One month anniversary, cheese nuggets and teaching oh my!

Bonjour à tous!

So I have officially finished my first week of legit teaching (or assisting in teaching I guess would be more correct?)

Reflections after the first week:

Cheese curds and ranch are a very strange concept to explain.

Many middle school kids think that England is the USA.

There is nothing cuter than a whole class of french middle schoolers saying “AWW” at photos of my dog :’)

Teaching is a lot more repetitive than I thought.

There is nothing more powerful than the sound of silence.

So let me explain.

I started teaching on Wednesday and my first day I had 4 hours of classes. It was very exciting and I think I started to get in the groove of how things here work with students. There are REALLY good classes that are so interested and attentive and then there are classes that virtually refuse to speak in English. The way that “levels” or “grades” work in France is that they go backwards. So in middle school the youngest students are the “6èmes” (pronounced seaz-e-ems) and then the next grade is 5èmes, then 4èmes and it continues until high school when the last year is called “Terminale”. I found it really interesting because some of my classes that were younger (like the 5èmes) were better at english than some of the (3èmes). I almost think that some classes are “better” than others because of how comfortable they feel speaking english in front of the whole class. One of my younger classes was very eager to speak and ask questions in english but one of my older classes was terrified to speak english in front of me. It was very interesting witnessing this. I remember when I was learning french I was always nervous to speak up but I think eventually (after a few years to be honest) I really stopped caring about making mistakes because that’s the only way I got much more confident in speaking (shout out to the french house!). There are also older classes that are really good at english already too. I think it all depends on the dynamic of the class and if the kids feel comfortable speaking in front of one another and to make mistakes.

I got my own little class room across the hall from the other English teachers.

This first week, I presented a slide show all about where I am from, Wisconsin culture and my pets and family. I explained the concept of cheese curds and the best way I found was to describe them as “nuggets” of cheese. Also, Ranch dressing or anything like it, does not exist here in France. I explained to my classes that we dip fried cheese nuggets in a sour cream/mayonnaise dressing that has onions and garlic in it. This made me realize how bizarre the concept of cheese curds are and how much I miss cheese curds lol! I also talked about the Green Bay packers and they were all so shocked about how big american football stadiums are (I showed them a picture of Lambeau Field). Also, I had classes talk about their pets when I showed them photos of mine and every time I think this was their favorite part (I would get a big “Awww!”). My least favorite part of teaching so far are the students that take the experience of learning away from other students that want to learn. Many french teachers I have observed yell a lot more than teacher I have had in the past and I noticed that when a teacher raises their voice, they are rarely more respected by the students. So when a student is constantly whispering and talking while I am talking, I just stop what I am saying and be completely silent. I think this is way more effective overall when trying to control the class. I have never experienced a job like this where I am responsible for more than 3 kids but I think I’m catching on “hopefully) relatively quickly. Shout out to all the teachers out there because at the end of my days I was very fatigued.

Now, working only 12 hours a week does not sound like a lot but since I have about an hour commute in the morning and at night everyday I have to get up at 6:45 and I don’t get back until about 4:30 PM even with only maybe 4 hours of actual teaching a day. Since Lille is far away from work, I can’t go home for lunch so I get to practice my french during my 1.5/2 hours lunch breaks (Lunch is the most important meal of the day here) in the “Salle de Profs” aka the staff break room. There are about 2 other teachers besides the english teachers that know french but even then they still speak french with me. It is sort of like a mini French class each day and many times I don’t talk but I just listen in on their conversations and I think it is helping my french ear.

Also, it is OFFICIALLY my one month anniversary since I arrived. I finally moved into my apartment in Lille and I am not living in airbnb’s anymore! I am excited to settle in and to go buy a french press from IKEA. In addition, what better way to celebrate one month in France than to have a two week break :P Today is my first day of the Toussaint break and over the next two weeks I am going to go to Belgium, explore new parts of France and of course go to Paris. Looking forward for the next two weeks of settling in, traveling and seeing some familiar faces soon.

À Bientôt,

Kristin

Estaires is one of the towns I teach in. Took this on my morning walk from the bus stop to the school :)