Small people

October 8th

Finished my first week of teaching – I think it is going alright, considering that I have no experience and have been given no real guidance or materials by the schools.

I haven’t spent time around children for a long while, and I’d forgotten how they are – even quite simple instructions in French sometimes seem lost on them, they whine incessantly if they don’t all get a turn, and the youngest ones need reassurance and praise all the time. Most of the classes are mixed ages, which is particularly hard with the youngest ones – I have classes with six to ten year olds in, and engaging the bright oldest ones without losing the slowest little ones is impossible. If I give them worksheets, which works fairly well to calm them down and get them concentrating, they will unfailingly call me over individually (I answer to many names – maitresse, teacher, Rosanna, Virginia…) and ask if they can write in pen, in blue, in pink, in felt tip, do they need to write the date, can they colour in the pictures, can they use felt tips to do so... It’s endearing, but exhausting! I think the lack of initiative is due to a combination of the French school system, which really emphasizes identical copperplate handwriting and using the correct colour pen for date (blue, underlined in red), then leaving the correct space and margin for the subject (red, underlined in red) and the title (blue, underlined in blue), and a child’s natural urge for praise and conformity. I remember all those crippling anxieties I felt as a small child about the tiniest things, and the need for reassurance from teachers, so I try to be understanding.

The perks of working with little ones are not lost on me though…much more encouraging than surly teenagers - they do get so enthusiastic, and even if they aren’t learning very much it is sweet when they see me in the supermarket and come and say hello or tell their parents ‘that’s my English teacher!’ as if I’m some rare breed. Two little girls came over today purely to do the bises with me, which was the first time I’ve done it with kids. It takes a lot of getting used to, especially with children, because your child protection alert sirens go off, but it’s obviously perfectly normal here. I’ve already offended and/or amused several teachers who moved in for the kisses by ducking out of the way! It’s an involuntary reaction – my brain doesn’t compute in time what is happening, so I think I’m in their way and just back off. It’s quite embarrassing, particularly as it is still very hot here and I’m always bathed in sweat, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to deter them. Tu and vous is another predictable minefield, because I assumed that I could just play it safe by using vous, but the younger teachers look sort of jokily offended and say ‘Oh no, I’m not that old, you can use tu with me!’. Then I forget who has told me to tutoyer, and revert to vous, and duck when they try to kiss me. They are being friendly and tolerant with me, despite my social and linguistic ineptitude.