Week 5: Wednesday

I didn’t have any teaching planned for this day as it was the half day. I don’t usually do much on this day because school finishes so early. Most of my teaching takes place in the afternoon, therefore I don’t have the opportunity to do much. However, when I went into school I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the teacher wanted me to help out with a maths lesson. This lesson was in French; however, numbers are the same in every country, therefore, I had a good understanding of the topic. The children were working on decimals and the teacher had set up a task in the corridor that she wanted completed. I was in charge of this station and had to ensure that the children were successful. My purpose was not to tell them the answer but guide them in the right direction. I always find maths lessons so interesting to watch as it is one of the lessons that I can really follow and understand.

During this lesson one thing I noticed that differs to the way in which we teach maths in Scotland is their use of the decimal place. They use a comma instead of a point which I found strange. At the beginning of the lesson I had to ask the teacher if it was decimals they were learning because of the point being expressed as a comma. She confirmed that this was the way in which decimals are written in France. I found this very interesting as over the past five weeks I have noticed small but significant differences between the two curriculums. During the lesson I tried my best to pick up and understand the French terminology in relation to this topic, however, it was very hard to follow. I just had to use my knowledge in English to help the children complete their task.

The task involved a number line that the teacher had created in the corridor outside the classroom. It went from zero to five. The children were given cards with various decimal numbers on them and their goal was to stick them on the correct place in the number line. Most of the children found this very simple, however, the numbers that seemed to catch everyone out was numbers such as 2.06 and 4.05. The children weren’t registering that zero has to come before one, therefore, were placing the cards at 2.6 and 4.5. I tried my best to explain to the children why this was incorrect, so they could change their answers.

I also used my time today to record myself reading two books. Both of these books were on the topic of colours and I had used them to teach this area of English to the CP classes. My teacher suggested that it would be a nice idea for me to record myself reading the books so that they would be able to use this in the school in the future. She also suggested that it would be a good idea for her to record herself reading the books in French, so I can take the recording back to Scotland with me and use it when I am teaching French as a qualified teacher. I had the best time doing this as it is something special that I will be able to keep forever. It is things like this that are allowing me to make the most of my learning from life experience. Making resources for my future teaching whilst in France is something that not many people will be able to say they have done.

Having this experience and understanding the difficulty of teaching a foreign language to children is equipping me with skills that will be essential in the future. It has allowed me to become more passionate about learning languages and I would love to have the opportunity to improve my French and return one day. This experience has showed me the importance of language and how learning language from a young age benefits each child.

Week 5: Monday

Monday is the one day of the week where I do the least teaching, however it gives me a chance to observe various lessons and plan for the week ahead. I am beginning to understand more and more French as the weeks go on. This is proving to be very helpful as the supply teacher who works on a Monday does not speak much English. Being submerged in the French language and culture has allowed me to pick up words and phrases. I still don’t feel confident having a full conversation in the language due to the speed that native speakers talk and the complexity of the language. I am proud of myself for attempting to speak French when I am in school and making an effort with the children. I feel as though I haven’t been able to form as strong a relationship with the children on this placement as I did during my professional practice in Scotland. This is definitely due to the language barrier.

I observed the children take part in an English lesson where they revised the concept of time. I found it very interesting that this was a topic taught to children in the primary school. When I began learning French not once did I ever have a lesson on time. One thing I have noticed in France is that children are taught language in a very practical way. They are taught vocabulary and grammar that they would be likely to use in life. I believe that this is something we should adopt in Scotland. Learning French throughout high school I found that we were not taught conversational French, we spent a lot of time reading and writing, when more time should have been focused on speaking.

Before lunch time the children had PE, we walked along to the local sports centre where the children were doing gymnastics. I always love having the chance to watch the children take part in creative subjects outside of school. Because the school timetable is so structured and form what I’ve seen, a little bit boring, it is great to see the children enjoying themselves. PE is the time in the week where the children can let their hair down and be children. They don’t have to sit with pen and paper. It is great to see how much fun they are having whilst taking part in this subject. I think it is a good thing that the school take the children out of school and make use of the facilities that are close by. I think this should be something encouraged in Scottish primary schools.

Having an observation day was very good, however I am looking forward to getting stuck in to teaching tomorrow. I am very excited to have the opportunity to do a lesson about Scotland and show the children my hometown as well as some things that are traditionally Scottish. I have been asked by the teacher to play the national anthem. I am looking forward to sharing where I come from with the children.

