Back to Paris?

Sometime in the past year, it became clear that French has a permanent place not only in my life, but in my career. And so does teaching. My current high school teaching job is for the most part an incredibly positive experience, which proves among other things that the older my students the better. It feels much more natural teaching teenagers than it did 6-11 year olds. What I really see myself doing, though, is teaching at the university level.

So why the sudden blog update? Well, I of course need a Master's, if not a doctorate, to begin teaching at a university. A few days ago, I received a very exciting email. I've been accepted into Middlebury! I've applied to IU Bloomington and Purdue, which are closer to home, but... an MA with Middlebury could mean returning to Paris for a year in September.

I thought that merited a blog update. :) We'll see.

Beginning of the end...and a new beginning

English in italics

Samedi je suis retournée à JF, une des écoles ou j’ai travaillé, pour la fête de l’école pour la fin de l’année scolaire. C’était vraiment un plaisir d’être là. Au lieu de stress, j’ai ressenti un bonheur de voir les élèves et bien sûr l’excellent équipe des enseignants. Et les enfants, au lieu d’être petits monstres, étaient mignons.

On Saturday I returned to JF, one of my schools, for the end of the year festival. It was truly a pleasure to be there. Instead of stress, I felt happy to see the kids and of course the wonderful team of teachers. And the kids, instead of being little monsters, were cute.

Les enfants ont chanté et puis il y a eu des stands des jeux. J’ai bandé les yeux aux enfants et les ai fait tourner au stand de La Queue de l’Âne avec Patricia.

The kids sang and then there were games. I blindfolded kids and spun them around at the Pin the Tail on the Donkey stand with Patricia.

Parmi les chansons était « Hello, Goodbye, » une chanson que je les ai appris. Malheureusement, je suis complètement bête et j’ai supprimé la vidéo. En regardant mes photos sur l’écran de mon appareil photo, je pensais que c’était une photo floue.

One of the songs was “Hello, Goodbye,” a song I had taught them. Sadly, I’m a complete idiot and I deleted the video. While looking through my pictures on my camera, I thought it was a blurry picture.

Par contre, j’ai conservé heureusement la vidéo d’une très jolie chanson que j’ai entendue pour la première fois. C’est « Toi Plus Moi » de Grégoire. J’étais instantanément fan.

However, I luckily didn’t delete the video of a beautiful song I heard for the first time. It’s “Toi Plus Moi” by Grégoire. I was immediately a fan.

Merci, les enfants, de m’avoir présenté cette chanson. Vous chantez bien !

Thanks kids for introducing me to this song! And you sang beautifully!

Et voilà la vidéo de Grégoire. C’est tout simplement une chanson optimiste et joyeuse, parfaite pour le début des grandes vacances et encourageant pour mon avenir un peu pas sûr.

And here is Grégoire’s video. It’s just simply a happy and optimistic song, perfect for the beginning of summer vacation and encouraging for my less than certain future.

Les Paroles/ The Lyrics (English translation not as good as the original, of course)

Satisfaction of a job well DONE

Last Thursday was my last day teaching in my schools. And I was, sadly, just relieved. Even though I knew from the start that teaching small children wasn’t my truc, not my thing, I had hoped to like it a little. I mean, I was very lucky to have the wonderful and welcoming team at JF. I made some friends and had a great time talking to some of them. PA/B is just a different story (a few good experiences would be the exception to the indifference I felt there).

I don’t hate children. I don’t. I hate children when they outnumber me 15 to 1. I know that “real” teachers (who I respect oh so much) have classrooms of 20 or 30 all day, every day. But there’s one small difference that I’ve been trying to keep in teachers’ minds since day one: I am not a teacher. I’m not certified and I had 4 days of training. I’m an assistant.

Even though the assistantship program is quite old, nobody seems to be used to the idea. The principle is that uncertified Anglophones can come to France to teach French children or teens to expose them to the right accent and to share our culture. The uncertified part isn’t supposed to be a problem (at least for 7-month assistants) because in theory, we’re either supposed to be with the whole class with the teacher, or take small groups. I never looked it up, but I’m not so sure that 17 counts as a small group.

Yet, I sympathize. I’m sure how else it would have worked, since only one or two teachers in the school are qualified to give their own English lessons.

So, I was the Prof d’anglais in one school, and spread thinner than a crêpe at the other. I went to 13 classes a week, but didn’t see the same kids every week. So, I “taught” English to total of more than 300 kids. Remembering names was a nightmare and connecting with the kids was downright impossible.

