ouuuaaaai!!!! (waaaaaay!)

It was a Les Marendiers day! This is the school with the most classes and I meet each class for about 30 minutes (6 classes over 3 hours). Today, I got myself ready, with my bus schedule and map in tow.... only to be called about 30 seconds before I left the house by Sabine (who drove me to school last time). She was offering to pick me up! When she picked me up, she said, "It was really cold this morning, so I thought I'd come get you!" How nice:)

I met with the class who has the long-term substitute first. She asked me to read a story about the Loch Ness Monster... which I found funny because, although I speak English, I am not an expert on all things English (or Scottish in this instance). But- I read the book in English and stopped to explain what was going on in French. It was a weird book because it was small, with small pictures, and a lot of factual information- definitely not a book I'd pick to read to non-English speakers (I'll be picking the books from now on though).

In the next class, Carole (the teacher) split the class into 2 groups and I worked with one on pronouncing words used to introduce yourself in English. This class is a little out-of-control for my liking. They're really loud and talk while you're talking and the teacher's way of discipline is "shshing," which is clearly ineffective. But, it was cool to have my own little group and I could use my own mode's of behavior management. The kids were really excited to be working with me, but wouldn't be quiet long enough for me to finish giving an example. So I went into teacher mode, gave my teacher face, and said in French, "I'll wait until you're ready. If you can't calm down, I'll have to ask you to leave the circle." I would never actually make them leave the circle, but this got them to straighten up mighty quick. I was so proud that even with my imperfect French I can still be an OK teacher. The rest of the time working with my group was great! They were so cute waiting for their turn to say "My name is... etc." And next time, the whole class is bringing in postcards to write to my friend Caitlin's class (5th grade in the US).

My next class was with Sabine. She had me explain Halloween to the kids in French, go through some Halloween vocab, and read a little book about witches by candle-light (yes, she actually turned off the lights and lit candles...). The kids were cute when I said spider- "Oh you mean like Spiderman?" Sadly, the time went by way too fast..

After the little pause, I went to work with Sophie's first class. I read Funnybones with them, but this time I was doing all the French/English back and forth. They definitely seemed to enjoy it and got the story. They especially liked when I sang:)

Then, I went to Sophie's next English class (the combined CM2/CP class... the oldest and the youngest level). She had me read a book about a sheep who had lost its sound... and I went through a bunch of other animal sounds before arriving at BAAA. Surprisingly, even the older kids liked hearing the book (I guess even very simple books in English are still hard). After reading the book, we played a little game. When Sophie asked if they'd like to play against each other on teams, they all shouted, "Ouuuuaaaii," which is like saying "Yeahhhh!" But it sounds so adorable and hilarious at the same time. They also raise their arms when they say it, lol.

In this game, they had to make the English sound for the animal shown in the picture. Interestingly enough, we do not make the same animal sounds. Frogs, horses, and pigs especially sound different (wach wach, waigh waigh, snort snort). Sheep say beeeh instead of Baaa. Dog and cat are about the same. Roosters are cookericoo, instead of cock-a-doodle-doo. It was quite the cultural experience.

And last but not least, I went to the CP class to read Funnybones. This group knows practically no English and the teacher knows only a little more. So I was, again, the one doing English to French translating to make sure they understood the story. I feel bad though because I'm sure I'm not conjugating all my verbs correctly... and I'm sure that is something they're also working on themselves in French... so I hope I'm not getting them all mixed up with my broken French! Oh well- we got through the story and they love me:) And I love them, hehe. They all wanted me to sit next to them at lunch... which probably would have been fun.

Like a normal adult, I went to sit with the teachers. Today at the cantine, I had chicken, potato balls, baguette, tomato/cucumber salad, flan, and cookies. After we ate, I showed them the books/materials I had brought in and we got all planned out for my next visit (not until Nov. 8th hah!).

After school, I went grocery shopping.... which is such a pain to do without a car and elevator. I feel so wiped after lugging everything up 5 flights of stairs. But, I did have a pretty delicious dinner, so I can't complain too much (cheeseburger with salad and brie with a pear, yumz).

Tomorrow is the last day of striking before the retirement reform bill is passed. If it is passed, I'm hoping everyone will just accept it and go back to work so that gas stations can open back up and flights don't get canceled (my friends are coming in a week!). But- there is also the chance of another French Revolution, which will ruin everything... so keep your fingers crossed that the French cooperate with me on this one!

Reste cool:) Hope you're having a good start to the week!