Well, after five weeks of work,* I figured it's probably time to go ahead and give y'all the lowdown on my professional life here in Narbonne!
I've explained a bit about my job before, but now I'm going to really explain what I do (now that I know from experience). First of all, I am not a teacher. The teachers work from Sep 1st - July 4th, and have their own classes, and give classes for 18-19 hours a week. (That's right - a full-time teacher gives 18 hours' worth of classes each week and has the rest of the time for grading and planning. CAN YOU IMAGINE?!) Teachers get called Madame and they have to grade papers. Like I said, I am not a teacher. I am an assistante.** The teachers work much harder than I do and have much more responsability. I only work 12 hours/week and I work with different teachers to assist them how they choose. The students call me by my first name.*** My primary job, aka why the government of France gives me (a foreigner) a job, is to give students the opportunity to practice speaking English with a native English speaker. I am not supposed to speak French with the kids (I teach English, not French, so that's logical).
I work with twelve different teachers and I actually work in 14 different classes (I see some classes every week and some every other week). I teach in the following classes:
Seconde (15-16 years old, essentially sophomores)
Première (16-17 years old, essentially juniors)
BTS (18-22 years old, post-Bac programs for business students)
I work as a team with each of my teachers; they tell me what they're talking about in class, what they need, what size of group is best for their goals, etc. Then, I come in once a week and work with their students. Every teacher's wants/needs are different, so I have a lot of variety in my schedule. Some things I like better, some things work better (and make the students talk more), but it just depends on what the teacher wants. Here are some of the things I do:
-Pull out 3/4/5 students, show them pictures/documents regarding a topic from their class (for example, currently in my terminale classes we're talking about gun control in the States), have each student choose a picture, and tell me about it (what kind of doc is it, what can they see (describe), is the doc pro-gun control or pro-gun rights, how do they feel/what are their opinions about it) ... I like this a lot because the kids get to pick, I choose documents that are a bit more fun/interesting to talk about than those they see in their books, and it forces them to talk.
-Pull out 2 students at a time, have them each read half of a short document and then ask me questions/give a summary of their part/answer my questions
-Pull out 6 students at a time, have them work on the same thing they're working on in class (movie vocab, poster presentations) but have them work with me instead of in the regular class (this way they have to speak English both with me and among themselves)
-Pull out 4 (business) students and read an article together, have them ask me questions about vocab or anything they don't understand, discuss the article and any repercussions on the business world
-Pull out one group at a time and have them work on a class project with me (they can ask me questions, get my help in translating, ask me for some good expressions, help on pronunciation, etc)
-Stay in the class with the teacher, each of us answering questions/helping students practice presentations, etc
-Stay in the class with the teacher and facilitate a debate/group discussion on a topic (most recently cell phones in a class studying technology and progress)
-Take about 8 students out to discuss/introduce next topic (like gun control), give them/explain new vocab (all while the teacher grades the other students on their presentations)
-Take half a class (17 students) out to facilitate group work and listen to presentations at the end ... I don't necessarily love this because the group is so large it doesn't actually lend itself to real conversational (interpersonal) English, just presentational at the end.
These are just some of the things I do, but it gives you an idea. I really like when I get a group who has a pretty good level of English, because I've had some excellent conversations with those groups. Real quality. For the most part, the students are excited to talk to me and they love when it's their day to get pulled out! (The students that like it the least is the big group of 17, but I think that's because it still feels like class with a teacher rather than testing their conversational skills with a real native speaker. But that's only one class.) Even when the students aren't super great at English, they're pretty excited and I can generally put them at ease enough to give me some effort. When I run out of time, I ask them what they did this weekend, what they'll do for the next vacation (which is now Christmas break), what are their favorite cities in France, where all have they traveled, what do they want to do after high school, what are their stereotypes of the States or of Texas, if they have any questions for me about my life in the States or my experience in France, etc. Basically I just TALK. With students. Who are generally happy about it.
THAT'S RIGHT, PEOPLE. I, Katy Dubya, have found a job where I am basically paid to talk. Everything is right in the world. For someone social, friendly, and (too) talkative, it's pretty much the best. It feels natural and most of the time I can't even believe it's work. There are some classes I have to prep, but some of them I just show up and the the teacher tells me what I need to get them to talk about that day and who I'm taking and voilà. Dunzo. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's hard to elicit responses from them, and occasionally there are momentary lulls, and some people might find it uncomfortable. But I just truck right on through and find something else to talk about.
The students' levels of English are varied. In some classes I have to speak slowly, help them with gestures (also not hard for me as I do this anyway), enunciate, etc. In other classes, I can speak pretty much completely normally (this is really rare, I think I might really just have one class like that). And, of course, there's everything in between. I have kids who have some connection with English and they LOVE it and they adore practicing, and some who are really shy.
The most difficult parts of my job are as follows:
-Deciphering heavily accented English: The French are famous for having a very strong accent when they speak English (also, it's hard for a native Anglophone to speak French with a good accent, too.) The sounds in French and English are just so different. However, I'm getting really good at understanding strongly (French) accented English.
-Occasionally I'll have a small discipline problem, and generally it's only chattiness/talking in French. I'm talking, this has happened maybe two times? One time I just told there's no point in me being there if they're going to talk in French, so they can go back with Madame and I'll leave. That shut them up. The other time I had some boys who were chatting too much and I couldn't hear, but I'm not a young assistant with no teaching experience - I am a teacher already in my heart and I had no problem telling one he needed to sit by me. He was a little ticked, but then he participated in the conversation and loved it. Turns out he's a Spurs fan (no one's perfect) and was interested to talk to me about sports in Texas and share his opinion.
That's about it. Ha. I definitely prefer smaller groups to larger groups. It doesn't work super well in bigger groups (9+) because it's less interesting for them and because I don't think they're benefiting as much from the situation or that it's different enough from a regular classroom environment. But hey. For the most part I have smaller groups, so nbd.
Here are a couple of adorableisms from the first few weeks to leave you with:
"Okay, well, I'm only here for an hour now, so I'm sorry but you'll have to go back with Madame now." -moi
"No, please, stay wiz us! Stay wiz us!" -BTS student
"This document was created in the year two hundred elven, twenty hundred elven... two zousand elf." -terminale student
"Mademoiselle, 'ee iz bad. Geev 'eem one hour of glue." -seconde student
This one needs a little explanation. "Être collé," en français, literally "to be glued," means to be detained/to have detention. Obviously it's not the same thing in English, but he just tried to directly translate. For a few minutes I was confused and thought he was trying to get me to implement some form of cruel and unusual punishment.
"Okay, who wants to be the first group to work with Kate?" -one of my teachers
"Please, Kate, Please!" (with hands raised) -every. single. boy in a class of terminale students
"Hello! I'm Katy, or Kate if it's easier for you. I'm the English assistant for the year." -moi
"Where are you from?" -student, in pretty much every class
"I'm from Texas." -moi
"Wow!" "Quelle chance!" -exclamations from various students (What luck!) etc. (Basically, I think they are used to having British assistants, so to have an assistant from the States, especially Texas, is pretty exotic and foreign to them.)
So there you have it, folks. This is my life. This is why I'm here. It's awesome, and I love it. I'll post more about my professional life later (differences between high school in the States and France, differences between students, what I've gained, etc.) but there's a little intro. I'm sure you all feel bad for me and my super difficult workload. I know, life's rough. Try not to be too jealous. :)
I'm off to prepare for my classes for the week,**** à bientôt!
*Seven officially, but there was that whole "no schedule" snafu for the first two weeks.
**Hence the Teaching ASSISTANT Program in France. Also hence the small paycheck.
***Or some crazy variation of my first name.
****Read: take a nap.
I've explained a bit about my job before, but now I'm going to really explain what I do (now that I know from experience). First of all, I am not a teacher. The teachers work from Sep 1st - July 4th, and have their own classes, and give classes for 18-19 hours a week. (That's right - a full-time teacher gives 18 hours' worth of classes each week and has the rest of the time for grading and planning. CAN YOU IMAGINE?!) Teachers get called Madame and they have to grade papers. Like I said, I am not a teacher. I am an assistante.** The teachers work much harder than I do and have much more responsability. I only work 12 hours/week and I work with different teachers to assist them how they choose. The students call me by my first name.*** My primary job, aka why the government of France gives me (a foreigner) a job, is to give students the opportunity to practice speaking English with a native English speaker. I am not supposed to speak French with the kids (I teach English, not French, so that's logical).
I work with twelve different teachers and I actually work in 14 different classes (I see some classes every week and some every other week). I teach in the following classes:
Seconde (15-16 years old, essentially sophomores)
Première (16-17 years old, essentially juniors)
BTS (18-22 years old, post-Bac programs for business students)
I work as a team with each of my teachers; they tell me what they're talking about in class, what they need, what size of group is best for their goals, etc. Then, I come in once a week and work with their students. Every teacher's wants/needs are different, so I have a lot of variety in my schedule. Some things I like better, some things work better (and make the students talk more), but it just depends on what the teacher wants. Here are some of the things I do:
-Pull out 3/4/5 students, show them pictures/documents regarding a topic from their class (for example, currently in my terminale classes we're talking about gun control in the States), have each student choose a picture, and tell me about it (what kind of doc is it, what can they see (describe), is the doc pro-gun control or pro-gun rights, how do they feel/what are their opinions about it) ... I like this a lot because the kids get to pick, I choose documents that are a bit more fun/interesting to talk about than those they see in their books, and it forces them to talk.
-Pull out 2 students at a time, have them each read half of a short document and then ask me questions/give a summary of their part/answer my questions
-Pull out 6 students at a time, have them work on the same thing they're working on in class (movie vocab, poster presentations) but have them work with me instead of in the regular class (this way they have to speak English both with me and among themselves)
-Pull out 4 (business) students and read an article together, have them ask me questions about vocab or anything they don't understand, discuss the article and any repercussions on the business world
-Pull out one group at a time and have them work on a class project with me (they can ask me questions, get my help in translating, ask me for some good expressions, help on pronunciation, etc)
-Stay in the class with the teacher, each of us answering questions/helping students practice presentations, etc
-Stay in the class with the teacher and facilitate a debate/group discussion on a topic (most recently cell phones in a class studying technology and progress)
-Take about 8 students out to discuss/introduce next topic (like gun control), give them/explain new vocab (all while the teacher grades the other students on their presentations)
-Take half a class (17 students) out to facilitate group work and listen to presentations at the end ... I don't necessarily love this because the group is so large it doesn't actually lend itself to real conversational (interpersonal) English, just presentational at the end.
