.fr

for the past two days i have been reading what i could about teaching and culling things for a lesson plan. we don't have apartment internet yet, so this involves quick internet cafe searches that yield a handful of starter lessons involving naming english speaking countries on a map and having the kids pick english names.

my first class is at 1:30. before i go i run to the e.lecleric hypermarche to pick up a 300 or so big index cards that the kids can use for name cards and i get myself a small binder to use as a lesson planner. i look around, grab some groceries, and then head the half mile back to our place. but i lost track of time in the supermarket, an all-too-common occurrence for me, and end up pressed for time and rushing through lunch and throwing stuff in a duffle bag and rushing out the door: flashcards, scissors, pens, binder with lesson notes, map of usa, childrens books, stickers.

first class is with the directrice. she's kind of like a principal but she is a teacher as well. i went over a map of english speaking countries and then had them choose names. after i repeated myself several times in english she'd repeat instructions in french for those who haven't yet gotten it. i was super nervous and my throat was dry but i got through it somehow.

next class i started out the same as i did for the first class, but it didn't work. the kids didn't respond to it and they were super loud and would run around the class and the teacher just sat there, relieved for that for a brief time they weren't his problem. i wasn't quite sure what to do, so i quickly wrote a dialog on the board, "what's your name?" and "how are you?" and had pairs come and act it out. the first pair came up but then the rest in the back kept screaming. when the second pair came up i remembered about the stickers in my bag that i'd brought from the us. they say things like, "rad", "good work dude", "hang ten". i put one on each of the kids chests like a badge. and suddenly a whole room of hands shot up. they were crawling on the desks so that they could be higher, waving their hands back and forth, supporting their elbow with the other hand, saying, "oh! oh! pick me!" or some french equivalent. really ridiculous. am not exagerating their sudden, hilarious excitement. observation one: kids love stickers.

next class was easier. first level cm2. the teacher did a nice intro before giving me the floor and then helped with the first half. the kids have had virtually no english. i sang the abc's to them and then gave them a photocopy i made of the abc's with words that begin with that letter, xylophone and such. i told them we were going to make english dictionaries and the rest of the class was all cut and paste in devoted silence.