I have a lot of new students; most of those from last semester are in new groups this semester. I want to see them again & bring in my new students. I feel like I'm a big, American sister to them–at Pub Night, but can shut it off in the classroom. I don't want you guys worrying about my professionalism...
As I said, my students have changed a lot this semester. My schedule has changed a lot. My teaching has changed a lot; I'm more comfortable in the classroom & have become much more comfortable writing the lessons. The classes I'm teaching have changed a lot. Largely for the better.
This semester, Lauren & I are sharing ue201 classes–a review & build-up of phonetic skills & English accents. Lauren & I love games, since the students laugh AND speak in class. (It's hard to get both.) Should be a fun semester for teachers & students alike. My favorite game: Idiom Pictionary, because it involves them guessing the meaning of an idiomatic phrase that they've tried to draw. Let's play it the other way round. Tell me what these French idioms mean.
un coup de foudre: a blast of lightening
pas ma tasse de thé: (English gives it away...)
tomber dans les pommes: fall into the apples
Answers at bottom.
When I'm not playing games, I'm teaching one of the three groups of law students I had last semester. We're learning how to create arguments & express our opinions, which is fun because I have LOADS of opinions. So do these students.
Last week, we discussed humanitarian rights. What can the United Nations do to protect them? What should the top five human rights be? The debate got most heated when we talked about the environment. Is a clean environment a humanitarian right? How do we work with that? What is the "environment"? This week, our topic IS environmental protection. I'm already excited for tomorrow.
A class that has me equally excited for the discussion it will bring about is my third year English class, where we'll be digging into literary terms–graphic novels, films, short stories. I spent all of Friday gathering a list of literary terms that seemed challenging without being too long or too abstract. We'll begin with excerpts from Dave Eggers and Ernest Hemingway, then see where the semester carries us. Can you tell how much I'm smiling even as I type this? Never, ever did I imagine I would be lucky to create discussions about the two things I'm most passionate about–humanitarian works & creative writing–in a classroom.
Joe is still out teaching, & since I can't bring myself to go out we'll be spending the evening together, watching some French television & preparing for our classes tomorrow while drinking a pot of chamomile. I'm sure this all supports the image you have of us at a club with cardigan sweaters (like I told you in yesterday's post). It's a relief to have someone that understands my need for quiet evenings to lower the stress & emotions I've been feeling lately.
I look forward, in coming posts & coming conversations on these quiet nights in with Joe, to sharing the thoughts & discussions my students have. They're opening up much more this semester, & I'm already proud of them.
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ANSWERS to the idioms
un coup de foudre: love at first sight
pas ma tasse de thé: not my cup of tea
tomber dans les pommes: to faint
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