As with so many things I throw myself into enthusiastically at first, this blog has become a little neglected. I guess it's because the new and exciting sheen has worn off, and my life here's become somewhat routine. Not boring, but nothing worth writing about.
Another contributing factor is almost definitely my massive lack of attention span. Even sitting down for 10 minutes to write a blog entry seems like a massive effort (so spare a thought for my poor dissertation...) Ritalin is seeming like a better and better idea for final year, although I'll see how far self-discipline gets me for now.
To bring myself back to the Blogosphere, I will start by a little round-up of my classes.
École EM
My first school was diplomatically described by Hélene, who I do 3/4 of my classes with, as "economie-plus" compared to my second. Camon is a very small commune so it seems odd that the minor difference is noticable. The teachers are, on the whole, somewhat more easily angered in this school so maybe it's just a matter of slightly stricter discipline.
CE1 (age 6-7)
A sweet class. They're the class that Hélene teaches so I spend quite a lot of time sitting at the back waiting for the next English lesson, listening in and being reassured that my French grammar is at least comparable to a native speaking 7 year old's. This class maybe contains the four cutest children I have ever met. Twin count = 1 set, non-identical.
CE2 (age 7-8)
This class I find somewhat more difficult. The class teacher takes them for the English lesson, and this is her first time teaching English having not studied it since high school some 25 years ago. The activities in the classbook, I feel, are sometimes aimed too high and we should go back to the basics- but other times I'm pleasantly surprised. This is the class with three sets of identical twins.
CM1 (age 8-9)
Bright sparks abound in this one. This is one of my favourite classes because they're just a joy to teach. They pick things up very quickly in general. Contains one set of identical and one set of non-identical twins.
CM2 (age 9-10)
Apparently last year's CM2 class at this school was horrible ("someone threw a dictionary at me once", says Hélene) but this year's isn't nearly as bad. There are a few boys who prefer to throw balls of paper around, but Hélene is quick to dole out les punitions for any offenders caught ("I must not throw paper in class" in their best handwriting, twenty-five times. Ha!) I have a soft spot for the quiet fat kid in the back who always knows the answer but won't shout out like everyone else.
École PL
The slightly poorer cousin of my first school, although blessed with superior facilities (larger playground, Wifi, kettle in the staffroom...) The slightly rowdier intake might be because the school is located right next to a newish housing estate, but when I say "rowdier", this would be heaven for some of my fellow Language Assistants.
CP (age 5-6)
My only Kindergarten class. They're pretty much content to watch me play the fool and sing The Hello Song for 45 minutes a week. The naughtiest kid in the school is in this class. Si mignon, mais si méchante! It also has one set of twins.
CE1 (age 6-7)
As with the CP, they're pretty good overall and I can fool around without feeling like they're going to make fun of me. In this one I sort of play the foil to the class teacher and it works out pretty well.
CE1-CE2 (age 7-8)
Without a doubt my most challenging class. I leave there with a headache almost every lesson and they are NOT the ones I wish I started my Friday mornings with. There are a few bright kids, but they get lost in the general rumpus. I think the teacher's basically given up on trying to get them to be calmer. Right now we're learning days of the week, and there's a song I found for them to listen to - but of course you can't put music on without half the class getting out of their seats and dancing. Oy...
CE2-CM1 (age 8-9)
One of my largest classes. There are 6 CE2 (younger) kids in this class, but as far as I've made out, there isn't much difference in the curriculum for them - but they will stay in the class the next year as well. Bright sparks include a smiling red-cheeked girl called Mary, and twin Arabic girls who I can never, ever tell apart.
CM1-CM2 (age 9-10)
This class is taught by Christelle, the same woman who teaches the CP. Her English is very good, having studied it at university and done basically the same programme as I'm doing right now, but in Wakefield. They're slightly more reluctant than the other school's final year, with two boys constantly pushing Christelle's patience to its limits. While marking their last test (fill in a basic information sheet about yourself), I was surprised to see how many couldn't spell the name of their school...
Right, that was fun procrastination. Time for more work on my ridiculously overdue dissertation proposal! It's not as fun as this book:
