missteacher

Wonder Woman

75%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

20:10 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: super hero test

20 January 2007

Having your own classroom

I know what it feels like to have one's own classroom now. I asked... and I got it. I'm so happy! You can't imagine how nice it feels. It's a bit like feeling home. I can decorate, I can put tables and chairs as I want, I can move the desk, etc.
So I reorganized the classroom. I made a big U shape with 19 chairs and tables and a smaller U inside with 6 chairs. In front of the whiteboard are 2 chairs (for very talkative pupils!).
Why a U shape? For some of you (especially American readers I guess), it seems obvious. Well, here it's not, particularly in my school. All the classes, ALL of them are not in U shape, but in rows. A bit like this:

17:32 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this | Tags: groupwork, U shape, classroom, questions, oral activity

08 January 2007

Teaching resources - updated

I've just added the following websites on my teaching resources (click here or on the right of the page).

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/

http://www.absolutelyandy.com/tvadverts/

http://www.stripcreator.com/make.php#

http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/heroMachine/classic.asp

http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=110&title

http://esl-images.com/index.asp

http://www.eslflashcards.com/

http://www.select-language.com/podcards/index.php

http://www.songsforteaching.com/

http://www.eslpages.com/

http://www.havefunteaching.com/

http://www.anglaisfacile.com/cours-videos-anglais.php

http://www.123certificates.com/

A lot of new and nice websites to visit!

18:03 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: teaching resources updated

15 December 2006

100th comment

The 100th comment was posted today. Thanks to Charlottina and the rest of you. :-)

20:36 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this

03 December 2006

School Books

I don't like school books in general, and particularly the French school books for learners of English. They're nearly all bad and I've got trouble using them. I usually end up making up my own lesson plan out of materials I found here and there (mainly the internet though). It takes time but it is also kind of entertaining!

And the funny thing is that I've been proposed lately to participate in the improvement of an existing school book, published by one of the main school publishers in France.
Well, they contacted ME because I had sent them a piece of my work just to know if they were interested in it. They were not but were interested in my ideas and my conception of teaching.

So I'm in charge of re-reading chapters, making improvements, indicating mistakes, etc.
This is actually very interesting; I really like it. (And sure I'll be paid for all that).

I start to think it might be a second career for me. Let's face it, I'm not going to teach for 40 years. I mean... I don't feel I can; it's too demanding. But working for school books, why not ?
I've accepted this job - although it's not very well paid- just because I think it can be valuable on my CV and that it may be useful one day or that it is PERHAPS a way to enter this unknown but fascinating world of publishing.

We'll see what comes out of it.

But I have to say the authors' job is kind of... bad! I've been correcting some serious mistakes and arguing about the whole conception of chapters!!!

17:04 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this | Tags: publishing; school books; new career

25 November 2006

THE event of the week

You know as I told you last time how tired I was... Well I headed to school last Monday feeling quite ok until THE event.
I had a small group of boys, aged 14, all beginners of English. I like them, I like teaching them. And I think one of them likes it too much. He's one of the best. Sitting in the first row. He was wearing tracksuit trousers on that day. Towards the end of the class, he started scratching himself... well... between his legs. At least I THOUGHT he was scratching. I would HAVE PREFERRED that option. But he kept on. And he was having that weird look on the face, looking straight at me. Then I realized. I realized he was doing something else...
I kept teaching, as if I had not seen anything. The others pretended not to see I guess and I tried not to look at him. It lasted some minutes until he stopped. Those were the most hallucinating minutes of my (young) career.

When the class ended, I didn't feel I was able to talk to him. I was so upset. As it was my last class of the day, I went diectly to see the CPE (kind of referent teacher for discipline problems). I told him everything, I started to cry... I was so shocked. He brough me directly to the headmaster but as there were no obvious gestures, they decided not to talk to him (plus, he is an excellent pupil so...).
I went back home very upset. During the night, I started having nausea and feeling sick. I threw up at 4 am (God bless my boyfriend keeping my head up during that *lovely* time).
I couldn't get up to go to work. Saw the doctor. Gave me stuff for headaches and sleeping problems, which I have had for two weeks now.