These are just some of the things I do, but it gives you an idea. I really like when I get a group who has a pretty good level of English, because I've had some excellent conversations with those groups. Real quality. For the most part, the students are excited to talk to me and they love when it's their day to get pulled out! (The students that like it the least is the big group of 17, but I think that's because it still feels like class with a teacher rather than testing their conversational skills with a real native speaker. But that's only one class.) Even when the students aren't super great at English, they're pretty excited and I can generally put them at ease enough to give me some effort. When I run out of time, I ask them what they did this weekend, what they'll do for the next vacation (which is now Christmas break), what are their favorite cities in France, where all have they traveled, what do they want to do after high school, what are their stereotypes of the States or of Texas, if they have any questions for me about my life in the States or my experience in France, etc. Basically I just TALK. With students. Who are generally happy about it.
THAT'S RIGHT, PEOPLE. I, Katy Dubya, have found a job where I am basically paid to talk. Everything is right in the world. For someone social, friendly, and (too) talkative, it's pretty much the best. It feels natural and most of the time I can't even believe it's work. There are some classes I have to prep, but some of them I just show up and the the teacher tells me what I need to get them to talk about that day and who I'm taking and voilà. Dunzo. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it's hard to elicit responses from them, and occasionally there are momentary lulls, and some people might find it uncomfortable. But I just truck right on through and find something else to talk about.
The students' levels of English are varied. In some classes I have to speak slowly, help them with gestures (also not hard for me as I do this anyway), enunciate, etc. In other classes, I can speak pretty much completely normally (this is really rare, I think I might really just have one class like that). And, of course, there's everything in between. I have kids who have some connection with English and they LOVE it and they adore practicing, and some who are really shy.
The most difficult parts of my job are as follows:
-Deciphering heavily accented English: The French are famous for having a very strong accent when they speak English (also, it's hard for a native Anglophone to speak French with a good accent, too.) The sounds in French and English are just so different. However, I'm getting really good at understanding strongly (French) accented English.
-Occasionally I'll have a small discipline problem, and generally it's only chattiness/talking in French. I'm talking, this has happened maybe two times? One time I just told there's no point in me being there if they're going to talk in French, so they can go back with Madame and I'll leave. That shut them up. The other time I had some boys who were chatting too much and I couldn't hear, but I'm not a young assistant with no teaching experience - I am a teacher already in my heart and I had no problem telling one he needed to sit by me. He was a little ticked, but then he participated in the conversation and loved it. Turns out he's a Spurs fan (no one's perfect) and was interested to talk to me about sports in Texas and share his opinion.
That's about it. Ha. I definitely prefer smaller groups to larger groups. It doesn't work super well in bigger groups (9+) because it's less interesting for them and because I don't think they're benefiting as much from the situation or that it's different enough from a regular classroom environment. But hey. For the most part I have smaller groups, so nbd.
Here are a couple of adorableisms from the first few weeks to leave you with:
"Okay, well, I'm only here for an hour now, so I'm sorry but you'll have to go back with Madame now." -moi
"No, please, stay wiz us! Stay wiz us!" -BTS student
"This document was created in the year two hundred elven, twenty hundred elven... two zousand elf." -terminale student
"Mademoiselle, 'ee iz bad. Geev 'eem one hour of glue." -seconde student
This one needs a little explanation. "Être collé," en français, literally "to be glued," means to be detained/to have detention. Obviously it's not the same thing in English, but he just tried to directly translate. For a few minutes I was confused and thought he was trying to get me to implement some form of cruel and unusual punishment.
"Okay, who wants to be the first group to work with Kate?" -one of my teachers
"Please, Kate, Please!" (with hands raised) -every. single. boy in a class of terminale students
"Hello! I'm Katy, or Kate if it's easier for you. I'm the English assistant for the year." -moi
"Where are you from?" -student, in pretty much every class
"I'm from Texas." -moi
"Wow!" "Quelle chance!" -exclamations from various students (What luck!) etc. (Basically, I think they are used to having British assistants, so to have an assistant from the States, especially Texas, is pretty exotic and foreign to them.)
So there you have it, folks. This is my life. This is why I'm here. It's awesome, and I love it. I'll post more about my professional life later (differences between high school in the States and France, differences between students, what I've gained, etc.) but there's a little intro. I'm sure you all feel bad for me and my super difficult workload. I know, life's rough. Try not to be too jealous. :)
I'm off to prepare for my classes for the week,**** à bientôt!
*Seven officially, but there was that whole "no schedule" snafu for the first two weeks.
**Hence the Teaching ASSISTANT Program in France. Also hence the small paycheck.
***Or some crazy variation of my first name.
****Read: take a nap.
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