my year(s) teaching English in France
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 …
