.....so much has happened in the past few days and I'm so giddy with excitement, I hope I don't forget anything!
Ok for starters....
As you all know, I was expected to teach in l'académie de Créteil but you are probably thinking "Ok, so where in the academy will you be teaching?". Well thanks to the help of a very resourceful Spaniard, I was able to find out well in advance that I will be teaching in a commune 5.8 miles east from the center of Paris called Fontenay-sous-Bois.
I will be teaching elementary school students (or ecole primaire in French). However, there's slight confusion with my placement. How? Why? Well when I emailed my contact person (le conseillere pédagogique) she told that I would be teaching in 3, yes THREE, different schools! Naturally I was initially bummed by this news because I've been a teacher before and one school is a lot to handle let alone three! And to make matters more frustrating, le conseillere would not give me the names of the schools (mais c'est la France!)
The part of the commune where I'm teaching is pretty dull and boring looking, loaded with concrete buildings. Fontenay-sous-Bois neighbors Vincennes (to the west) so the areas closest to Vincennes are very nice, but the other areas.....kinda poopy. But I'm not complaining because I was given this great opportunity and I'm not passing it up, let's be real...it could have been way worse. Besides if worse comes to worse (aka if some shit goes down), I can always utilize the punches and kicks I learned in my kickboxing class!
Yes, you're still near Paris -- can't complain. And I can't imagine teaching in 3 different schools! You'll do nothing but walk! I'll have housing AND teaching at only one school, I can't believe it, I'm never going to leave the school lol!
ReplyDeleteHey hope you don't mind, I enjoy your writing, so I added you - feel free to add back, I'm starting to add more info about the assistantship programme/studying in France, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, re the teaching in 3 schools: seriously, don't worry about it. It may sound like a hassle, but I taught in 2, and quite enjoyed the diversity of it. You'll probs have kids from varied backgrounds depending on the school, which can be refreshing.
Raudel, I'm glad you housing is at least covered but if you ever want a break come visit me!
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