Teaching Week 3: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes Overload...

Most people probably went back to work on Monday, but I have Mondays off! I did run a lot of errands in town though. I went grocery shopping, got a bus pass for school, and got a lunch card so I can eat at the high school cafeteria. I tried to go to the bank but it’s closed on Mondays. I always forget when things are open and when they are closed here. I also went to the boulangerie to buy a baguette, but all they had left was this spiky one. It looked pretty cool, and it tasted good but it’s edges were sharp!

Interesting baguette

On Tuesday, I felt the effects of a small strike in France. I ended up getting a few minutes late to work because the buses were running late (or there were fewer of them running or something). Normally, on weekdays, the buses run every 20minutes, but this morning that was not the case. I ended up waiting about 25 minutes for the bus (so technically it should have passed twice in that time frame but it was no where to be seen before then). It was annoying but I’m glad it eventually showed up because I almost started walking to the school (which is probably around 45 minutes away on foot or more). I ended up getting to school only a few minutes late though which was good! The bus driver seemed like she was trying to make up for lost time... she was driving faster than normal lol. 

I taught four classes this morning at a school. In the first class, I reviewed the parts of the body with the students. Then I had the students come up and point to parts of their body and call on classmates to tell them the english word. Then, we sang the “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” song a few times. I sang it for them first, then we sang it together, and then I had students come up and lead the class in the song. It went pretty well. Surprisingly, this song is a big hit with all the kids. In the second class, there was a substitute so he just sat at his desk and let me teach the class by myself. I did the same thing with them that I did with the first class and the kids really seemed to enjoy it. 

After recess, I had two more classes. In the third class, I taught them commands in English (sit down, stand up, raise your hand) and they all practiced them. Then, we played Simon Says so I taught them a few more commands like (turn around, stand on one leg, touch your nose, etc.). The kids really enjoyed playing this game! In the fourth class, all of the students took turns presenting themselves to me. They all said their names, number/gender of siblings, and their siblings’ names. I helped correct grammar and pronunciation mistakes as the kids took turns presenting. Overall, the three hours at school passed really fast today!

After I finished work at the school, one teacher offered to take me home because she lives close to my apartment (here in France many people return home for lunch-teachers and students). It was nice to get a ride because of the bus issues and also because it was rainy and cold today. 

I had lunch, and then I had two skype classes in the afternoon. In the first class, I worked with groups of 2-3 on the parts of the body. It worked out pretty well and the kids really listened to everything I said and followed my directions. In the second class, I also worked on parts of the body, but this time with the entire class. It was a bit hard to see everyone though but we made it work. It was harder to control the class in this type of setting because I could only really talk with a few students at a time so the rest of the class would be only partially paying attention. We did end up singing the “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” song a few times. The kids showed me the motions too. The kids had a good time overall and at the end they all got to tell me something that they like to do. This helped me get to know the kids a little better and I taught them those sentences in english. 

On Wednesday, I taught two english classes instead of three like I usually do. In the first class, we played Simon Says with classroom commands (listen, stand up, sit down, etc.). Then, I reviewed family vocabulary with the students and they drew pictures of their families. I took half the class and had them pair up and describe their families to their partner. Next, some students presented individually in front of their peers. At the end of the class, I read the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? 

I didn’t teach english in the second class because they had some special presenter there that day. So instead, I went into another class and helped out with a french reading lesson. The kids were reading a book about a wolf and seven little goats or something. They read a few pages as a class, and then they wrote sentences describing the pictures in the story. I walked around and was surprised at their cursive handwriting! These kids were about 6-7 years old and their writing was very neat. After this class, we had recess. During recess, these new kids from the second class kept following me around...lol. 

After recess I taught the oldest kids about the American Flag. We discussed when it was created and what the stars and stripes mean. Then, we talked about the significance of the colors. At the end of the lesson, they all got a picture of an American flag to color. 

After this third class, I stopped by a boulangerie and I bought a yummy raspberry chocolate croissant. I ate it as I waited for the bus home. The bus was extremely crowded at this time (around lunchtime)! 

Then, when I got home, I changed clothes and went for a run with Kate to the port. It was a nice 35-40 minute run. On the way back to the apartment, we were running and some guy sitting outside lifted his leg up in our way and told us to jump... lol, but he was kidding and he put it down soon after making that comment.

After lunch and a shower, I went into town with Kate, and Kim to meet up with Fatima. We had a good time catching up and I got some delicious red fruit tea which came in a cool teapot!

i want this teapot!

For dinner, I made quiche for the first time ever. My friend in Clermont Ferrand made a vegetable quiche when I was there visiting and she showed me how easy it is to make. I made a vegetable quiche with potato, carrot, onion, and zucchini. I ended up burning it a little but it tasted really good!

Me with my masterpiece

On Thursday, I couldn’t get a ride with a teacher so I took two buses to work. I got to work too early but I guess that’s better than being late. I got to present myself to three new classes today. Today, I worked in three classrooms in which every teacher was a man. I think there is only one woman teacher at this school. 

In the first class, I presented myself in French and took questions. These kids were the youngest of the school (6-7 years old). I got some interesting questions so I will post them again at the end of this post. The second class was the principal’s class. The kids were a little older I think (maybe 7-8 years old). I presented myself in french and took more questions from the kids. In the third class, I presented myself in french because these kids were older and knew more english. The teacher translated if he noticed that the kids did’t understand something. This teacher is quite a character. He was constantly joking around and he even asked me if I brought him a Coca Cola (because the headquaters of Coca Cola is in Atlanta) lol. Then, the kids sang some english greeting song for me. After that, I taught them this week’s theme song: “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” They really enjoyed it and we repeated it a few times. 

Then, after the third class, I took a bus back home to eat lunch. This afternoon, I had to go to another school for an hour long lesson. The small problem was that I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be there at 1 30pm or 2pm because I had two schedule papers that had these two different times written on them. I ate quickly and decided to try to get their around 1 30pm just to be safe. Of course when I got there, the principal was a little surprised to see me... I had come too early. The kids weren’t even back from the lunch break yet haha. Well now I know to come here at 2pm. 

With this one class of 10 year olds, I taught them about the parts of the body. I taught them the names of different parts and then I had them take turns coming up in front of the class. They got to point at parts of their body and ask their peers to tell them the word in English. Then we sang everyone’s favorite song... “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” I sang it alone at first, and then I had students come up in pairs to lead the class. Then, I had a group of three, then four, and then even five come up and lead the class. The kids really enjoyed it! Near the end, the kids wanted to keep on singing and to try to sing the song fast. It was pretty fun to watch and the kids had a great time! 

Some more questions I received from french kids:

“What do kids play in the US?”

“What kind of clothes do kids wear in the US?”

“Do you like to write?”

“Do you like to draw?”

“Do you play any sports?”

“Do people eat with chopsticks in the US?”

“Do people in the US eat with a spoon?”

“Have you been in a forest?”

“Have you been in the jungle?”

“Do you know the names of any trees?”

“Have you been to a dinosaur museum?”

“Do you know what McDonald’s is?”

“Are there crossword puzzles in the US?”

After school, I went to carrefour with Kate and bought myself a chocolate eclair. I have really been wanting one for a while!

Yummy eclair and tea!

So that was my week at work and now it is already the weekend for me! 

Love having Fridays off,

Magdalena