Madame Zech, the class teacher was still on a course this day. Therefore, the children had their normal supply teacher Madame Pasquer. They children are used to having this teacher every Monday and therefore consider her to be their teacher just as much as Amélie. It was very interesting to see the change in behaviour from the previous day. The children were a lot more settled and got on with their work as soon as they entered the classroom. This behaviour was what I had been used to seeing over the four weeks I have been in the school. This allowed me to realise that although the CM2 children are very well-behaved, they are still children and when given the opportunity to have a joke or misbehave they will take it. No matter what country or classroom you are in, children are all the same.

I was prepared going into this day that I would not be teaching as it was a half-day. However, this afforded me the opportunity to plan various lessons for the coming days as well as next week. The topic of going shopping is something that the teacher is really keen for me to teach. I have been planning over the past week various lessons I could do with the class. I have resources such as flashcards that I can use to teach the vocabulary. I am anxious to teach this topic as the vocabulary in French is not something I am familiar with; therefore, I must ensure that I learn both the English and French translation. I spent most of Wednesday morning translating phrases from English to French, so I had a good understanding of the vocabulary myself before teaching.

I don’t enjoy Wednesday as much as other days because I don’t have the opportunity to involve myself. I never teach any lessons, neither do I witness any English taking place. I use the time for planning, but it can get a bit boring as the morning consists for three hours. However, I do get to teach a lot on the other days. I just need to ensure that I come to school on Wednesdays with a plan. I can use this time to work on my blogs as well as plan lessons.

After this week I will only be in Romain Rolland for two more weeks. I can’t believe how quickly the time is going. I am enjoying the learning from life experience and I am so happy that I decided to come to France. This is the one opportunity during university to spread your wings and travel out of your comfort zone. I am so glad that I have taken on the challenge of working in a French primary school instead of staying in Scotland. I have had experiences that I would never had had if I had stayed in Dundee.