So where to
start?! I arrived in Denbigh for the second time in optimistic fashion, after a
fun- filled yet informative five day training course two weeks previous. After
another day’s training with the ever- enthusiastic Michael, my fellow Frenchies
were ready to hit the south of France !
After having
arrived in Nice, despite being a regular visitor to this part of the world, I
could not help feeling an element of shock. After initially believing that
Monday was scheduled as a settling- in day, Gemma and Chris soon announced upon
arrival that we would be going into school on the Monday! And alas… we could
even be teaching on our first day! K
So after a
broken sleep in my bunk bed, (largely thanks to Ben for unmentioned reasons) I
headed for the bus station at the late hour of 7am. Admittedly, I did not
anticipate being so nervous until some of my fellow Leonardos, namely Brenda, left
the bus together, leaving me alone to meet Chris at the College de l’Esterel
bus stop! For a short time my nerves were reduced by the calming presence of
Chris, but nevertheless ten minutes later I found myself speaking French to the
school’s Principal. Presumably, he was explaining the ‘emploi du temps’ for the
day, but it would be a lie to say that I understood very much.
There were
moments at this stage where I had a reality check. Thoughts such as ‘Oh mon
Dieu’ and ‘What the hell am I doing here’ were most certainly at the forefront
of my mind! However, hindsight is a marvellous thing, and on this occasion I
can look back and take a number of positives from the first morning with regard
to life experience.
It was also on
this day that I met my mentor, and now friend, Valerie. She’s a delightful
woman, full of energy and enthusiasm about teaching English. She was also the
first person in the school to have spoken to me in English outside of the
classroom, so she most definitely helped to ease the headache! Sadly, as I
write, it has been a week since I saw her due to a serious car crash which left
her hospitalised. Hopefully, I’ll see her again before I leave, unless that
will be one of my deepest regrets.
Moving on,
Thursday arrived and I was itching to get started with the teaching. I arrived
to school that morning anticipating another day of observing. The observing was
interesting initially, but there are only so many times you can watch teachers
repeating lessons, although it was interesting to see how the same lesson can
receive so many different responses from different groups of students. As so
often happens in life, a shock lay ahead of me on the gorgeous Thursday
morning. Valerie announced that Chris had contacted the school the previous
evening and told Mssr Cassubie that I would be being observed that very day.
“Merde”, I thought. Although I wanted to teach, I was not ready to be observed
on my first day! After the initial frustration, I dusted myself down, and with
the help of Valerie created a lesson about the school system in England .
I soon found out that I would be teaching the most infamously badly behaved
class in the school! Anyway, to cut a long story short, the lesson went
reasonably well, and despite Valerie appearing more nervous than me, the class
appeared to enjoy the lesson.
From this
moment on, I could classify myself as part of the staff of the College de
l’Esterel. I was now a teacher of English. Eeeeek! It only seemed five minutes
ago that I was sleeping in until at least ten every day at uni! Now I was
getting up at 6am every morning to essentially throw myself to the lions! But
dya know what? I loved every minute of the teaching. The whole experience can
only be described as one of the best of my life. However, the month did not
pass without a number of comedy moments…
One of the most
notable was when a class was misbehaving wildly, and after all of my classroom
management techniques had failed, I decided to start writing names on the
board. A small, innocent girl spoke when I was talking and I used her as an
example to the rest of the class. However, I wrote her name on the board
incorrectly, which led to laughter from the class, prompting me to shout, “JE
M’EN FOUS” to the class. For those of you who don’t know French very well, this
roughly translates to ‘I don’t give a ****’ in English. To say this statement
quietened the room is an understatement! There were a number of other incidents worth
noting, but that can be for another time.
There are many
other things I could write on this blog, but I will post another one in the
near future. However, there are a number of special mentions I would like to
make for people who have helped to make this experience so memorable. Firstly,
Michael. He may be a Newcastle fan, and he may
have annoyed me on the last night when trying to come into my room at 1am, but
he most definitely enriched the project for every single person in France . From
the interview in Manchester ,
to the last observation, one could sense his genuine passion for teaching
English, and his innovative style was contagious. I can only hope that one day
I will be as respected as he clearly is in the profession! Secondly, I would
like to thank Celine and Catherine for giving me the opportunity to participate
on the Leonardo project. I believe that they deserve credit for allowing young,
inexperienced teachers the opportunity to utilise their skills, and fight for
the youth of Britain
to find jobs in teaching English! UKLC is most definitely a company that I
would recommend to anyone in the field of TEFL. I have worked for a number of
companies in my life, but never have I felt such a team ethic!
I would also
like to thank Gemma and Chris (although I’m not sure they’ll read this) for
their hard work in France !
They were always there if anyone needed help, and credit to them for the way
they organised the project with the schools! Finally, I would like to thank my
fellow Leonardos. I did not get to know you all as well as I would have liked
(mainly because I only talked about myself LOL), but certain people I will make
an effort to keep in touch with!
Merci, Aurevoir
Mark x
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