Week 5: Tuesday

I was nervous going into this day as it was my first day teaching the CM2 class. This was daunting as CM2 is the oldest class in the school and I have never done a lesson with them before. I have gotten very used to teaching the CP children who are the youngest. Having observed the CM2 class many times of the past four weeks I have gotten to know the children and gain an understanding of how they learn. There are some very big characters within the class, therefore, I was anxious to see how they react to the way in which I teach English.

In the morning I had a chance to get my resources together and make sure that everything was in place for the lesson. The children had maths in the morning before I taught my going shopping lesson. I had to ensure that I was able to recall both the English and French words for the various types of shop as this was a topic they have never done before. I was worried going into the lesson about how easy/ difficult they would find the topic. However, knowing that my teacher would be there to help if I needed it made me feel more at ease.

The lesson was a success and I was so relieved that all went well. As the children in CM2 are the oldest in the school they have a good level of English. This meant that learning new vocabulary was simple for most of them. Vocabulary was the main focus and the children picked this up very quickly. I used flashcards with pictures of various types of shop to teach the vocab before moving on to different games. One of the games involved the children closing their eyes while I removed a flashcard from the board, they then had to look and tell me which shop was missing. This proved to work very well as it required the children to think about the words they had just learned. Being able to recall the vocabulary was the main aim of the lesson and I am very happy that I managed to achieve this. I believe that repetition is the key when introducing new vocabulary. I was also able to test the children’s understanding of the items you would find in various shops. I was surprised that they were able to tell me so many different items that could be found. This allowed me to see that this class are very competent in English, meaning that I can give them more challenging task in the future.

I believe that moving forward with the topic of going shopping, I must begin to introduce more challenging vocabulary. I think I should also begin to ask them questions regarding the topic in English. This way they will be able to further develop their language skills. I will continue to play games with the vocab as I believe this is a good way to make a lesson interactive and keep the children engaged throughout. I already have ideas regarding what I could do for my next lesson on the topic of going shopping.

I continued the topic of colours with the CP classes. I have really enjoyed teaching this topic because the children have been very enthusiastic, and it has been rewarding watching them develop their language skills. As they are becoming more confident with the colours I am able to do more complex activities and games with them. I am really enjoying having the opportunity to work with the younger members of the school and using different teaching strategies.

Since I have now done a few lessons on the topic of colours I thought it would be a fun idea to teach them the song ‘I can sing a rainbow’. This song lists all of the colours in the rainbow. I found that my first CP class of the day found this very difficult. As I have mentioned in previous reflections, this is the case for most lessons I have taught. I have yet to learn why this is however, it meant that I just had to take the lesson slower and use more repetition. By the end of the lesson the children were becoming more confident with the song, however, still needed my input.

I was very excited when I went into my second CP class as they seem to soak up information and are very confident in their English. They picked up the lyrics very quickly and were able to remember them without me singing along every time. This was very rewarding to see as it meant that my teaching style was working for this class. I was so impressed with their singing that I managed to record the class singing and play it back to them. The enthusiasm in the younger classes makes every lesson so much fun and I always look forward to teaching in the CP classes. Because the children are so confident with their colours now, I think it might be a good idea to introduce some new vocabulary and a new topic.

Overall, I had a very successful day of teaching. This was the most I have taught in one day and it was great. I now have a good understanding of how all of he calls learn best. I look forward to further developing my teaching skills over the final two weeks of placement.

Week 4: Friday

Friday is one of my main teaching days of the week, therefore, I always look forward to this day. I love having lots to do and getting to spend time with different classes within the school. I begin each day in my CM2 class then throughout the day go to various areas of the school to teach. I really enjoy being in the CP classes as this has been my first experience of teaching children in the early years. I was anxious going into these classes in the beginning due to my lack of experience. However, I have found that that my confidence has grown each day and I now feel comfortable teaching this age group. I enjoy coming up with new lesson ideas. With the CP classes I have found that interactive lessons work best and allow the children to really engage. I have been teaching the topic of colours now for two weeks and I was looking forward to continuing this with the classes. They are all very enthusiastic about the topic and therefore work very hard when I am teaching.

