My shoes were full of confetti. My purse was full of confetti. My bra was full of confetti. My heart was simply full. It was April, my second-to-last week teaching primary school English classes. Early that morning, I had sat waiting for my ride to school, dressed professionally but staring blearily at my hot lemon …
I have five more weeks of teaching left, and it feels...manageable. Like successful organization might be possible. I really enjoyed teaching this week; the time away made me feel like myself again, energy and optimism available in large quantities. It was a week where things got done. We talked about pets, we talked about objects …
I wasn't expecting my first week back from Christmas vacation to be filled with joie. Le retour is always difficult, and here there were two: the return from vacation, back to life in small-town France, and the return to teaching. My first day back didn't deserve to go so well. I've been there before. This time, though, I made the …
It's weird to put myself in a new category: teacher, the mysterious breed that one is always shocked to see in a public place. Recently I spent the whole day in town, working on lessons and then meeting Mary for dinner and drinks. I had my laptop and a stack of books, my hair in …
Many of my students have never met an American, so I didn't want to teach cliches. Burgers and fries, big cities and celebrities? They've seen enough of that, maybe only that, on TV. I wanted to share what I think of when I think of home. So rather than trying to introduce the whole country in one go to children …
I was so nervous, all weekend. Friday we had a planning session for the primary school teachers in our département (composed of Montluçon, Vichy, and Moulins) and honestly I think it just stressed everyone out. There are just four of us this year, representing England, Ireland, the US, and Puerto Rico (four different accents!). We're each at …
