First week of teaching...

One of the best parts of being an English Teaching Assistant is that I am only required to work twelve hours a week.  I am now more than halfway done with my hours for the week, and have every Wednesday and Thursday off.  So far I have been at the middle school for for hours and three hours at the first elementary school.  The teachers at the middle school are kind and very supportive, which makes it easy for me to plan lessons.  I also eat lunch with the teachers which is a great way to get to know them.  The students at the middle school are a mixed bag.  Some seam more interested in English than others, and they all ask the questions that they have learned in class.  Instead of asking do you have, they always ask have you got (Have you got any pets or have you got any brothers or sisters for example).

My afternoon at the elementary school was eventful for a first day.  The students are adorable, but rowdy after their lunch.  I have three classes there (CE2, CM1, and CM2) so the students are between 7 and 10 years old.  When they lined up to come inside from recess one girl had lost a tooth and she presented it to the teacher and me.  The students asked many questions, especially CE2, and they must be shared.  One girl asked if I would sleep at home in New York every night, another said that I was very lucky to have taken a plane to Europe and not a ship.  In another class I was asked if I took a helicopter to France, and finally "are there movie theaters in America?"  When the kids had some more time to play, things started to go downhill.  One little boy was running in the hallway and ran into the door handle which punctured his shoulder.  He then ran outside screaming and all the teachers ran to him.  Of course this was my first day and I had no idea what to do, so I followed them inside.  The paramedics had to be called (plombiers) had to come to the school, and one told us that if the handle had been a little closer to the boys artery he could have bled out in three minutes.  It was frightening, and made it difficult to focus for the last class.  Hopefully Friday is more normal at the second elementary school.

This afternoon I am going to the Côte de Granit Rose with my roommates and next Monday we are attending our first soccer match: Guingamp v. Morocco  (the best part is that our tickets only cost €5.50)...hopefully this will give me good pictures and something more to write about!