In my fist CP class of the day I introduced my lesson idea of the colour wheel. The children were each given a circular piece of paper that had the colour names written on in segments. The idea of the lesson was that I put up the various coloured flashcards on the board along with the spelling and they had to colour in the corresponding word. Once this was completed they would get a second piece of paper with one segment cut up, after pinning this to their coloured in sheet they were able to spin the top piece of paper to reveal a colour. Creating the wheel took up most of the lesson, however, with the time we had at the end everyone used their colour wheel as a learning tool. I asked the children to show me various colours and they had to find it on their wheel and hold it up. This was very successful and allowed me to gage their level of understanding of this topic. Having taught all three classes for a few weeks now I have a good idea of the class level. I found that my first class of the day were very confident and did not struggle with the colour wheel. They proved that they were very competent in relation to the topic of colour. All of the children in the class were able to answer my questions and did not struggle to recite the colours.

I found that the other CP classes that I went to see after lunch struggled more than the first class. I don’t know the reason for this, however, this has been a trend over the previous weeks. When colouring in the wheel a lot of the children were getting mixed up with the colours, colouring words the wrong colour. I was very confused as to how this was a challenging task as I provided them with the colour and the name. I am curious as to whether these classes are younger that my first class and are therefore working at a lower level. Reflection on this, I believe that in future lessons I could simplify the lesson for those unable to recall information from previous weeks.

Differentiation is something that is not practiced in France. All children in all classes work on the same textbooks and complete the same tasks. This is something I have found very interesting as in Scotland, differentiation is a major aspect of teaching. We are taught about the importance of ensuring children are working at the level that is right for them. However, if children are forced to complete the same work from primary one level and are given the time and attention from the teacher, who is to say that not having differentiation doesn’t work? I have found that being in a French school for four weeks now has allowed me to see that all children seem to be coping with their work. They are all very capable at the level they are working at. This shows that the sue of differentiation is not essential. If children work at the same level from a young age, they can all work at the same level at the same time.

Overall, I had a successful day and week teaching. I challenged myself and thought of new and creative ideas for lessons. I am looking forward to going into next week as I am teaching even more lessons. I am excited to finally be teaching my CM2 class the topic of going shopping and I hope that I am successful with CM2 as I have been with CP.

Week 4: Thursday

I was happy to find out that my teacher was back from her course and would be teaching the class today. I didn’t have any plans on my timetable to go into any other classes today, therefore I stayed with CM2 all day. I enjoy being with the CM2 class as they are the oldest in the school. It is very interesting watching and observing how they work and the lessons they participate in. As it was Thursday the French student teacher was also in to carry on her lesson that she taught two weeks previous. They children really engaged with her lesson the last time she taught, so I was looking forward to watching the follow up lesson in the afternoon.

I was happy to have the opportunity to speak to Amélie about my experience from teaching the CP classes. It was the first time I had had the chance to discuss what I thought went well as well as asking for advice regarding future lessons. I told her that I was anxious about going into the classes on Friday as I believed that the children had a good understanding of the topic of colour and didn’t want them to get bored of the same thing. She gave me some great advice and suggested that I do a song with them relating to the topic of colour. Throughout my time at Romain Rolland my class teacher has gone above and beyond to make my experience memorable. She has given me some great advice and ideas as well as providing me with various resources to aid my lessons. I know that my experience would not have been the same without her. It has been very helpful having someone who is fluent in English to converse with as there is such a big language barrier between myself and the children.

I used some of the spare time I had today to plan lesson with the teacher. We thought of various lesson plans for both the CP classes and CM2. I was informed that I would begin teaching the topic of ‘going shopping’ on Friday with CM2. I have never taught this stage before even though I am in the class most of the day. I have observed how they work and the level they are working at. However, I have only ever played sound games with them. I am very anxious about standing up in front of the class tomorrow and teaching them. I believe my nerves could be due to their age. CM2 consists of children aged 10 and 11. Being a very young student I am aware that I am only a mere 10 years older than them. I have gotten to know the children in the CM2 class over the weeks, so I am hopeful that I will be able to produce a successful lesson that they engage with.

I have realised over the past couple of weeks that I have been teaching, how important it is to use resources such as flashcards with children. Teaching a foreign language is very difficult, however, children learn best from speaking and repetition. Each lesson that I have taught so far has included the use of flashcards. Children respond very well to this and are able to recall the information when it is presented to them in this form. I plan to continue using flashcards in my lessons as I believe that it is best resource for teaching a foreign language. There are many games that can be played with flashcards, this allows the children to be involved in their learning. Ensuring that lessons are interactive is essential in keeping the children engaged throughout. I hope that in the coming weeks, I further develop my teaching skills, improving lesson by lesson.