Before starting this job, I talked to my teacher friend Heather about my worries. Number one was discipline. I was afraid of the kids walking all over me. And I was right. They didn’t see me as their teacher. So, I had to yell. Despite some mistakes, I’ve learned to lecture in French. As my sister-in-law elegantly put it, I was a BA (and no, that doesn’t mean Bachelor of Arts like I thought at first). I sent misbehaving children to the hall or back to class and didn’t blink when they started to cry.

However, I didn’t spend all my time yelling or perfecting my “classroom” French. I did teach some English. We sang and played games. And I encouraged kids. The names of the particularly bad students were easy to remember and I learned to praise them when they started to improve in English. Or when they learned how to listen to a song without starting to drag themselves around on the floor. That must be one of the best parts of teaching- seeing a kid become proud of himself after you tell him he’s improving.

I really wish I could have been with SMALL groups and had seen the same kids more frequently. I really feel that I would have been able to make a bigger impact, and they would have been able to progress more. But, when every class, starting from 1^st grade, has to have English, and there’s just one of me, that wasn’t possible.

Was it a total flop? Well, no. Some class sessions certainly were. And I didn’t come close to getting through the curriculum.

The CP/CE1 (1^st/2^nd grade) class- I swear they’re the fastest learners- at JF still sings Blue like the sea by heart. Ok, they don’t actually know all the words, but they will never forget their colors! And it was a very rewarding moment when Ali came up to me and said, “Hello. My name’s Ali. I’m 7.”

And at PA, in one of my CE1 classes (one that I saw every week), the kids can kind of express themselves- almost independently. They can say that they like spaghetti and that they don’t like snakes.

I had to lower my expectations to keep from going insane or being too hard on myself or the kids. I don’t mean that I suck or that they’re stupid. I just had really high expectations and wasn’t being realistic. And I didn’t understand kids. So, I’ve learned to be more realistic (and maybe l’Éducation Nationale should too) and having realistic goals helped.

Thursday was my last day. I had a wonderful party at JF, and, well some of the people at PA/B remembered it was my last day and said goodbye. But here’s what’s more important: the kids were sad to see me go. Because I’m a pushover and English is second recess? Maybe some of them. But, others…well I'll just let you read it for yourself.

Yacine drew his class, or maybe just his favorite classmates. "Big kisses" is a literal translation of the French expression "Gros Bisous." It's equivalent to hugs and kisses, or xoxoxoxo. The second is "Kety, I love you." I told you about my name!

Valentine says "Goodbye Cathy. Big kiss." Samantha says, well a lot, but it includes a thank you for the lessons.

This one just cracks me up. "We are going to miss you. You were a real English teacher (who was American)! Have a nice vacation." It's also fun for me to correct their FRENCH mistakes. That should be bonnes vacances.

This sweet letter is from Wendy (her English class name). "For the best English teacher (that's me!). When you came to France I knew right away that you were nice and that your classes would be good and I was right. I'm sad that you're leaving but I think that we'll see each other again (when I go to the US :) ). Goodbye and maybe I'll see you soon. From the bottom of my heart, Wendy."

I think this earns me the right to check something off my list.

Schools closed

Due to a huge strike, my schools were closed today. Of course I was happy to have the day off. After my International Relations class (in English, grumble, grumble) today, I spent the afternoon in the Marais. After having a delicious falafel, I sat and read for a good hour. Then, I checked out the 150 years of immigration exposition, which circles Hôtel de Ville, and then headed to the Caféothèque where I continued to read.

It was nice being able to take my time and I couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Yet, I've already missed a handful of classes lately, due to being sick, participating in recording sessions for the Académie de Créteil's language site (where I amused myself with singing things like Old MacDonald), and teachers freaking out about being inspected. With only about a month to go, I still have a lot I want these kids to learn.

A quick note on the strike. There have been several teacher strikes this year, but not all teachers went on strike and it never affected me. This one is different. It is so big and widespread that both of my schools closed. What's more is that it wasn't just for teacher unions, but for public service unions as well, meaning public transportation was affected too. From what I've learned, the strike is due to Sarkozy's reform plans, including teacher cuts and retirement reforms.

I recently talked to my American teacher friend Heather who said that her township is getting a lot of cuts now, but that if they were to strike, it would be much different than in France. The teachers would still have classes because, of course, it's not the kids' fault and they shouldn't be punished. Their striking would involve going home right after school lets out.

Closing schools for a strike still seems strange to me, but it makes me think of a Hey Arnold! episode I saw a lot time ago (of course I don't still watch cartoons...). The teachers went on strike and the school was closed. Arnold and the kids loved it, but then they found out that every day they missed they would have to make up in the summer. Something tells me the kids here won't have to go to school in the summer.