Now is Saturday and I feel ill. The week went fine in the end but the week-ends are awful. I keep sleeping and feeling ill...

Still four weeks to go before the holidays. And I guess all the week-ends are going to be like this one.

*big big big sigh*.

20:08 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: ill; tiredness; pupil masturbating in class; upset

18 November 2006

I'm tired...

Hi everyone... Sorry for not posting anything. It's not that I don't have anything to say but I just don't have the energy.
Im exhausted... the kids are taking out all my energy.

See you soon (in a better shape I hope - or maybe sick).

20:23 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this

11 November 2006

My brain is full !!!!

As I told you last time, I had a visitor in one of my classes last Thursday to give me advice as I've been a full time teacher only for a couple of months now.
Well, she was very nice and she talked A LOT. Couldn't stop her! But everything she said was interesting and useful. She made compliments and then she told me what to improve and the direction my teaching should take.

The problem is that we are at the beginning of a revolution here in France, as for how to teach languages. We have to abide by the Europen Framework. My initial training didn't really train me in that perspective. A bit sure but not fully. Si I find myself with all this advice about teaching in accordance to the new Framework and I don't know exactly how to do. Because we're at the beginning of this process, few ressources are available for teachers. The school books are awfully boring, the colleagues don't seem very eager to start the process and the institution doesn't give you many clues.

I'll try to open soon a new section on this forum called "pedagogy", where I will try to post my ideas and my projects for teaching English as a seconde language in accordance to the new Framework.
I'll just try to do it bit by bit. Because I can't imagine whole new projetcs for my whole class just like this. It will take me an awful lot of time!!!!

To learn more about the European Framwork for teaching:

http://eduscol.education.fr/D0067/cecrl.htm (in French).

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/CADRE_EN.asp (in English).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_...

23:00 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: european common framework of reference for languages

05 November 2006

Where I come from...

I’ve already told you about my pupils and my school. How nice it is. How polite and quiet and respectful they are.
I like it. Sure I do. How couldn’t I ? But it sometimes feels awkward. I feel displaced. Because my pupils are the kind I would have despised when I was one myself. They’re coming from another world. You can see it. The way they ask questions (in this always very quiet and polite way), the way they dress (brands and high-quality fabrics), the way they behave, the way they tell you about the books they have at home, the trips they’ve made abroad, what their parents told them and bla bla bla.
Most of my pupils are coming from well-off backgrounds. And it is weird for me to be their teacher. Would you believe it if I told you that I don’t feel on the same level? And not in the way you think ? I feel culturally superior to them only because of my studies. My studies are what allowed me to become what I’ve become. For the rest –to use scientific terms- my pupils have more social and economic capital than me.

Here, you need an explanation: Bourdieu –a well respected French sociologist- distinguished between social capital, economic capital and cultural capital. These capitals are given to you in your primary socialization –in your education to make it short. They help you integrate in society. The more capital you have, the higher you’ll go.

To learn more: click here http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialisation#La_reproductio...

In English: For Bourdieu, the three capitals are transmitted through the socialisation institutions. Determinism is the fact that a behaviour, a situation is determined in advance, considering certain socio-demographical caracteristics such as age, the belonging to a social background. Social reproduction is a sociological mechanism of maintaining the social position, the way of thinking, of acting and feeling of a family. Exemple: children from working class background tend not to pursue long studies. According to Bourdieu, this reproduction is due to the unequal sharing of the economic, social and cultural capitals between the classes. Families from upper backgrounds seek to preserve their place in the social system and use school as a way to reproduce their cultural capital.

French society still works on that system. French society is highly reproductive. Talking about classes wouldn’t be wrong.
Most of my pupils wouldn’t believe if I told them that in France, to say it roughly, a worker’s son will become a worker. But it’s true. Statistics prove that the higher the parents’ job/diploma is, the higher the children’s job/diploma will be. It is an inevitable truth. Nothing to argue about.

See (still in French): http://www.brises.org/cours.php/Cours/index/crsId/169/crs...

