One week of teaching…then two weeks of vacation

Sorry it has been such a long time since I have updated, but it’s because I’ve just been living life the French way. I worked for one week…and then went on vacation for two. Makes sense right?

To review, I should have started working on October 1^st. Well, because the teachers at my school are French, they see “time” as a fluid concept. “Organization” does not exist in their vocabulary. I didn’t receive my schedule until two weeks after I should have started teaching. I asked about it several times, but they just said, “Come back next week...don’t worry about it... you can start later.”

The first week after I received my schedule, almost none of the teachers were ready for me to observe their classes (I don’t know why, but they said I would “disturb” the class). I ended up only attending one fourth of my classes (3 out of 12). So in actuality, I really didn’t start teaching until the third week in October.

However, the last week of October and the first week of November are vacation weeks in France, for the Toussaint holiday (All Saints’ Day). As a result, I had one week of teaching, followed by two weeks of vacation. I have now been back from vacation for two weeks, bringing my grand total up to three weeks of teaching so far. This past week was the first in which I actually taught all twelve of my classes!

I teach twelve classes a week, equating to twelve hours in front of the students. In typical French fashion, I only teach 3 to 4 days a week and usually only one full day, morning and afternoon, anyways (not bad, eh?). I take about 7-15 students each time, which can be anywhere from half to a quarter of the full class, while the rest of the students stay with their regular teacher. The groups alternate each week, meaning I see most of my students every other week at the most or only once a month at the least.

I teach high school, the French equivalents of 10^th – 12^th grades, but the ages here vary widely. I have students as young as 14 and many who are 22, as old as me! This is a result of a major difference between the French and American education systems. When French students enter high school, they must choose (or have chosen for them) which subject track they will follow, either Literature, Economics and Social Science, Physical Science, or any number of technical/professional paths, from marketing to carpentry. Once the student chooses, it is extremely difficult to change and really does determine what career path they will follow, especially whether or not they can go to university, and if they do, what university they will attend.

I cannot imagine having to decide what I would want to do for the rest of my life at 14. But that is reality for French students. I have students from all of the tracks, including technical students. As a result, my students’ English levels are quite varied. In my literature or economics/social science classes, the students speak at a very high level and can discuss complex subjects. In my technical classes, we’re still working on how to say “My favorite movie is...”

In the same vein, the behavior in my classes can vary greatly. Some classes are very well behaved, like what you would imagine a strict French classroom from the 1950s was like. For example, these classes stand at their seats in silence until I tell them they may sit down. At the other end of the spectrum, a couple classes can be zoo-like; shouting, throwing things, doing other homework, etc.

Luckily, all of my students, so far, have been extremely nice to me. Actually, of the “difficult” classes, the students are much better behaved and respectful with me than with their regular teachers. Probably because they know when they are with me they get to play games and watch movies, while with their teacher they do grammar exercises. So if they get out of hand with me, back to grammar for them! Still for the most part, the kids seem to be genuinely excited to have an American teacher and learn about the US.

I spent my first weeks of teaching just getting to know the kids, their favorite movies, tv shows, music, and hobbies. Many of which are the same as any regular teenager in the US. They watch Grey’s Anatomy and Gossip Girl on TV. The girls love Twilight. Everyone listens to Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas.

Though there are several fads among the French high schoolers that are way behind the times in the US or just never really existed. Prison Break is hands down the most popular TV show, which I’m pretty sure was never, ever popular in the US. I mean, is it even still on the air? Although now I regret not watching it, because all my students yell at me when I say I have never seen an episode. The boys are all obsessed with Scarface and wrestling, like WWE, which they call “Le Catch” for some reason. And everyone, I mean everyone, has razor scooters. The bike racks at the school are filled with scooters, not bikes. This bizarre fad extends beyond school kids too. I see business people riding down the street on razor scooters. So weird.

I also let the students ask me any questions they wanted about me, my life, or just the United States in general. Most of the questions were pretty standard, where I am from, do I like France, but some questions were quite complex and intelligent. I had questions about healthcare, 9/11, or Arabs in the US (at least 75% of my students are North African/Arab immigrants). I also have gotten some really hysterical questions. For example, they all want to know if graduation really is like in the movies, especially with the caps being thrown into the air. They are always very happy to learn that it is, because no such ceremony exists in France. I have been invited to a “couscous party.” But my favorite questions have been, “Do you have a gun?” and “How can I get a green card?” The last question was followed by a marriage proposal.

This past week I’ve also started doing Thanksgiving lessons. I love explaining all the Thanksgiving foods to them (although it makes me really hungry). When I explain what stuffing and pumpkin pie are, usually at least one student exclaims putain! (a commonly used curse word in French). Even if they don’t like the thought of stuffing, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie, they have all been interested in learning about the Thanksgiving traditions, many of which they have seen in movies or on TV. I really had a great time teaching them about my favorite holiday.

All in all, I have enjoyed teaching so far, even with all the frustrations about the French lack of organization or my talkative students. I’m sure I will soon have many more teaching stories to tell. I definitely have plenty more differences between the US and French education systems to discuss. But this post has gotten quite long, so I’ll stop here. Though in the coming days, look out for posts on my vacation and my life outside of work in Lyon.