Lesson Plan | Michael Jackson and Games with Sad Planet Earths

I finally called in sick for the first time this week, but my teachers were super nice about it (they even go so far as to try to get me more time off…what is this life?). When I went back in after, I felt pushed to the limit by a group of uncharacteristically uncooperative students, even though I almost always love the job and feel energized by it even when students are difficult. However, having other classes moonwalk and get really excited about telling me about environmental problems totally made up for it.

image(3)

While I’ve been trying to avoid needing to take my laptop with me to class, I went with a lesson this week where I wouldn’t have to do too much speaking. A lot of students had been telling me that they liked music, so I decided to show them a clip of “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson and gave them a worksheet where they had to fill in certain words to keep them focused.Read more

Staying productive during TAPIF

I’m having trouble focusing on my work right now, which makes it the perfect time to write about how I’ve managed to stay productive while I’m here, right? Here’s what’s worked most of the time (other than today, apparently): Forcing some structure on my time: Can’t remember where I first read this, but there’s something calledRead more

Six Months in! Chuckling at my first impressions of Bethune

I’ve officially been in France for 6 months, but it feels like a lifetime since I first got to Bethune slightly dazed and with zero expectations. I found a note on my phone about my first impressions of Bethune that I jotted down while waiting outside the train station; it’s way too embarrassing to share in itsRead more

Arras: Highs and lows

Footprint: 5.7 kg of CO2

Nord Pas de Calais doesn’t seem to get the love it deserves from some travel guides / the rest of France, but I really love it. There’s a lot of fascinating local history and the beffrois (belltowers) that can be found in a lot of towns are pas mal (not bad!).

IMG_2556

View from the Arras beffroi

Read more

Lesson Plans | Lessons I’ve learned

Here are some lessons I learned by the halfway point in my time here: Sometimes (usually) lessons will not go the way they were planned. Even when I carefully pick the exact wording I’m going to use to make everything as clear as possible. And it’s better to roll with that and adjust the lessonRead more

[Lesson Plans] Holiday Trees

This week, I’ve had students in both my schools again, but seeing how it’s right before Christmas break (and some of them have been out of school for a few days), even the normally well-behaved groups were off the walls.

It was my first time actually working with some of my students this week, and I ended up having them for 10 minute chunks instead of a half-hour, so I’d usually end up doing a little bit of intro stuff (what are your hobbies) and then do a shorter version of the lesson. I had hesitated to do a Christmas lesson, but one of my students specifically asked me to do one last week, so I decided to focus on a topic where I wouldn’t have to worry about laicete…Read more

1 2 3 4 5 6 7