The French student teacher was also in today as it was Thursday. She was teaching a science lesson. The children were very enthusiastic and keen to get stuck into the practical activities that accompanied the lesson. The children had to take an artificial product for example a can or mobile phone and turn it into something natural. A lot of the children thought of various ways to grow things in their objects. It was very interesting to see how the children thrived throughout this lesson. Over the weeks I have noticed that practical lessons get the best response from the children. It is clear to see that they love being involved in their own learning. This shows the importance of including interactive lessons in the curriculum. Because of this I feel like I must make sure to make lessons as interactive as possible. I plan to use games and resources to do this successfully.

Week 4: Wednesday

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.

Week 4: Tuesday

Monday was the Easter bank holiday; therefore, Tuesday was my first day back in school after the weekend. I was looking forward to this week as I was now used to my weekly timetable.  I was prepared to teach in the various CP classes throughout the day. In the previous week I had begun the topic of colours. The children were vey engaged and enjoyed these lessons, however, there were still aspects of the topic that they struggled with. On Tuesday I decided that it would be a good idea to continue with the topic of colours. This would allow the children to revise what they learned in the week previous, whilst developing their vocabulary and pronunciation. I planned to begin the lesson in the same way as last time, using flashcards to test their knowledge. I also found that using a book relating to the topic was very effective. They children were very enthusiastic and were keen to answer questions. I prepared a different book for this day, still sticking with the theme of colours. I am hoping that this week I see a progression in knowledge before moving onto a different topic.

I began the morning in my CM2 class. I had the morning to sit at the back of the classroom and plan lessons around the topic of ‘going shopping’. I am going to be teaching this topic to the CM2 class later on in the week and the teacher was eager for me to plan various lessons around the topic to show her before I taught them. Having time on Tuesday morning was very helpful as I had the chance to look at the various resources that were available to me. I was able to translate the various phrases I would be using in English into French in case the children had difficulty understanding. CM2 is the oldest class in the school, therefore, they should have the best level of English in the school. Having spent a lot of time in CP now I have a greater understanding of how English is taught throughout the various stages of school. This has allowed me to plan successful as I have had the opportunity to watch other teachers teach the subject.

The CM2 class teacher Amélie was on a course on this day, therefore, the children had a supply teacher. It was interesting to see how the children would behave with a teacher they had never had before. This was not their usual supply teacher. At the start of the day the teacher asked the children to write their names on pieces of paper so that she would be able to call them by name. Most of the children did this, however, there was one child that thought it would be funny to write a different name. He was soon found out, and the class seemed to find it very funny. This showed me that no matter what country, or class you are in children always try to be funny and test boundaries with teachers that did not know them. Since I have been in their class for three weeks now, when I begin to teach them English I know that they will behave for me as they do with their normal teacher as I am aware of the structure of their day.

Watching the children with the supply teacher made me consider the approach that I must take when teaching the class. They are very well-behaved class, however, there are members of the class that like to have a joke from time to time and can be distracting. The school and classroom don’t have specific behaviour management strategies like most Scottish primary schools do. This makes it more difficult to implement them here. On my previous university placement, I adopted various behaviour management strategies from the class teacher as it was a proven way of addressing misbehaviour. This means that it will be very much trial and error with this class, using various strategies (if required) to see what works best. I am hopefully that I will be given the same respect that the give to their class teacher.

My first CP class of the day was very difficult, they were restless and did not listen to instructions well. I found myself getting frustrated as I kept telling them to listen and be quiet, but they did not stop. The teacher had to step in at one point to tell them off because of how restless they were. I also found that this had an effect on their learning. Because they weren’t listening to me as much as they should have been, there were not able to recall the information I was giving them. I read a different book this week and they found it very funny because it was called “What colour are your knickers”. This allowed me to realise that children that of CP age (6 and 7) are not mature enough to read a book like that. The nature of the book distracted from the topic. This meant that the lesson was not as successful as it could have and should have been. I just hoped that the CP classes after lunch would respond well to the lesson and engage without becoming restless and misbehaving.

