So usually I work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. This week I only worked on Tuesday and Wednesday so the recaps of those days at school are below. I didn’t work on Thursday because the teachers were on strike against the four and a half school day week. Before this year, all primary schools had Wednesdays off but this year some schools have started being open Wednesday mornings. Teachers and parents alike don’t really like having school on Wednesdays here. I think teachers like having Wednesdays off to prepare lessons but I do not know why parents like the Wednesdays off (maybe they are just used to it idk). Anyways, so I did not work Thursday because of this strike. I just slept in Thursday and tidied up the apartment.
On Tuesday I went to work as usual. I worked with four different classes. In the first class, we worked on labeling parts of the body with a worksheet. The kids got to cut and paste labels on a picture. Then, I introduced Thanksgiving and showed some pictures of typical Thanksgiving food. In the second class, the kids sang “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes song for their teacher (because she was absent last week). Then, we talked about how to present yourself (name, age, where we live, pets, siblings, etc.). The teacher and I modeled in front of the class. Then, the students wrote down their personal answers to these presentation questions so that they could present themselves in front of the class. After the second class we had recess, so I got a cup of tea and a short break. Then with the third class, we reviewed parts of the body and completed a worksheet as a class where students got to cut out and glue labels on a picture. The kids really seemed to enjoy this! In the fourth class, we talked about the map of the US. The kids found Georgia and colored it. Then, they labeled Atlanta on their maps. Next, they each got a picture of downtown Atlanta, and they labeled the buildings and city hall. After the fourth class, the teacher gave me a ride home! It is nice to not have to wait on the bus every time.
After I got back to the apartment, I had lunch at the high school cafeteria with Kate and Kim. The lunches here are really good! They seem pretty healthy and balanced.
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| Chicken with a sauce, pasta, bread, salad, banana, mousse |
After lunch, I had to prepare for my Skype classes that I have each Tuesday afternoon, but the internet at the apartment was messing up! I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to Skype with the schools, but then one of the rugby players, Tim, somehow helped us fix our Livebox (router) so I had internet! My first Skype class is usually at 1 30pm, so I was waiting for the school to connect. It turned out that the school had been having internet problems today as well! We ended up starting the Skype class about 30 minutes later than normal but the lesson went really well. I completed a worksheet about parts of the body with groups of 2-3 students at a time. Then the students practiced pointing and saying different parts of their body. After the first Skype class, I had a little break before my second one was supposed to start. The second one was scheduled for 3 30pm, but the school was having internet problems! I called the teacher and she told me that many places in France today were apparently having internet connection issues. Unfortunately, we couldn’t Skype but I had already emailed her the worksheets so she was able to do the parts of the body lesson with the class herself.
In the evening, I went to my host family’s house for dinner. I helped cook dinner this time because they want me to learn some french recipes lol. I helped prepare a Beouf Bourguignon. It wasn’t too difficult and here’s what I remember as the recipe (I may have to just ask the host mom to write it down for me next time I see her). First, you saute some onions with olive oil. Next, you add the beef and some spices (herbes de provence, basil, etc.). Then you let that cook for a while. Next, you take out all of the meat and add a bottle of red wine to the sauce. then you add a little flour to thicken up the sauce. When it’s mixed well, you put the meat back in and let it cook for maybe 40-50 minutes-can’t remember exactly. Next, add some mushrooms and let it cook a little longer.Then, it’s ready to eat! Before we started eating though, we had an aperatif (which is an alcoholic drink before a meal). My host dad made a yummy fruity cocktail! I need to remember to ask him how to make it next time. Anyways, then we ate the Beouf Bourguignon with some mashed potatoes. It was very tasty! Then we had cheese and bread. After that, we had homemade apple sauce for dessert. Yum! I stayed the night at my host family’s house and they drove me to my school in the morning.
So Wednesday, I got dropped off for at my school which was nice because I avoided the bus yet again. I worked with three classes at this school. In the first class, we reviewed family vocabulary yet again. I had half of the class and I had students partner up and practice presenting their families. Then, some students presented in front of their peers and after that, I reread Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? This time the kids read along with me and had to tell me the animal and color on the next page. While I was doing that, the other teacher reviewed feelings with the other half of the class. In the second class we continued talking about different foods. I had a poster with a variety of foods on the board and each pair of students also had a page with foods identical to the poster. I would say a food and the kids would point to it on their papers. Then I taught the students how to say what foods they like and don’t like by using complete sentences. Next, I worked with half of the class and I had them draw pictures of their families. They will continue to work on presenting their families next week. After the second class, they have recess. I went outside during recess and I felt so popular. So many kids were excited to see me and they all wanted to talk to me. After recess, I worked in the third class. We reviewed the days of the week and the months of the year. Then, they practiced asking their classmates, “When is your birthday?” The students got to walk around and try to find someone born in the same month as them.Then that was the end of work for the day!
I stopped by a Boulangerie to buy a baguette before heading off to wait for my bus home. As I was waiting by the bus stop, I saw some of my students and their parents pass me on the street. I am finally starting to recognize my students and I have learned some names! It has just been difficult because I have so many students.
Then when I got back to the apartment, I had some lunch and then I finally picked up my credit card! I have been waiting for it for a while. I went grocery shopping and decided to use my new credit card. I went to the same cashier lady who I usually go to ( I have no idea if she recognizes me yet). She scanned all the stuff and then I started to give her my credit card because I thought that she had the card reader thing near her. She then pointed to where the card reader thing was so that I could swipe it myself. I went over to it and tried to swipe my card and nothing happened... I was really confused. Then she told me that my card had to inserted from the bottom of the machine, and she helped me do it... then I had to put in my security code which I haven’t memorized yet...so I scrambled to find the letter with the code in my bag and when I found it I peeked at it and then put in the code. The entire thing looked really sketch... and the line at this cashier was getting long at this point, haha... whoops. Anyways, somehow I made it out of there and now I know how to properly use my card haha.
Today (Friday) I did not do much. I went to lunch at the high school cafeteria with Kate and Kim. The food there is pretty good! Unfortunately it is getting cold here and it has been rainy for the past few days.
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| Veal with a sauce, bread, green beans, salad, yogurt, and mousse |
Enjoying my five day weekend,
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