Well, I’m the exception confirming the rule (“je suis l’exception qui confirme la règle: French saying!).
My father has been a worker for more than 35 years now. In only a year time, I succeeded in earning more than him after 35 years of factory work. My mother was a cleaning woman. She is now retired. We were three children. I was the last one.
My father was a communist at heart. He was a fervent trade unionist. He used to talk about big strikes and fights against bosses. In the 70s, he locked his boss up with other workers during a protest. He was condemned in court. A real fighter. Now he is getting old and has lost a lot of his illusions, helped by the fact that his only son is now voting for the right wing (Conservatives), which must be such a blow for him. I grew up with those strikes’ talks. Made it my dissertation topic at University, on the Irish point of view. I always voted for the left. As a belief but also as a duty. A duty to my background. Voting right would be like selling myself to the enemy. It would be wrong. It would be denying my past. It would be forgetting where I come from.

Finding myself in this school is strange to me. The little girl inside me doesn’t feel at ease. But the teacher feels confident – and that’s the most important thing I guess.

17:25 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this | Tags: social background; social ladder; money; pupils' families; my f

25 October 2006

HOLIDAYS...

I'm on holidays today for 11 days... But I've received a note saying that somebody from my hierarchy will come into one of my classes on the 9th of November. It's a "visit" to give pieces of advice to young teachers like me. We, as teachers, are graded, according to our pedagogy. We are graded through this kind of "visits" called "inspections".
This is not really an "inspection" because the person will give me advice but if it goes well, my grade will still be increased. So, no stress!!!! :-)
Still, my holidays sound like no real holidays... too much work ! :-(

Sorry for the English; it's quite bad I'm sure.

17:58 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: inspection, holidays

16 October 2006

Just a sentence

I had three classes today (French teachers teach 18 hours/week in average). Normal day. Until my last class when one pupil came at the end to tell me: "you know, my sister said that you were her favourite teacher" (she's one of my pupils in another class). "She said you were natural".

And suddenly, the day becomes bright and special.

17:17 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: favourite teacher

04 October 2006

Morning routine

I get up at 6.00 am three times a week to go to school. I then spend one hour in transportation (walk + train + walk) to reach my school.
The first feeling when I get up is: I want to go back to bed; I don't want to see pupils today. Leave me alone!!! ;-)
When I arrive at school, I'm still kind of sleepy. I have about half an hour before meeting the pupils. I put my things in the classroom, drink a bit, check my locker... a bit of lonely time.
Then the pupils arrive. At that moment, I remember why I got up and I don't regret my bed nor my sleep. My energy is coming back. Problems and tiredness are altogether forgotten. I'm ready to teach. And it feels good.

14:33 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this | Tags: morning routine, pleasure to teach

27 September 2006

My school

My school is where you want to teach. Nearly 95% success in BREVET (secondary school exam). Pupils are polite, they never swear. Parents are coming to the meetings, colleagues are very nice... I'm so damn lucky to be here.

I have this class... you wouldn't believe. It's a dream. I didn't know it existed. They are in the last class before entering High School (about 14-15 years old). They're 20 (very nice number). And they're incredible. They ask me for more work. They want to have an irregular verbs test. If I forget to ask them about their verbs, they remind me so. They are quiet, polite and good workers.
Plus, they understand everything. What can I say? I love them!!!

They think they know so much that they can be a bit annoying sometimes. On Monday I had to remind them that it's not because they've seen something once that it is completely understood. I know some of them have difficulties. The thing is that they're hidden by the excellent pupils (constituting the majority of the class). I didn't want to lose those pupils (it can be a danger in this kind of class where the excellent pupils give you a wrong impression about the class). I talked to 4 of them on Monday, asking if they were ok, asking if the class was going too fast for them. I had silence as an answer.

I thought I was wrong to ask them, I thought they were mad at me for pointing out their loneliness.
Then, today, one of them raised her hand all the time. I could see her whispering the sentences the others were doing. I tried to make her talk as much as I could. And she was good, even though she was talking with this shy tiny voice.

That's it. She's in it. She boarded the train.
I hope the other three will follow her.