After lunch I taught the other two CP classes the same lesson. I was worried going into these lessons due to the way in which the first class had acted. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the other CP classes were engaged throughout the course of the lesson. I extended the lesson because I had more teaching time. I allowed the children to become more involved in their lesson. I picked various pupils that were sitting nicely and listening to come and stand at the front of the classroom, while the other children described what colours they were wearing. The children responded very well to this part of the lesson as they felt as though they had an important role to play. I also found that the other CP classes were a lot more confident with their colours than the first class. This shows that the classes that stay engaged and are well behaved find it easier to recall information from previous lessons.

Moving forward I believe it is important to determine what behaviour management strategies are effective in the CP classrooms. Since the teachers don’t implement set strategies it is my responsibility to use my own and see what works for the individual class. This will ensure that the children are getting the most out of the English lessons.

Week 3: Friday

Having been out of the school for two days I was ready to get back into teaching. I was looking forward to teaching the topic of colours to the various CP classes within the school. Seeing how enthusiastic they were about English on Tuesday allowed me to feel very optimistic about the lesson. My CM2 teacher gave me so great tips and ideas regarding how to teach colours to the children. She gave me flashcards as well as English books to read to the children. I believe that using these various resources will engage the children and allow them to develop their English vocabulary.

As my CM2 class were still out of school on their sports week I had the morning to sit in the classroom and plan my lessons for the day. It is good to have planning time throughout the course of the school day, so I know exactly what I am doing with each class. Planning was simple on this day as I was teaching the three CP classes. This meant that I would be teaching the same lesson three times. I wanted to make sure my lesson was engaging as well as interactive and fun. Having taught one lesson previously to these classes I was aware of the various ways in which the children learn best. Speaking is the most important aspect of learning a foreign language and therefore I must ensure that all of my lessons focus on this skill. The teachers like English lessons to be taught completely in the language, only using French is the children are very stuck. For my lesson on colour I made sure that there was lots of opportunity for speaking.

I felt confident going into my first class of the day because I was well prepared and knew exactly what I was going to teach the children. Having three different resources meant that the children would not get bored and that there were various tasks for them to complete throughout the lesson. I had flashcards with various colours on them, a book that had different coloured animals and a game that involved the children recognising different colours in front of them. As I only have thirty-minute teaching slots I divided the lesson into three sections all ten minutes long. I believe that having a well-structured lesson ensures success.

 

I was warmly welcomed into my first CP class of the day, they were all very excited to see me. This made me feel confident and happy as I knew there was nothing to be nervous about. One thing I did notice however, was that when I begin speaking in English the children tend to laugh. I think this is because they are not used to hearing someone speak English with my accent. With the CP class I have to make sure that I hook them into the lesson quickly as they can become irritable and restless. This means that lesson have to be engaging and interactive in order to hold their attention.

The children in CP were very excited to find out the topic was going to be colours. This is because colour is something they were already familiar with. This meant that I could build on their vocabulary whilst improving their pronunciation of the words. I found that during the lesson two colours that they seemed to mix up were grey and green. These words do sound similar, so I am not surprised they found this difficult. With the words that were clearly more challenging I got the children to repeat after me several times. Each time the found it easier to pronounce the word. As I have mentioned in previous reflections, the children adopt a Scottish accent when pronouncing various words that they haven’t come across before. I find this amusing as it makes me realise how strong my accent really is. 

I found the same pattern in all three classes. It was the same colours that the children found difficult to remember or pronounce. Green, grey and brown are the hardest colours for the children to recall. I believe this is because they find it difficult to pronounce words that have a br or gr sound. Think me be because in French these sounds are pronounced differently. Learning a foreign language is a difficult thing, however, I believe that the youngest classes in the school are the most excited about learning English and find it easier to pick up new vocabulary. The emphasises the need for languages to be taught from an early age. I wish I had had the opportunity to learn French was a was a mere six-year-old. I believe that is this has been the way I was taught in school I would have come to France with the ability to converse easily with natives. However, this is not the case because in Scotland we don’t begin learning until we are nearing the end of primary education.

I believe that this was one of the most successful days I have had thus far during the learning from life placement. I was very confident when teaching and believed I conducted the lesson in a manner which the children enjoyed. They were very excited and always eager to answer my questions. I really enjoyed being with the young children in the school. I also believe that working in the CP classes is giving me a taster of what my early years placement will be like next year. I have gotten to know the different teaching styles needed when moving between the lower and upper school. I believe that moving forward I understand how to make lesson interactive and exciting for the early years. The children have come out of their shells with me and therefore it is important that I continuously build upon these relationships.

