i began teaching my first group of kids today and it was like riding a bike...or rather like switching from a bike to a trike - it was weird to be teaching english and not french! i kept slipping into french when i should have been speaking english - just the reverse of what i did back home! anyway - it went just fine - the kids had fun and actually learned a couple things and i caught the classroom teacher (who hung out in the back of the room) laughing at me and the kids a couple times and that bodes well too.
so here's the deal - i am working at 2 schools - La Rabotiere, where i teach one class, twice a week, 45 min each time. At the other school - Jacqueline Auriol - i have 4 classes but two of those will be split in half cause they're so huge. so that will make 6 classes there that i will also see twice a week, 45 min each time. Grand total of 14 class sessions/12 contact hours per week.
no sweat!
i also have about 2 hours of prep time at my home school where my mentor teacher works to make materials/plan with her. i don't think i will be doing any of the latter since i think i could do a lot of this in my sleep. bet she's psyched. what i will need help with is the english specific stuff, like exercises to help the kids pronounce the tough consonant blends like TH, the vowels sounds that don't exist in french, etc. she has taught english quite a bit and so should be able to help a lot. all of this is great preparation for teaching ESL back in the states should i need to.
past that - everything else is cool - literally. had a warm wet spell after the glorious week of sun and it's starting to clear a bit but the temperature is dropping. time to nag the landlords for the heat, promised mid october.
in other news, you may recall my recounting the story of one of the spanish assistants having her wallet stolen and how, consequently, i was going to pay so much attention to my stuff. well, looks like i got yet another wakeup call. had my ipod stolen out of my backpack on a very crowded tram the other night. props to whoever did it for getting it out of the zippered pocket without my feeling a thing, (and fast too! i was only standing for one stop) but then that's their profession! so anyhoo wound up with an unintended upgrade to a new nano - 8G this time. such is life.
as for actual fun things - went to a free concert the other night with the spanish assistants - small ensemble classical at the local orchestral hall - i think they do it every month. cool right?
last but not least...anxiously awaiting my absentee ballot so i can vote! i've been feeling very disconnected from the whole race since i don't have TV or enough internet time to follow what's been going on....funny too cause my french coworkers and fellow assistants have been the ones keeping me up to date! get out and vote y'all!
more soon! miss you guys!
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