First Day

I only had two classes, which were actually two halves of one big class. In total, I saw about 20-25 students, I think nine the first class and something like twelve the second. The professor had obviously divided the class into two groups along a line determined by skill/interest: my first class was all girls, all hardworking, all interested, and all fun to teach. My second class was mixed, a bit more chattery (amongst themselves), and lots more difficult to teach. Still, I think both classes went well.

Actually, I was really excited after the first class. I had begun the class by introducing myself, telling them a bit about Michigan and why I am in France, and then I let them ask me questions. They were very curious, and we spent a good ten or twenty minutes just shooting the shit. They even got my jokes and laughed at the appropriate moments. At some point, I thought to myself, "Man, I'm a natural!" The girls kept calling me "Mrs." and I finally had to say, "Could you guys just call me LeeAnn... Mrs. sounds too old to me..." They laughed again and started calling me LeeAnn, which made me smile. A few girls stayed after class a bit just to keep on talking, and I thought I was smooth sailing.

Then came in the second class. I think this is going to be a challenging class because the skill level is so hard to determine. I'm willing to bet that some of the kids in there are actually quite good at English, but they are terribly shy. It was amazing, however, to see the difference between the two classes. Whereas with the first class, I said, "So, do you have any questions for me?" and I had to say, "Wait, wait, one at a time!", in the second class, there was just dead silence. "No questions for me?" I asked again, in case they hadn't understood. Nope. Definitely not. Still silent. "Well ok then, if you don't have any questions for me... I have some questions for you..." I said, and segued into my planned activity.

It's funny how much of teaching is just gauging and being able to quickly adapt. The first class had wanted to discuss so much during the activity that I was worried that we wouldn't finish (it wasn't really a concern... finishing wasn't the important thing). They kept coming up with new questions, or new ways of asking questions, or of rephrasing their answers. But with the second class, it was like pulling teeth; they just didn't want to talk. I made the activity as long as possible, and made sure to ask every student a few questions to see that everyone was paying attention. They were, they just weren't all that talkative. We ended up starting the second activity I had brought along, just in case we finished the first one. I had photocopied a few tongue twisters, thinking that if I did a couple tongue twisters throughout the year, the kids would at least be able to have a good laugh. I was glad I had brought them along: Sabrina was even willing to try the damn thing and she did it better than I did!

Even more interesting is some of the stuff I learned about the students. I work in a poor suburb outside of Paris, where most kids live in cramped apartments with lots of people. All but two of the students in my classes spoke a different language than French at home, almost half of them Arabic-speaking. When I asked if there were any only children, it turned out their weren't any in either class. I mentioned that I had heard that the birth rate was dropping in France, and one girl quickly corrected me: "It's true that French people don't have many kids. But none of us are French. We're all foreigners." One girl pitched in that she's the fourth in a series of seven.

In retrospect, I'm happy with the way the classes went. There are obviously a few things I would have changed, but I'm glad I got off on a good foot. The teacher called me to say that the students were really happy with the class, and that they had been disappointed to learn they would have to wait another week before taking classes with me again because of this whole contract problem. I was really touched by that, and also, I think, a tad relieved because I had feared the teachers at my school were starting to think I was slacking, even though none of these paperwork problems were my fault. It was good to know that they had gotten some positive feedback from the students to let them know I'm a serious and dedicated co-worker.

Anyway, I'm excited. And I'm also glad I have another week to plan. With twelve classes to teach per week, with all different levels and, in the end, something like 200 names to learn, I think I'll have my work cut out for me. But I feel ready for it.