15:54 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this | Tags: pupils

10 September 2006

I'm still alive

I've survived my first week of teaching in a secondary school (from 10 to 15 years old). It went fine, really fine for some classes. For two of them, I still have to struggle to obtain silence. But I'm working on that.

This is not a difficult school. I'm lucky to be there as a beginner (that's one of the rare advantages of being a substitute teacher). I will have time to think about my pedagogy, to test new methods and to feel more confident about myself as a teacher. This is precious.

I'm about to start the second week. I finished the first one exhausted with a week-end full of work !!! I'm still planning my lessons for next week... :-(

No more time to write. Talk to you soon.

13:13 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this

30 August 2006

My Teaching resources - updated

I've added some new websites and I've re-organised everything into categories (I'm sorry I couldn't make subcategories). I can't add many websites because I'm afraid it won't be clear in the end. But don't hesitate to share your links! ;-)
The website I've chosen doesn't satisfy me but ti's very simpe to use, which is important for me. If you have a better one to suggest, just tell me ! :-)

Still no news for possible subsitute jobs for me... :-(

18:27 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this

28 August 2006

My Bookmarks - a slight problem

I've realized that I'm not able to create sub-categories in my bookmarks (see the link on the right hand side). The website only accepts single files. :-(
So I can't really sort out all the links as I had promised. OR I have to make multiple files, making the layout less clear. This is the only solution I've got.
I'll take care about this and post again when my bookmarks are fully organized. Don't hesitate to share your links!

20:42 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: bookmarks

28 July 2006

My Teaching resources

So that's it. I've succeeded in creating a page to share all my bookmarks concerning teaching resources. It's on the right hand side; it's called MY BOOKMARKS - Teaching Resources. You just click on the link and you will then see a page with different categories:

- Resources for the class : documents to use directly in your class: printables, time savers, video or audio extracts, etc.
- Teachers' websites : personal pages from teachers willing to share their ideas.
- Tools for teachers : useful websites, search engines or softwares.
- Lesson plans
- Advice for young teachers: how to manage behaviour and discipline and other things.
- Official websites : created by the different "academies" (how to you translate this into English?) -> direct links to the English pages.
- More general English Resources: dictionaries, literature, art, etc.

The "blogs" and "radios" sections are still empty. This will come later.
The organisation is not perfect. I've done that quite quickly but I intend to re-organize everything in a better way. The "Resources for the class" section is too full for example. I will divide it again to make it clearer.
I also want to guide you by grading the different websites. I've already put three stars (***) to some of them because I love them. I would like to do the same for all the websites (* = useful, ** = very useful, *** = absolutely necessary!!!).
I will hopefully have some time in August to do all this.

The website I'm using is www.allmyfavorites.net. It is free, clear and very simple to use. I like the fact that you can access my bookmarks just with one link on another page, so that it the blog is still pleasant to surf on (otherwise it would be full of links!).

I will tell you when the page is updated.
If you have any links you would like to share, send me the URL and I will add it. :-)

PS: I won't be in touch for a week or so since I'm about to move to Paris and I will need some time to get a phone line and an internet access. So see you all soon !

14:28 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this | Tags: teaching resources, allmyfavorites, bookmarks

24 July 2006

Sharing my bookmarks (I'm trying!)

What I really would like to do thanks to this blog is to share my teaching resources. The internet is a fantastic tool for teachers as it allows them to see what other teachers do and get inspired. I'm impressed when I'm visiting other people's websites - particularly teachers.
I have myself a lot, A LOT of resources on my computer, mainly files I downloaded through the past three months when I had some free time, in the hope of being better prepared for the next school year.
The problem is that I don't have enough space available here to share them with you. I should create a special website for this but I'm hardly beginning this blog and I'm still discovering new stuff every day so I don't feel ready to open a website on my own. Maybe one day.

BUT... I thought I could at least share with you the websites on which I've found some of those resources. Giving you the links would be simple.
I wanted to do it through blogmarks, a service which allows you to publish online your bookmarks.
I've not been able so far to publish them on my blog. I have a problem with the Blog Sync function. If anyone knows how to do this, please tell me!!!! :-) I'm not a geek ;-) ; I know some stuff about computers but not enough apparently!!!

