Woo, another term’s finished and back on school holidays again 😀 This holiday is especially exciting as we’ve been invited to stay with family for a week in Chamonix!
Finally right at the end of term (and with only one more to go) I’m just starting to feel sorta kinda comfortable and confident in my role. Like I’m not fumbling for ideas or struggling to match lessons to the students’ level or interests so much. I’m not quite at the point where I can just plan a lesson or activity around a given theme, but I’m definitely on my way!
For example, I’ve had some pretty good classes in the last two weeks. With a group of terminales, I showed them a Monty Python clip (the Dead Parrot one) and that served as a launching-off point for an interesting discussion about humour in society, and how humour can differ across cultures. With another terminale class, I had them listen to U2’s “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” and fill in the blanks of the lyrics as they went. Before I played the song, I also showed them a short power point with images and facts about the Troubles in Ireland so that they would have some context for the purpose of the song.
By far my most successful class of the program thus far was a game called Alibi (alternatively, Guilty), where you have to explain to the class that a crime was committed last night, and the suspects (preferably two or multiples of two if you have a large class) are in the room right now. They have to create an alibi, making it as detailed as possible so that when they are individually interrogated by the rest of the class, there won’t be many inconsistencies between their stories. It’s a great way to get everyone talking, interacting and moving. My class got really into it, doing suspect line-up photos, handcuffing the suspects, and coming up with particularly gruesome punishments for the guilty party. I might add that this class has been my most challenging of all – very low level of English in general, disengaged and lacking interest. Sometimes the stress of anticipating this class and how difficult it is, has made it hard to get to sleep the night before, so this victory feels particularly sweet.
For a variety of reasons, I never had the full twelve hours a week this term. It was partly due to strikes, partly due to individual classes having assessments, and partly due to a slip up on my part where I thought a class that takes place on alternating weeks, was on the wrong week (oops!) Thankfully, nobody said anything and I don’t have to make up the hours. Oh, and partly because one of my teachers got to go on a trip to London with his class! I assume my invite must have gotten lost in the mail 😉
So yeah, it has been a bumpy term what with the difficulties of having lots of students, lots of different levels and areas of interest to accommodate, and not a great deal of support. There were a few weeks in the middle where I pretty much lost interest and motivation to actually do anything but the bare minimum to get by, but I chose to turn that around and make more of an effort. I was rewarded by having way more enjoyable and in-depth classes and feeling like I was more on top of my role. Here’s to a restful break, and an even better final six weeks of the program starting in March!
Seven Months in Marseille 