Hello and welcome once again! This month it is I (Michelle) who will be writing the blog post and telling you all about our adventures in Deauville thus far. As Rachael explained, there are 4 different schools with Fracasse being our main headquarters. As for myself, I teach at Fracasse with levels CP, CE1, and CE2 (1st grade through 3rd grade). I also teach the ULIS class, the special needs class at Fracasse.
So, after the first preliminary weeks of training, we are now several weeks into teaching our English classes and other various responsibilities. I will say that working with my classes has been incredibly challenging, but also very rewarding. At the beginning in of the year when we discuss lesson plans with Ivan, he has the first several months of each grade level planned out, in which you only need to establish your routines and your authority in the classroom. As the year progresses though, the lesson plans become less and less detailed, and you can begin to start working up your own lesson plans, depending on the pace and needs of your classes. No matter what kind of pace you maintain however, there is still a good outline for each grade about what topics should be covered and tested and when (if that grade does indeed receive tests). Typically in primary school, lessons will often range from working with worksheets, to reading basic literature, to singing and dancing. The kids especially love singing, no matter what age! The greatest thing that helps in working with the students is communication with both Ivan and your teachers.
As for the other various responsibilities I mentioned, we of course have after school activities (APE), garderie, and sometimes we have morning garderie or bus duty. I myself have bus duty, in which I pick up the children from the bus each Wednesday before school starts. However, beyond the regular teaching and working at school, I've begun to find myself becoming busier with tutoring, babysitting and working with students and families outside of school (included in this is also English circle- which is a great way to make new acquaintances of people who live in town!).
One of the big events we have coming up in Deauville is the big Halloween parade and party at the schools. Halloween here is kind of a big deal. However, this year we will only be able to do it at Tourgeville and St. Arnoult (and maybe even at Maternelle). This is due to the fact that the fall break is very early this year (Oct. 17-Nov. 1), and so planning and prep is going to be very fast paced. Needless to say, I'm definitely looking forward to spending time with the kids. Some of the stations we're planning include photo booths, face painting, and bowling for ghouls! We'll definitely be sure to post some pictures and let you know how it goes in next month's blog post!
Well that's all for now! À la prochaine!