If you see another solution to my problem (how to share my bookmarks in a very efficient way), please tell me!!

I hope I'll be able to share those websites with you soon.

22:00 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email this | Tags: blogmarks, blog sync, sharing bookmarks

27 June 2006

M.

M. was my biggest failure this year I guess.
Not in terms of teaching... just merely in terms of communicating, which is the basic task of a teacher. Talking to your pupils, finding the right way to do it. It’s hard; I guess it takes some time. Should I privilege dialogue, above all? But what does it mean? Should I be more strict? Can I really talk to them? Can they share? Are they ready to open up? Is it my job to listen to them? How far should I go?
I often restrained myself. I forced myself not to say too much, just trying to get to know them enough to have a good working atmosphere. Tried to see if there were any problems; failed to see them.

But I saw M. had a problem. Not a big one. He was just fed up with school I guess. He was in the middle of a crisis, wondering where to go and why.
He had this very nonchalant attitude, not caring about anything, talking like a baby, smoking weed (and stopping when realizing that we started to become aware). It was just all nonsense to me. I saw distress. And I also saw stupidity. Not in the wrong sense. Just teenage-like stupidity you know.

I talked to him many times, gently first, then tried a more severe way. Didn’t work. He never said anything. Never expressed himself other than negatively.
I tried to help him out first, being behind him during the exercises to encourage him. Then he gave up. The tests started to be really bad. I tried to hold on it, to keep encouraging him but I think I also partly gave up when I saw there was strictly no response.

As a young teacher, you believe you can make a difference. You have all those big ideas you know. I guess it's legitimate. Well, I still have them fortunately. M. made me wonder for sure but he didn't shake my beliefs.

He left as he came. In between the two, I’m wondering what happened in his mind. I wonder if my class left any mark on him; I wonder how he’ll remember me.
I hope he will become someone good. I hope he will grow up and find his place in the world. I won’t be there to see it.

That reminds me of something that one of our teachers at the IUFM said: “you plant seeds all the time when you’re a teacher. But you’ll never see the plants grow. That’s the frustration of our job.”

22:55 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (7) | Email this | Tags: communication, teenager

20 June 2006

Feedback

Today was a special day. I asked my pupils to take a piece of paper and to write what they thought about the English classes (and the English teacher!) all along the year. I wanted to have some feedback to help me progress in my job.
I had two different kinds of reaction.

With my first class (15-16 year olds) most of them did it, saying positive things – which was good. Some didn’t do it – they gave back a blank sheet. Or they just wrote a few words, not even about the contents of the class. It was anonymous, it’s the end of the year, they had nothing to fear. One said “don’t look!”. I said “no I’m not looking”. He wrote (in English): “I have much appreciated this year” (sic).
What I’ve realized reading this is their self-restraint. He didn’t want me to read that he liked the class. Only the girls were more direct. The boys didn’t say much – keeping their kind of “pupil-like dignity”: “No we’re not going to tell you; it’s not part of the contract”. Yeah. Right. I’ve nearly forgotten that. They’re in the middle of those trouble years where saying to an adult “I like what you’re doing” is impossible. They’re too much concerned about themselves, their own life. I’m just their teacher, nothing else. The invisible barrier is there, impassable. It was stupid of me to expect more. What should I expect???
They’re leading their lives, I’ve been a tiny detail in them. They’re going on with different things, on a different way.
After all, I am, too, ready to move on, to start a new life, far from here, in a new school, a new region.

Then I met my second class (17-18 year olds). They were only 8 – it’s really the end of the year for them, most of them are not coming to class any more. They took their blank sheets and wrote – and wrote again. I read them after they left. It was the last time I saw them. The little notes were just... amazing. Saying I was a very good and enthousiastic teacher, that I made them progress, that they learned many things, that I was nice... I even had a love declaration ! ;-) “You’re the sun of my life. I like your style – don’t change. You’re beautiful when you’re angry. Big Kiss. R and T.”. They both gave me their numbers on a paper, asking me to send them messages !! ;-)

I held these little folded notes like some precious and secret revelations that I couldn’t put away. I packed my stuff, keeping them in hand, went to lock the door. I felt tears coming up. I felt sadness. I felt my heart pinching.

