Assistant de Langue en France: Partie Deux

Ten weeks of teaching have gone by since I started with TAPIF... and now I have less than 10 left! Now that I am settled into the position, I wanted to write a follow up to my original Assistant de Langue post.

Before beginning my teaching assistant position in France, many of my fellow teachers were curious to hear what I found to be better and/or worse with the French school systems. The fact is, there is no education system that is absolutely flaw free-- the U.S. is definitely struggling with our current set up. It's been interesting to compare the two, because I feel like the U.S. could benefit from some of the procedures here, but I also think France could benefit from some of our ideas.

Un Mélange

This post has been in the making for the last two weeks, but as with anything I write-- I'm a perfectionist. So that means, I write and rewrite about 10 times before I am absolutely satisfied with what I've said. But finally, I finished. I ended up making this post a bit of a mixture, un mélange, of three topics: Traveling, Au Pair-ing, and Teaching.

Travel:

We ate lunch next to this temple from 10 BC.

I love a good day trip: no need to pack a bag, just bring your camera and a bit of cash and you're good to go. My friend Christian, another au pair/assistant, and I had been talking about taking a day trip for a while, and we finally found a day and time to do one. We decided to go to Vienne, a small city not more than an hour and a half train ride away. I had heard about Vienne from my au pair family because it is known for its Roman ruins, which are somewhat rare to this region. When I lived in Montpellier, it seemed like every city had Roman ruins, but that was an entirely different region and the Roman history goes back much further there than in central France.

Assistant de Langue en France

I have had this post in draft mode for weeks, trying to organize my thoughts because I just don't even know where to begin with to describe my last month or two with TAPIF. As much as it's been beyond confusing and, at times, seriously stressful... I am still so happy that it has given me an opportunity to combine my two greatest passions in life.

I guess you could say that confusion has been the presiding feeling over the last few weeks. I came here assuming all the schools and their administrators would have already figured out when they wanted me to teach, what grades, and what classes. This was not the case. We actually started this discussion after I met with my assigned schools and from there it was difficult for them to all decide when would work best for them.  Luckily, it all was resolved after a month of back and forth and I received a definite schedule.

Today, I had my first day of teaching in one of my schools-- it felt SO good to get back to teaching. When I think about it, I haven't been in a classroom as a teacher in at least 5 months. It is always such a rush to be up in front of my students and be able to get them excited about what we are learning. It definitely put me in a great mood to be back doing what I love again.

Les Écoles Française

It felt so great to get back into the schools twice this past week, even if it was just to observe for the day. I definitely feel complete when I am able to work with my students and I have been missing it very much since May. I have been anxious to receive more information about hours, grades, and even what days I would be teaching and where since I arrived 3 weeks ago. The majority of the other assistants received this information as early as two weeks ago, some just last week, but that was because they will be working in the middle schools and high schools. Apparently, the process of placing assistants is different in the elementary schools because I still have very little sense of what is going on.

View from the school in Saint Chamond

So far I know this much: I will be working in two elementary schools, one in Saint Chamond and one in Rive de Gier which is the next town over. I will be teaching four hours in Saint Chamond on Tuesdays and four hours in Rive de Gier on Thursdays and both will require a significant commute due to their location. I will have Fridays completely free from work. Because students only have a half day on Wednesdays, it is likely I won't work then either.

However, I will also be teaching other schools from a distance through Skype. I don't have much information about this either, but I know through process of elimination it'll likely be on Mondays for four hours, or possibly split between Mondays and Wednesdays. The point of this will to practice speaking with kids in small groups for about 10-20 minutes a piece. When they finish with me on the computer, they will return to their teacher who will have a written activity of some sort to accompany my lesson. Apparently, they are introducing this into the assistantship because schools that are far away from a larger town don't tend to benefit from the program. This way, they will be able to interact with a native English speaker, even if at a distance.

"Il est temps de vivre la vie que tu t'es imaginée!"

I am beyond excited that it's practically time for me to head to France, though I am also entirely shocked at how quickly my summer in Chicago has passed by. I feel like, aside from a few exceptions, I've been able to spend plenty of time with most of the people I intended to at the start of summer. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to visit my Indiana friends before I left, but that will be the first thing I do when I get back next June. Leaving behind the people I care about is not easy, but I am so happy that I have succeeded at my goal of returning to live in France for a bit longer... before I have to be a real adult and settle into a Chicago more permanently!

Luckily, the most important part of my preparations is done-- getting a visa! While I am thankful that I have it, I have to say the process was somewhat frustrating. The paperwork was not complicated, however, going to the French consulate in Chicago is where things hit a bump.

Seulement Six Semaines!

Well, my flight is finally booked and I fly off to live in France for 9 months in just six weeks! I head out September 19th in order to arrive the next day and I will return on June 7th, 2015. Well, at least I intend to return, but people keep reminding me of the possibility I might just want to stay, especially after I make a life for myself there over the next 8-9 months. We will see!

I recently bought myself a long-awaited present to celebrate my return-- a fancy camera! My little blue Canon Powershot has lasted me since high school, but I decided I wanted to take even better photos to help remember my time abroad. So, I finally decided on a camera and purchased a Canon Rebel SL1. It's the smallest DSLR camera available, which I thought would be perfect for traveling! The reviews for it were stellar and I can definitely see why-- I cannot wait to take it with!  As preparations have continued, I definitely have a lot to get done before now and then, but luckily it is mostly an exciting process.

France... Encore!

It's hard to believe it's been just over two years since I last lived in France! Now that I am officially returning for the next school year, I figured it was time to start posting again to document this experience.

The whirlwind of preparations has already gotten underway! A professor of mine told me about the Teaching Assistants Program in France (TAPIF) years ago and I knew that it was something I would have to pursue after college. This program would allow me to combine my two passions-- teaching and French. While I began looking into it and considering it a long time ago, the application process started in September and I finally my application for consideration in mid-December. I knew not to expect any response until mid-April sometime, but come the afternoon of April 1st I had received notification of my acceptance! I was half convinced it was a joke until I received follow-up information in the days following. I was told I would be teaching English to elementary students somewhere in the region of Lyon, which had been my first choice.