Gettin' Healthy

Having to plan every lesson is actually pretty tiresome. To find something new to do every lesson is stressful, and it takes up too much time. I wind up thinking of a topic and hoping for the best, seeing how well I can make a lesson evolve and flow naturally without super-structuring it.

It makes me enjoy one lesson I teach with 3 or 4 tech teachers. All they want me to do is correct them as they have conversations, and they ask me how to say certain things. It's a really funny lesson, and it's great because I don't need to prepare but I bring tongue twisters along because I love to torture French people... heh heh.

Damien and Claudia have arrived and we all have to sit at the table when we want internet (most of the time) because wifi STILL doesn't work! But it forces us to be sociable, and since Claudia's French is so good, we talk in French all the time, though I fall back on English sometimes when it's just me and Damien, oh dear.

Claudia is 24, so she's really mature. She's from Mexico and she's already cleaned the house once on her day off (so nice) and she's just really nice. Damien's more like me - lazy, loves junk food, and always on the internet.. but also super nice, and has a Birmingham accent. They're ideal to live with, I just hope I am.

The internet sucks here, I can't wait to be at David's tomorrow. Birthday weekend yey!

English Maths

Today I had a one to one class with a maths teacher, who teaches Norwegian students. Apparently they can't understand the French vocab so he asked me if I could teach him English words. It was cool, we wrote on the board and spoke almost entirely in French, which is preferable for me, and to be honest, most of the mathematical words are the same in  both languages, just different accents.

I bought my railcard, which gives me a good chunk of discount on the train to David's (practically half), and my tickets to see him this weekend. Looking forward to that, I got too used to living with him and even he is missing me a lot of the time. I'm a lucky girl.

Had a meeting completely in French with Martine, who wants to organise a phonetics workshop. It was complicated and I found it tricky to follow everything she was saying but I got the idea. I had a lot on my mind regarding my other lessons - I don't remember feeling this stressed out about work before - and this extra challenge wasn't helping. Maybe once I get past the first week it will start to get easier but I really need text books or I'll run out of ways to fill a lesson.

Teaching my first class

So I had my first teaching class today. I was completely responsible, on my own in front of 7 adult English learners, having a class I had to plan myself. I was really nervous going into it, I couldn't stop thinking about what I'd be doing prior to the class. I panicked a bit because I had no idea what level they were, but I managed to pass the time well. The students were great, really nice despite my age. They were also really willing to speak a great deal too. But planning a lesson is the most stressful thing I've had to do - these people are TEACHERS and I do not want to be judged. My supervisor has been very... present. That is to say she is acting like she's my mum. It's nice of her to show concern for my social life but she can be really forceful, and judgmental about how I spend my free time. But I've not settled in enough to make friends with random students yet. Trains are expensive so I'm getting a railcard; it's much cheaper in France, and it's a 50 percent discount!

Computer science and Heroes

Today I had to be in at 8 o clock for a lesson with technology students. Henri-Loic was there because the lesson was to be taught in English, talking about the ins and outs of a PC. It was good, and amazing how much the French kids knew in terms of English vocab.

After that I went to a nice class with Sophie, where some students asked me, as part of an exercise, if I did this hobby or that. I think they liked me, I think...

Then I had 2 hours with two different classes taught by Annie. It was a lesson about different types of heroes, and I was asked to encourage them to only speak English. It was great to watch some of them perform, speaking to me in English, but again I am finding no opportunities to speak or hear French. I try to listen to the conversations of the students as a last resort.

My day has been cut short because I am feeling dizzy, but I expect a busy week ahead of me. Meanwhile, I bought a kettle, and an oven is being negotiated for!

First Day at School

I am currently living in Angers, acting as a language assistant in a school called Lycée Chevrollier. I help out in English classes taught to students from troisieme up to terminale. I live in an apartment with a spacious lounge area, oven-less, kettle-less kitchen, and 3 bedrooms. Although there are three bedrooms, my other two roommates won't arrive until late September.

Today, Monday, I went to three classes. The first class was probably deuxieme, and all girls, taught by Maryline. They asked me how to say certain words in English, and they were very welcoming. I felt comfortable in this class because a lot of French was spoken and it allowed me to learn a bit myself.
Second class was with Christine, an Irish lady, who did a lesson on the first Thanksgiving in English. Again, everyone was welcoming.
I went to a third class, premiere students. They all study science. I found it embarrassing having to stand up in front of them all and talk about myself for 10 minutes when they clearly didn't care. I smiled and acted confidently but I felt intimidated.

I have my own pigeon hole, which will be where teachers will post stuff for me, and I have to check my email all the time. I currently don't have a timetable but it is a work in progress.

Luckily, there is a supermarket, post office, tabac and a Mcdo nearby, which means I don't need to go far to get what I need. The tram is even closer, in fact.

It's difficult being alone but being near family, particularly my boyfriend, makes things easier. I should be kept busy, doing 15 hours a week though. Also, Elisabeth, the head of department, has been very helpful and has given me Monday off (same day as my birthday). On the first night, she picked me up from the station and took me to her house for dinner with her husband and twin sons, one of whom has a girlfriend living in Islip, next to Kettering! Mad.

I will try to update this as much as possible, for academic purposes mostly.