was a good day.
In the Premiere L I played Jeopardy with the kids for our last day. After Noémie and Faustine chose Pop Culture for 100, this went down.
Me: What country is Justin Bieber from?
Faustine: Los Angeles.
Good thing I'm not responsible for geography lessons! At the end of class, Romane and Faustine asked if they could come to class again next week. I told them we were playing the same game (because I see 1/2 the class each week) and they seemed practically giddy over it. So this is awesome. Except now I have to come up with new questions. Blurg. Anyone have question suggestions? Rhyme! (Later, Aurélie asked if she could come back as well. I hate being lovable/only having one activity that makes the kids say
gimme gimme more gimme more.)
Also at the end of class, Noémie (remember the OS/original stalker?) gave me a bracelet that says "Jessica" so that I'll think of her. Sweet. Also, she's not a stalker anymore. Chick's got a bfriend and like mad friends now. So that's awesome. And it's all because I pushed her away?
While I was walking down the hallway yesterday, I was going through a cluster of my favorites (Terminale ES and Euro) and I heard my name being said in a whisper/real voice. So I turned and asked, "Yes?" It was Anaïs (not Charlène's bff). When I looked at her, she looked like she had been caught. Basically she was saying my name like I'm a celebrity.
Overnight celebrity? Maybs more like 7 month celebrity. But who's counting?
Things that didn't happen yesterday:
Last time I did laundry, I discovered why it takes 4 hours to do one load. Because the woman who moves my clothes from washer to dryer puts like 4 things in the dryer at a time. TOPS! Frickin' ridiculous. Since then I've basically taken to drying things on my "balcony."
Remember
that time Favorite Marie found out that I'm Irish? Well, later that week, I went to visit Nicole's class because the kids didn't feel like coming to me. Yes,
la paresse/laziness is rewarded here. (Actually, it's because they were just so stressed about the practice exam that was 5 weeks away. At least, that's what Nicole said. Pity for me?) Anyway, they were learning about Northern Ireland (because apparently English classes here are
plus ou moins obsessed with that topic and Nicole was trying to get them to figure out Irish immigration to the United States. Eventually someone nailed it on the head, and Nicole asked me about St. Patrick's Day celebrations, mentioning that they are big deals in Chicago and New York. I told her that they happen in other locations as well. (What up, St. Brendan School St. Patrick's Day Pageant of my childhood? There are a lot of capital letters in that sentence.) And I said how it's important in my family. Favorite Marie was looking at me with maybs like the biggest smile everrrr. And then Nicole nodded her acceptance of my answer and Marie turned to Favorite Charlène (who, side note, was dressed like a chicken for Carnevale) and excitedly informed her I'm Irish.
This can bring me to a slight tangent in which I let you know that French people are obsessed with origins. Probably because they're obsessed with stopping immigration. Because most outsiders (and you can probably guess which ones) are not welcome.
This week I had my last class with the first group I ever taught. Really sad stuff, y'all. But we took a photo together, so it was basically the greatest moment of my life. It's up on Facebook. I don't know the legality of reposting it here since they're minors.
Also this week I've been administering practice oral bac exams, which means that I spend hours listening to the students discuss a text and a document. Awesomely, for the group of 17 students, there's only 4 texts, so I can give you a super-detailed analysis of excerpts from
Matilda,
Jazz by Toni Morrison (Blues Man is the name of the excerpt),
Gattaca (called "Human Possibilities"), and
Having It All by Maeve Haran. Thankfully, I get to give them different visual documents to analyze. Still, though. It's exhausting to spend 2 hours listening to people talk without giving a response. Welp, I've only got 2 students left!
Also, someone's been stealing my butter.
Suspiciously,
Jess