They were simply the first ones. Can you ever forget about your first times? Don’t they make you feel special? Isn’t it the kind of thing that lingers in you?

I think it is.

22:35 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: feedback, notes, pupils, feelings.

02 June 2006

The Geek

The training year at the IUFM is composed of two kinds of training : you have the one concerning your subject. Fairly good, not complete but good. And you have one made out of conferences on the broad subjects of school, education, teenagehood, etc. They are the worst. This institution (IUFM) financed by the State is losing so much money paying people who don’t know what they’re talking about and who talk about it very badly. This is one of the (few) strange things about teachers’ training: we have to listen to people who are NOT teachers, who, for the main part, have NEVER been in front of pupils but who think they can teach us somehow. This is utterly immodest.
We had the best example last Wednesday for one of the last conferences (thanks God). He was a philosophy University lecturer... yes... philosophy. Oh my. You can imagine. He was supposed to talk about secularism in school. We didn’t even approach the subject of school.

He was the perfect example of the GEEK. I don’t think we have an exact equivalent in French. I love the word GEEK. The geek is completely dressed in green (yes... completely) but not a normal green you see, no no, an ugly green (the kind you can find in sick animals’ excrements). Yes, the geek has no taste in clothes – and in other things actually. He has glasses (suuuuure), but too big for him, too old, not even clean (yuck). His hair is pressed on his skull; he’s actually always looking older than he is. The attitude is stiff, shy. The words are far way too complicated, the sentences too long as if he wanted to compensate his predicament by a highly elaborated vocabulary (only understandable by his fellow geek-friends). The geek doesn’t care. He despises you because you are everything he’s not: sociable, open-minded and secure about yourself. So he’s showing off with his knowledge since it’s his only way to exist. He spends his life in books (or nowadays in front of his computer) not to have to face the real world, full of those (also despicable) girls he’s afraid of.

I know what I’m talking about, I saw one. It’s a chance, they’re not going out often.

16:10 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: training, IUFM, geek

29 May 2006

The big principle

I had no idea about how to teach English at the beginning. During the training, we were said “you have to make them talk, interactivity is the key, you have to create communication needs...” and blah blah blah. Well, this is not blah blah blah actually.
I thought “very good, let’s try”. And found myself struggling with those principles.
I don’t know about you but I’ve learned English and German as I’ve learned mathematics: stupidly. I went through those classes when two pupils utter (painfully) three words in an hour, while the rest was spending time filling in blanks in exercises:

“Fill in by using where, when, who, which...”

As I was a pupil, that seemed fair enough to me. I progressed, I learned, I had the feeling I could speak. Then I chose English and I pursued it. I kind of forgot my German, dropped it at University since I couldn’t understand a word of the class (sure, how can you understand a German class when all your previous teachers spent their time speaking French?).
Then, four years later, I suddenly NEEDED my German. So badly. And I couldn’t say a correct simple sentence, although having successfully reached the grade of 15 (B+) at the baccalaureate. What was happening? Why couldn’t I say “pass me the salt, thank you the dinner was great” ???

Then I understood my mission better. Then I understood what lies behind this “communication” principle they’re trying to teach us during the training.
I tried to struggle so much against my own language training; to give a meaning to my teaching so that my pupils will be able to say “pass me the salt, oh the dinner was great”...
It’s hard to change your habits; It’s hard to implement something you’ve never seen or experienced yourself.
That was one of big wonderings this year as a beginner.

I partly failed, clearly enough. But I had the great chance to observe this teacher in secondary school who is doing such a great job, proving to me that it is actually possible, that we can learn English differently that I did. She gave me a lot of hope.

Her methods could be talked about later in that blog. I intent to talk more “technically” about teaching, not to annoy you, not to boast myself, just because it’s part of the job. Among other things.

