Mondays are rough, as I've admitted numerous times in my blog. This week, I was returning from my holidays in Paris, which were wonderful and adventurous but also tiring. I don't think I fully recovered from the alcohol consumption of New Year's until yesterday (Tuesday). Not saying I want to be in that position again. I guess I should say, I don't like alcohol as much as many of my friends. For one thing, it causes sleeplessness for me, the total opposite from most people, and for another, I regularly take medication that can interfere with it. I think alcohol can be enjoyed in complete moderation and care, and I certainly have to be careful. I don't think I will try anything with an alcohol level above 15 percent ever, just because I know the feeling of misery that is associated with that. So, I am deliberately limiting myself to wine and beer, perhaps for good reason. The occasional rum cocktail can be thrown in there, but only in miniscule, small doses. I'm fully aware of the effects of alcohol and the mental impairment associated and choose to abstain except for special occasions. This is not a resolution to stay away from drinking; rather, it is to have an awareness of the potential risks and handling them with care. And that's a continual theme for the upkeep of my well-being and health.
Despite the fatigue, I returned to school as normal Monday with only two classes to teach. I decided to return to the Superhero theme that I started before the vacation. The kids seemed to like it. I think they even enjoyed designing their own superhero. Such a male theme, so I'm sure the guys enjoyed it even more than the girls. Whatever, superhero anything is an American theme, and French people are not to accustomed to it. The next day (yesterday), I looked at a theme of hobbies, showing the middle schoolers different videos such as dancing, camping, and kicking the ball. I decided to return to very basic concepts, seeing as their level was pretty low. BBC British Council Learning English Kids seems to have a wealth of video and interactive resources available to ESL teachers, and I took full advantage of their offerings.
Tuesday evening, I started a new theme in the Personal Conversation class for the Secondes (sophomores), Rich! The concept is to imagine that we're in the year 2025, that one has won the lottery or "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and has one's own dream job. So, I had the students write down a full profile of who they will be in 15 years as a rich and famous person. Afterwards, I had them imagine being journalists interviewing these famous, rich people of the future, and they prepared a series of questions. Finally, I had them interview each other in line, with two lines (one for the journalists; one for the rich people). Each journalist in the line asked the rich or famous person one question and we rotated until just about everyone had the chance to speak. It was a good activity to keep conversation running constantly for about 30 minutes and the kids seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. I should say, I regularly consult the British Council of the BBC for help, and this idea, which I adapted to fit each situation, has made for a truly interactive learning process. This game has been used today, Wednesday, and will complete its cycle on Monday with my other students. (I think the Tuesday evening conversation class is a great group to experiment with, to see which topics could be potentially interesting to all the others; so, I choose them as my guinea pigs from now on.)
Wednesday afternoon was pleasing and relaxing. I decided to start a Literary Study of the ESV, which will involve a complete look at the Bible from cover to cover, with an approach that is more thematic rather than starting from Genesis and working to Revelation. For example, the approach begins with passages from Psalms, Genesis, Ecclesiastes, and 1 Corinthians. Reading passages in this way will help me immensely as it will be more methodical and organized by topic. I'm really excited. It's a good New Year's resolution to do this ESV literary study, which I found through a link that my friend Devin W. posted a couple days ago. There are many methodical approaches out there, even one that provides a two-year tour through the Bible that I may look into for following years. Following my daily reading routine, I proceeded to listen to some music while starting the "Death of Ivan Ilitch," by Leo Tolstoy, which I read in a French/Russian edition that I found fascinating. Even though I don't know a word of Russian or have a familiarity with the Cyrillic alphabet, I find Russian literature satiable and enjoyable. I would love to have a reading knowledge of the language someday. And perhaps I will be able to, by returning to Middlebury and could use it for research purposes in my PhD program.
Engaging the middle schoolers into meaningful discussion has continued to be a challenge. But as the English teacher, Cecile B., has said, you have to be patient with the sixth graders and do simple things and not be too ambitious. I get that, I think. So, I have gone back to a subject that hopefully is somewhat familiar to which they can connect, hobbies and sports. Basically, my lesson has consisted in providing them with a vocabulary of these things, very simple and basic. Unfortunately, Thursday afternoon was a disaster as I chose to print out handouts that were too difficult for the students. Not only that, but there was no projector in the room, making me improvise further and without much success. I suppose I was too ambitious with them, seeing as the product of the lesson was to engage in a conversation about hobbies. The worksheet sucked, and I had to explain everything before the kids could even attempt the assignment.
The end of the week was better, however. My terminale students seemed to like the interview process with the journalists and rich people. Good lesson, which as I've mentioned before, facilitates conversation and keeps everyone talking for thirty minutes or longer. As for the middle schoolers, this afternoon was also much better. I requested a room change to one that has a projector and computer, two things I'm finding are almost essential for middle school and for some high school lessons. My videos from the BBC did not work. SOL. But I was able to find a substitute video that helped show dancing as a hobby (Dancing with the Stars finale). I also had some visuals for the sports activities. I taught the kids how to say, "I love" or "I hate" in place of like or dislike, and conducted the lesson in conversation format. I ended up reviewing weather terms that I'm sure the kids had learned before and with an interactive maze game which the kids took turns playing on the projector board. Yes, my first week of 2011 was a success. And now, I can rest and relax for the weekend.
On another note: Ordered TGV ticket to Lyon for the 28th, so I'm definitely venturing down to the Rhone Alps at the end of the month, for the primary purpose of seeing my friend Camille in a Brecht play, but also, just to explore the city for a couple days. Looking forward to traveling again after four weeks of normal routine.
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