Hello everyone. I am sitting in the park across the street from the usual bar I go to. I have become that cheap that I am chilling with my laptop on a bench grasping at the WiFi from La Sansas. It could be a beautiful thing, but all I hear right now is construction noise to my left, and old man snoring to my right, and I am pretty cold right now. Good thing the laptop battery gets warm. It's the perfect ghetto heating, to the perfectly ghetto scenario.
So yesterday was my first day of teaching. It went pretty well, I must say. I incorrectly anticipated the duration of the lesson though, so I had to rely upon my quick wit to get me through. Ok, so it wasn't my quick wit I was relying on...it was the Blues Clues Alphabet Card Game that really got me through. But whatever. That's besides the point. Anyway, I got there about 45 minutes early to try to make a good impression. But the only impression I made was the one of my ass on the chair I sat in while waiting for everyone else to appear.
So, I went into my first class, which is one of the older levels, and I think it's fair to say that I did my worst job in there. I realized then my lack of proper timing for the activities, and I wasn't very animated during that class, due to insecurities and not knowing what to expect. They were responsive, nevertheless, and really really cute. I have to record their little voices for you all. "Mai Nime eez Dina". That's what they sound like.
So then, I made it to my next class, which went well. The kiddies love any sort of game, I am learning. So they appreciated my random games I had to offer. My third class sort of sucked, because the teacher wasn't a good disciplanarian, so she let them talk and all that stuff while I was trying to teach. It was a little rough.
My 4th Class was the cutest. They were about 8 years old, and they all had wide-eyed frightened expressions on their faces, which was somehow really adorable. And when they spoke, they not only had the accent, but they also had the little kid voice to add to that. And I made a point of speaking no French in any of the classes, but they asked me a question, and when I answered in French, they were shocked!
The rest of my classes followed the same suit (I have 8 classes over the course of the day). Basically I taught, the kids giggled (especially when I broke out the highfives...I figured if the autistic kids liked that, so would the French, right?). And the kids really seemed to like me. I have an advantage at the school, I admit. I am the only woman there who doesn't have a fan ready on her desk to aid with her menopausal hotflashes. I think a young teacher is a breath of fresh air (there is sort of a pun in there, i think). So when I was leaving, all the little students ran up to me and yelled "Haylo Mees Dina!", and they were all telling their parents that I was the new English teacher. It was heartening, and hopefully financially rewarding, because I am hoping to get a tutoring/babysitting gig out of the deal :)
So tomorrow I go again, and I will let you know how it goes. If any of you have any suggestions, let me know please! Games/Songs/Stories/ANYTHING, dammit!
Last night I also went out to a downtown bar with Sapna. It was a pretty good time. I saw my first good coverband! What a relief! They don't all play "Funkytown"! But, alas, I don't think that band plays there all too often. C'est dommage!
ANYWAY, I am freezing my little American feet off. (Story about that...in France, I am a size 40 shoe, which is considered to be at Sasquatian proportions here, so much so, that many stores don't even go up to that size. So we are apparently war-loving, fat, McDonald's loving Bigfoots here. But I digress...)
I miss you all very much, and hope to hear from you soon. BRRRRRRR. A bientot!
XOXOXO,
Dina
No comments:
Post a Comment