Monday
Looking forward to a day teaching French to children in 7 schools across the Borough - a stressful and rushed day, but enjoyable. The timetable runs something like this:
09:00 First School. Teach 30 children in a G4 class - it's their second lesson so we brush up on greetings and introduce numbers.
09:40 Leave for next school
09:50 Start lesson at second school - a G5 class of 30. They have had French previously so I fast track to number games. A few little "darlings" to cope with here who swagger around and try to act like the class entertainers (I say "try" because they don't get very far...)
10:30 Leave for third school.
10:40 Start lesson in a combined G5/6 class of around 60(!). Some have had French previously and we have a really good lesson. They want to know how I learned French, so I explain that I learned at school and now speak French as well as I speak English. They are intrigued, and it feels good to have sparked their interest.
11:15 Leave for next school.
11:30 Start lesson in a G5 class of around 25. They have had French previously but are very reserved. We play lots of number games and this helps to bring them out of their shell.
12:00 LUNCH! My first break of the day.... phew!!!
13:00 Start lesson at fifth school - on a housing estate with a poor reputation in a very deprived part of the Borough. The children are wonderful! They thrive on French lessons as lots of the low ability children are able to access the lessons in ways that they cannot do with Literacy and Numeracy. They have done their homework and can recite off by heart the poem I taught them last week - wow! Time to leave, and I have a G5 child hanging on to my arm begging me to stay... bizarre but heartwarming.
13:40 Leave for next school.
13:50 Start lesson in sixth school. This is a school with a very good reputation in a good part of the Borough - a very good catchment area. However, the G5 class is a nightmare! 30 children, mostly swaggering, bragging boys. I know I'm on to a hiding to nothing when I see that the desks are all arranged in three ranks...a sure sign that the teacher is trying to manage a boisterous class by splitting them up... But they remember me (and my rules...) from last lesson and very quickly get into the swing. A successful (if rowdy) lesson.
14:30 Leave for last school.
14:40 Start lesson in a G5 class of around 30. I didn't teach this class last week, so we are new to each other... The usual handful of children (mostly boys) who like to push the boundaries, but they quickly fall into step. This class isn't used to my language teaching methods, and are a little reluctant at first to join in with poems and games, but by the end of the lesson they have all had fun.
15:30 Phew! Taught around 240 kiddos today - I think I deserve a rest and a coffee...
Tuesday and Wednesday
Today
Now today was totally off the wall. Got up as usual and travelled to my assignment 35 miles away, only to be told that I had been double-booked! I don't know how things work in USA, but over here we tend to sign up to Teaching Agencies (at a much reduced rate of pay...) who offer us work. This assignment had been in my diary for well over two weeks, so it was a bit of a shock to travel all the way there to find that it didn't actually exist... Mixed feelings of resignation (I suppose these things do happen occasionally and being stoical about it is really the only thing to do) and annoyance, mainly due to the fact that petrol over here is so expensive (around $2.20 per litre). Oh well, now I get time to do that job application I've been putting off..
I'll also be working on a few more St Patty's Day activities today. There are already lots of resources in my shop and in my TPT shop, but I need to add some Literacy stuff and a few activity packs.
Also, make sure you check out our Giveaway competition. You can enter here.
Have a good Thursday!
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