My winter break: working / Mes vacances d'hiver: travail

English first, et puis la version française

For one week during my winter break, I decided to make a little extra money by leading an intensive English workshop for French high school students, which was organized by the Paris school district and is free for the students. I was nervous at first, because I have never really taught this age group. But it turned out to be an amazing experience.

I had a group of 12 15-17 year olds. In a total of 15 hours, I helped them improve their English through short presentations, listening exercises, the "hot seat," and of course games. We even did a small scale exchange with one of Prof N's French class from AU. See the exchange blog for some amusing videos and posts about culture. "I know someone who..." was maybe the best game of all and really got them talking. At the end, they presented their final projects, which included a murder/detective skit, a talk show about a family's strange habits, and a skit about a kid taking his driving test for the 5th time. The last day, they convinced me to speak to them in French for 5 minutes, after they had spoken in English for 5 days. So, it was my turn for the "hot seat." They asked me questions and I had to respond in French. It was kind of funny because that was the most nervous I've been about speaking in French in a long time!

I am so happy that I decided to do this (even though I haven't seen the money yet). I had a lot of fun and it was great seeing the kids progress. I was very surprised at their level of English. Naturally, they made some mistakes when they spoke, but they could SPEAK! I could communicate with them. Perhaps the most rewarding part was when one of the girls told me she was less afraid of talking in English now. It makes me wonder if I should have chosen to teach high school this year instead, but I realize that this was a group of 12, sweet, motivated kids, and a typical class of 30 students might be a different story.

Version française

Pour une semaine de mes vacances d’hiver, j’ai décidé de gagner un peu d’argent en travaillant comme intervenante d’un stage intensif d’anglais pour des lycéens, qui à été organisé par l’Académie de Paris et qui était gratuit pour les élèves. Au début, j’étais nerveuse parce que je n’ai jamais enseigné aux lycéens. Mais il s’est avéré que j’ai beaucoup aimé cette expérience.

Mon groupe s’est composé de 12 lycéens de 15-17 ans. Pendant 15 heures (3 heures par jour), je les ai aidé à améliorer leur anglais au travers des exposés courts, des exercices d’écoute, la « chaise chaude, » et bien sûr des jeux. Nous avons fait même un petit échange avec une classe de Prof N. d'AU. Voir le blog de l'échange pour des vidéos et posts intéressants et culturels. « Je connais quelqu’un qui… » était peut-être le meilleur et leur a fait beaucoup parler. À la fin, ils ont présenté leurs projets finaux, qui ont consisté d’un sketch assassin/détective, un talk-show au sujet d’une famille avec des habitudes étranges, et un sketch au sujet d’un garçon qui passe son contrôle technique (pour la cinquième fois !) pour son permis de conduire. Le dernier jour, ils m’ont persuadé de parler un peu en français, après qu’ils ont parlé en anglais pendant 5 jours. Alors, c’était mon tour dans la « chaise chaude. » Ils m’ont posé des questions (des questions sérieuses, et des questions drôles) en anglais et j’ai répondu en français. C’est un peu marrant parce que ça fait longtemps que je n’étais aussi nerveuse de parler en français !

Je suis heureuse que j’aie décidé de le faire (même si je n’ai pas encore touché à la rémunération). Je me suis bien amusée et c’était superbe de voir le progrès des élèves. J’étais étonnée à leur niveau d’anglais. Naturellement, ils font des fautes quand ils ont parlé, mais ils pouvaient PARLER ! Je pouvais communiquer avec eux. Peut-être que la plus grande récompense était quand une fille m’a dit que maintenant, elle n’a plus peur de parler en anglais. Je me demande si j’aurais dû choisir à travailler dans un lycée au lieu des écoles primaires, mais je sais que c’était un groupe exceptionnel, un groupe de 12 gentils élèves motivés, et non pas une classe typique de 30 élèves.

The ABCs of French Education

Here is a very basic introduction to the structure of French primary and secondary education. School is free, secular, and mandatory (gratuite, laïque, obligatoire- merci Jules Ferry) from age 6. There are, however, private schools, mostly Catholic.

Premier degré:

École maternelle (Kindergarten)

Petite Section (PS), 3-4 years old

Moyenne Section (MS), 4-5 years old

Grande Section (GS), 5-6 years old

École élémentaire (Elementary School, my area of expertise)

Cours préparatoire (CP), 6-7 years old

Cours élémentaire première année (CE1), 7-8 years old

Cours élémentaire deuxième année (CE2), 8-9 years old

Cours moyen première année (CM1), 9-10 years old

Cours moyen deuxième année (CM2), 10-11 years old

CP = 1st grade; CM2 = 5th grade

Second degré:

Collège (Middle School)

Sixième (6e), 11-12 years old

Cinquième (5e), 12-13 years old

Quatrième (4e), 13-14 years old

Troisième (3e), 14-15 years old

6e = 6th grade, but starting here they count down so 5e = 7th grade. There are 4 years of middle school in France and 3 years of high school, opposite to most American schools.

