Along with teaching and planning lessons, English assistants in Deauville are also expected to help out with different extracurricular activities throughout the day.
The school has a two hour lunch break (unheard of in the states) in which the younger kids eat while the older kids have activities for one hour, and then switch. Normally one person helps out with the lunch while another helps with activities and then switch with the kids. Helping out in the canteen consists of guiding kids to the canteen, helping serve the kids, and keeping them from getting too crazy. We also get to eat with them, which is a good way to encourage them to use English. During the activities, we normally just watch over them while they play in the courtyard or play game and draw in a classroom. Because there are three of us, we don’t normally have to work the full two hours, allowing us to have breaks during the day.
At the end of each school day, we also help out with the garderie, during which we help the kids finish their homework and watch over them until their parents pick them up. This usually ends at 6pm, but only one of us has to work it each day.
A new addition this year, the school now has a one hour period for after school activities or workshops. Centered around a different overall theme each trimester, they usually consist of an art project or some kind of cultural studies. Our role this year was to host one class per week, under the theme of an ‘English club’. At first, we mostly played games that worked with large groups of kids in which they had to identify flashcards and similar activities. Jesse, the other American this year, started on an art project painting the New York City skyline. With only one hour per week, these after school activities don’t take up too much of your time.
Each year the Americans are also in charge of the Halloween party that is held at the school in Deauville, Tourgéville and Saint Arnoult. We designed different games for the kids to play, carved some pumpkins with our classes, and gave out candy. It is a fun break from normal classes and the city sets up a haunted forest for the kids to walk through at the Fracasse party.
There are also two other jobs that are expected of us outside the school, hosting an English circle for adults and tutoring senior year high school students for the TOFEL English exam. The English circle is held bi-weekly for the employees of the city to practice their English. We usually plan a simple game or activity to keep it light and allows for normal conversation. For the tutoring, there are two students from Deauville that receive a scholarship to study at University of Kentucky for one year. To do so, they must pass the TOFEL exam. Starting in February through March or April, we met with one of the four candidates once a week to help them with any problems they have with English or do a practice exam with them.