20:34 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: Teachers

28 May 2006

(no title)

I promised myself I would post everyday. Don’t know why I made this stupid promise. I feel even more committed that I have now at least ONE active reader (thanks Logales!). ;-)
It's not about quantity but quality. It's like what they've taught us this year: "the less you talk in class, the better it is"... well, I still have some problems with that.

Well, Mesdames, Messieurs, this was the first useless post of this blog...

To keep you busy though, just try to find out where today’s pic is coming from. I took it yesterday during a small trip (have a look in my album for a bigger size).
Whoever finds is.... WOW !

.
....
......
........

New promise: don’t post everyday.

21:50 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this

26 May 2006

It's just the beginning my friend

The end of school year is approaching in France.
It’s the end of my first year of teaching. Oh yeah, I’m a real beginner.
I went all straight. Got a four-year degree at University at the age of 22 and got the teacher’s exam at 23. Went in my first classroom at 23 then.
To become a recognized teacher in France, you need to pass a national exam (called CAPES for secondary school teachers). It consists of a written part (where your academic knowledge is tested) and an oral part (where some competences are tested, except the one of being able to teach). 20% success in English, it’s a tough job! But once you get out, you have a job for life – the main privilege that French teachers have (since we’re employed by the State). You need to do something really nasty to be fired. Most of the time, whatever happens, you stuck in, like a shell on a rock.

But the exam is made in such a way that you get out of it without really knowing what it means to teach. You’re then nominated in a school in September for your training year. You’re a trainee for a school year, having two classes in charge (and REALLY in charge, nobody’s there to guide you and the pupils don’t know you’re actually a trainee). Besides, you’re having teaching classes in a kind of school called IUFM (Institut de Formation des Maîtres). But most of the job you learn in your class, by doing a lot of mistakes!!!! And good thing: you’re paid full wage ;-)

That’s how I got in front of first class at the age of 23, trying desperately to look older, some of my pupils already being 18 (I’m in High School).
It was a funny and great experience as I look at it now. Stressful but challenging. I thought I would have a hard time when I arrived in front of the classroom door. The pupils were in line, looking at me, waiting for me to open the door. I got the key out of my bag (the brand new “teacher-looking” bag), and tried to get it in the lock. My hand was trembling. I just thought: “Please, let them NOT notice it, otherwise I’m dead”. ;-)

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24 May 2006

First time

That’s it. I’m doing it. Can’t go back now. I’ve read many of them before, which gave me the feeling for it; I’ve had the impression to share many stuff throughout the blogs I was surfing on. And now, I’m in. I’m part of this.
I’m not exactly part of it. The blogs I’m reading are mostly concerned with the subject of teaching in France, and particularly teaching english in France, since this is my job. I’m an English teacher. And I’m French.
I’ve always wanted to do the same, writing about my job (nearly meaning writing about me), I’ve admired those other teachers so much for their writing skills, the openess of their blogs. I thought: “yeah, I can do that”. Then, I wrote a first post in French on a rough paper. And it was so bad. Damn bad. I didn’t feel I could share this. Then I realized I couldn’t FIT IN this community I was admiring. Should I give up my idea? Well, instead, I decided not to really FIT IN this small community of French teachers blogging. Not to fit in exactly. Just a slight difference, just a minor specificity.
I’ve decided to blog in English, not to write in my mother tongue. Not a real challenge since I’ve studied English for some time but another way to see it. Also a way to enlarge my horizon. Why be confined to the French community? Why not open it further away? Why not reaching people who have no idea of what it means to be a teacher in France?

Yeah, I liked that, I could do that.
It seemed just more simple and more attractive.

Moreover, I’m much less judmental on my english writing than on my french one. Because writing in english is a distancing process to me as it’s not my mother tongue. Words come more naturally, I don’t ask myself the question “is it nice? Does it sound good?”, because I simply don’t care. Everything looks good to me in English.
You just have to be indulgent about the mistakes and the style!!! ;-)

Well, I hope this blog won’t just be about teaching, although that takes a lot of my life now. I hope it’s about much more than this. My identity is just mainly defined as a teacher at the moment.

But I’m also a woman, a sister, a daughter, a girlfriend, a friend, etc.

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