Lycée (High School)

Seconde (2nde), 15-16 years old

Première (1ère), 16-17 years old

Terminale (T), 17-18 years old

See, still counting down. 2nde = 10th grade/sophomore year; 1ère = 11th grade/junior year; T = 12th grade/senior year. Although it's confusing for me, I kind of like the counting down method. Terminale (the end!) definitely gives the sense of finishing 12 years of education.

School Day

For my schools, the day starts at 8:30am, and ends at 4:30pm. The lunch break is from 11:30am-1:30pm. There is a school cafeteria, but many children go home for lunch. There are two breaks for recess (supposed to be 20 minutes, but seems to be about 30) at 10am and 3pm. Oh yeah, and there's no school on Wednesdays! There used to be school on Saturday mornings, but not anymore, at least not for my schools and not that I know of for others.

Vacation

French primary and secondary students get about 7 weeks of vacation during the school year, and 2 months off for summer. School begins at the beginning of September, and goes through the end of June/beginning of July. There is a week and a half vacation for Toussaint (All Saint's) in October/November, 2 weeks for Christmas, 2 weeks for Winter break, and 2 weeks for Spring break.

Well, that is definitely very basic info that you can find many other places too, but it's a starting point and I plan to share more, especially about learning languages in schools in France.

Katie's Little Helper This Week

Kids say the darndest things. Example one: cute.

Little girl ran up to me just after recess: "Hello Katie!"

Me: "Hello!"

Little girl: "Delicious!"

Me: "Delicious?"

Little girl: "Le repas était delicious." (The meal was delicious- she said delicious in English in a French sentence.)

Me: "Ok... Great!"

More quotes to come, not all so cute though.

Thanksgiving in the French Classroom

This week I talked about Thanksgiving in my classes. The older kids read about Thanksgiving in French and then they learned and wrote a few words like corn, turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and family. For the little kids, I gave a simple explanation, reviewed colors, and then had them make hand turkeys, which they kept calling poules (chickens). No! Not chickens! Turkeys!

Kiddies in my CE1 (2nd grade) class at JF showing their hand turkeys.


This was taken just before the one above. Shows how well they listen to me!

appy alloween: So glad it's vacation

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve updated the blog. I’ve actually been really busy with 12 hours of teaching plus 8 hours of class (not to mention all the time I spend on the metro getting to and from class and work). Unfortunately, this post is not the most positive. I truly do have a lot of positive things to write about, but my current mood has led me to vent about the negative things that have occurred in the past week.

First of all, there’s the bank situation. During orientation day, bank representatives came to help English assistants open a bank account. It wasn’t mandatory, but I jumped at the chance because I’ve heard it’s hard to open an account without the most obscure documents I probably don’t have and without money to deposit. These representatives understood that we don’t have money and helped us through the paperwork. A month later, I still haven’t received anything in the mail. No welcome letter, no bank card, and most importantly, no RIB. The RIB is something I have to have to get paid, since it’s direct deposit. After probably having waited too long, I went to a branch in Paris on Wednesday. The lady looked up my name and there I was in the computer. She told me I would have to go to the bank in Créteil to get my RIB, since that’s where I opened my account. You can’t exactly do business at any branch like you can in the states. I called the bank in Créteil and explained my situation. This lady told me I’d have to come there with the documents I had already given them a month ago! At this point, I still don’t know if I even have an open bank account.

Second of all, I’m stinkin sick again. Maybe it’s better to be sick on vacation since I can rest, but Tom’s grandparents are coming on Tuesday and I don’t want to be a sick hostess.

Third and last of all, these children are already driving me crazy! A few classes in particular in which I have about 15 kids on my own. Maybe they were rambunctious because it was right before break. Maybe they’re taking advantage of me because they think I don’t speak French (since I’m supposed to stay in English as much as possible). Whatever the reason, they would not stop talking!

I think the best part of the week, though, was when I saw light bulbs go off as some of the students understood “Spiderman” for the first time. I was teaching about Halloween. I showed them pictures of American kids dressed up in different costumes, including Spiderman, who they all know and love, except they pronounce it “Speederman.”

Later I showed them the picture of a spider, and I got only blank stares. So I showed Spiderman again. “Spiderman.” “Spider.” The looks were priceless. One kid came up to me afterwards and said he understood why he was called Spiderman- because of the spider that bit him. He was so excited! So, maybe the kids will continue to say “appy alloween” despite my best efforts to teach the “h” sound, but at least they will remember the word for spider. Little victories.