools still hadn't straightened out when I'd be working at each school, and we'd just plan out the week day by day. If you know me at all, you'll know I'm overly organized and a planner so this didn't sit well with me. I started out at Boris Vian and went to three different classes to meet three different levels of students. In each class we just did a little question answer interview session between me and the students. It was really fun to share parts of my culture and country with these students who were in shock and awe of me. I noticed right away that the older students who are about to go onto high school have begun that rebellious stage where they're too cool for school and starting to have crushes on their classmates. So most of the class time with the older students is spent reprimanding them to be quite, turn around in their chairs, stop pestering their neighbor. Literally, 75% of the class time is spent telling them to stop talking. The younger students how have just moved up to middle school are all so tiny! Their between the ages of 11-12 and their backpacks are all bigger then they are. These younger students still have the interest and enthusiasm to learn and want to me the first person with their hand up to answer ALL the questions during the class period. While they talk a lot and disrupt class just like the older kids, younger ones don't have the cocky attitude and talk back to the teachers. I learned early on that one good way to get a students attention no matter how disruptive and bad they are being during class time, if you ask them for this little red notebook each student has to carry around, which I assume keeps track of their class assignments, grades and behavior in school. Even the slightest mention of asking a student for their red notebook sends them into a pleading fit to not right a bad note about their behavior, which their parents then have to read and sign. The behavior of these students and their disrespect of their teachers would never be tolerated in the US. After a grueling 3 hours at my first school I went to my second school where I got to sit in the back of the classroom and observe a music class, where they were learning the lyrics in english to the song We Will Rock You by Queen. The music teacher asked me to translate the lyrics, but of course there is so much slang and idiomatic meaning that has to be carried over in the translation I wasn't really sure what to tell them. I then observed a math class. (Funny how I observed the two school subjects I hated the most when I was younger). The math teacher for this class was one of those teachers who can make an impact on his students lives not just for that day or that school year, but for a lifetime. I could automatically see the difference in teaching methods between the two schools. One school doesn't like to enforce order and regiment on the students for free of becoming too military like, where as the other school demands 100% attention and respect for the one hour they are in a classroom. At the end of the math class the teacher said he would only allow the students to answer the last math problem of the day in english. He wrote the problem on the board explaining it in english and then asked students to solve the problem step by step in english. Once the problem was solved he told the class how important it is to learn a second or even third language, not just for the grade you get in school, but because being bilingual or trilingual or even multilingual crosses over into so many other fields for when they want to find a job. I thought that was really neat that he took time to explain that to such young children, and he's now adding a 5 minute lesson in another language to the end of each class so the students get used to applying the other languages they are learning to other school subjects. I wish I had had this teacher for math when I was in school! The last class of the day was another english class to observe. I did the whole question answer interview between myself and the students again. I'm also noticing a stark fluency level between the two schools as well. The school that doesn't implement order and demands attention and respect has students who are less advanced in learning a second language than those students who attend a school where rules are put into place. All the students, between both schools, liked to know about celebrities in the US, Barack Obama, American music, and whether or not I have a boyfriend. One student even asked me if I am an indian since I come from Indiana. I told him not exactly, that's too hard for me to explain to their level. One thing that happened during the interview session at Boris Vian (the more difficult school) that really impacted me and gave me a purpose for being here, was when a young boy who had been quiet during the whole class and sitting off in the corner, raised his hand and asked how long I'd be staying in France and why I was here. I told him I'd be living here for 8 months and I am here as a teaching assistant to work with all the students to improve their english. This little boy then said, "Thank you miss Sarah", and all the other students chimed in after him. I almost cried.
Tuesday was a girly shopping day with Janine and Emily. We took the bus to a mega shopping complex called Auchan, where I found a box of 24 Bueno candy bars for only 5 euro! Mega steal!! I would compare this place to the love child of Sams and Walmart. It was huge and had an amazing selection!!
Wednesday was orientation day. All the english language assistants met at Lycee Baggio for a 9:30-4:30 administrative and instructional orientation day. The morning was spent going over all the paperwork that needs to be filled out and filed as quickly as possible. Then we all got free lunch at the school cafeteria and I got to meet loads of other American teaching assistants. It was nice to share stories with my compatriots and when we'd reference something culture or about our own country, we were all in the loop and didn't have to explain ourselves like we tend to have to do with all the other assistants from other countries. The afternoon was supposed to be spent covering methods of observation in the classroom and how to handle the students since we are just assistants and not actual teachers. But instead we spent the time going back over all the administrative stuff and asking in depth questions. When the orientation let out, Janine and I went over to one of my teacher's homes to get help calling landlords to find a place to live. After 3 hours of calling people and looking up new listings, we left with no apartment showings and not getting any further in our search.
Thursday was another day at school (Boris Vian). This was also picture day so I got to me in the faculty picture. Pretty cool!! After school let out I went to look at an apartment that had one room available. On my way to the showing I saw a woman step off the curb to cross the street and an oncoming car, who should have stopped for the pedestrian, hit her right in the middle of the road. That is a sound I'll never forget. I'm pretty sure she was unconscious for a while, and someone called an ambulance to get her medical attention. Once I had left the apartment showing she was awake in the back of the ambulance and EMTs were bandaging her hands. The apartment I looked at was a bit odd, and I finally decided I didn't want to live there. The landlord gave me a really bad vibe, and he lives down the hall from the room I'd be renting. While it would be a quick walk to my schools I don't think I'd be comfortable living there. Later in the evening I went with Janine and Emily to the British Center in Lille, which is pretty much a giant english library. They served us free wine and snacks and we got to mingle with other english speakers in the area. It was mostly other teaching assistants there.
Friday afternoon was another day spent in the classroom, but since some of the english teachers were absent I got to go home early! That morning I had spent hours calling landlords and emailing people to get apartment showings set up. Finally I got someone to respond to take a tour of a 5 person house, 4 rooms available, that evening. So my friend Jack and I took the metro up to a small city called Roubaix just north of Lille. We both instantly loved the house and the french guy currently renting the 5th room seemed really nice and would make a good roommate. There are three stories in the house and all of assistant friends I'm living with in the residence hall can move with me so we'll have a full house. Fingers crossed we can end up living there. It will create a longer commute to school for all of us, but the house and the neighborhood are really nice and safe and the monthly rent isn't bad at all!
Yesterday I went into town in the afternoon to check out all the festivities for the festival that will last for the next 3 months. I met up with Emily and some other teaching assistants for an afternoon snack. We then went to a pub where we met even more assistants and two guys from New Zealand who have been back packing around the world (literally). They started out in Tahiti, went to the US and are now spending time in Europe and will finish up in Asia before flying home to New Zealand. We spent the day touring the city and taking in the sights. We all caved and at dinner at McDonald's, or as the french call is MacDo. That night was the parade to kick off the festival. We all stood in the pouring down rain smashed up against each other because there were so many people waiting for this parade to start. There were mostly inflatable characters and a couple groups of dancers and marching bands that came down the streets. The theme was "when science meets fiction" but I still can't figure out what all the costumes and floats were suppose to be. Just look at the pictures and try to figure it out for yourself. If you can make sense of it let me know. After the parade there was a bizarre fashion show on a concert stage. It continued to rain and we were all cold and tired so we didn't stay long.
This week will be week two of teaching and more adventures to come!
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