Over the past week I have started teaching in the various classes throughout the school and it has been the best week yet. Although observing was very interesting and helpful, I am in the school to teach English. I have been given many opportunities throughout the course of the week to teach English to three CP classes as well as CM1. I feel that actually teaching the children has allowed me to get to know them better and build successful relationships.

Week 3: Tuesday

On Tuesday I had the morning to plan before going into nearly a full day of teaching. This was very daunting as I had to teach various topics to different classes. I used the morning to translate different phrases, so I was able to speak both English and French to the younger children in CP as I was aware that their level of English is not great. I used the morning to make resources such as flashcards and PowerPoints. I was aware that one of the CP classes wanted me to talk to the children about myself and Scotland, so I thought it would be a good idea make a PowerPoint presentation full of various pictures of Scotland. It was important that I prepared a French translation for everything that I planned to say in English as the younger children would not understand what I was talking about.

There are three CP classes in Romain Rolland and I had the chance to teach each class today. I taught the first class about greetings and how to introduce yourself. This was very repetitive as I had to ensure that the children were able to remember, as well as pronounce the words. I taught them how to say, hello, goodbye, my name is, I am ____ years old and I am a boy/girl. This was a lot of information for them to take in. I made sure to use the white board to write and always gave them the French equivalent. I believe that moving forward with this class I could include games. Making the lesson more interactive will allow the children to remember phrases more easily. I am teaching this class again on Friday and I plan to prepare various games/ nursey rhymes. I think this class will enjoy it as they were very enthusiastic about English. They were all very keen to answer my questions and became more confident as the lesson progressed.

Teaching children in this stage of the school was very rewarding as they soaked up all the information like a sponge. This allowed me to reflect on the teaching of foreign languages in Scotland. It has been proven that the younger you begin learning a language the easier it is and the better you will be. Therefore, I think that languages should prioritised in the Scottish primary curriculum. From primary one children should be afforded the opportunity to have at least one or two lessons of language a week. Just doing a little bit every couple of days will allow the children to become more confident when they progress throughout school. Another thing I have noticed is that when I am teaching English, I have been told to speak in English as much as possible and try not to use French unless they really don’t understand. This is something that is not done in Scotland. I studied French to higher level and all of the way through high school we were spoken to in English. I believe this is a contributing factor as to why British people don’t find it easy to pick up a foreign language. I hope that when I become a qualified teacher I have to opportunity to teach a language in the way in which I know children will learn best. I would have jumped at the chance to learn a language from a young age, however, this is something that is not considered a priority within the Scottish education system. I have only been in France for just under three weeks and I have already picked up so much of the language merely from being around native French speakers. This shows that speaking in the language you are trying to learn is essential in developing your skill.

In the afternoon, I did the same lesson on greetings with the second CP class. They were very enthusiastic and responded well. However, this class found it more difficult to remember the words and sentences and needed more prompts than the other class. This shows that although that children are all the same age they are working at different levels. I found it very strange standing at the front of the classroom talking to a room of children who don’t speak my language. Teaching a foreign language is something I don’t have any experience of and I am finding it difficult. Explaining thigs in a way in which the children will understand whilst always using actions is very important, especially with the CP classes. I believe that moving forward I need to ensure that I have a sound I have an activity for the children to do, so that I am not up at the front of the classroom at all times.

I found that by my final class of the day I was a lot more confident teaching. I taught the same lesson three times and each time I believe that I improved and found the best way to engage the children in the lesson. I found that talking very slowly whilst constantly repeating the vocabulary was the most successful way to teach the children. They were very enthusiastic, and it is clear to see that they enjoy English lessons. On Friday I have been asked to teach the topic of colours. I believe that this is a topic will be a good one to teach as I can use flashcards as well as books and games, making the lesson interactive. The children respond very well to interactive lessons; therefore, I must ensure that I am always thinking of new ways to keep the children engaged.

Overall, I had a very successful first full day of teaching. I was very nervous going into this day, however, it has now given me the confidence to be creative and come up with new methods and ideas. I now have a good understand of how the CP classes work and what teaching strategies work well. I am looking forward to getting to know the children throughout the school more over the coming week as well as the other teachers.

Monday 26/03/18

On Monday I had my first experience in a CP classroom. Having spent the previous two weeks with CM2 I was very excited about observing and teaching various other stages within the school. Going from the oldest class to the youngest was a big change. It was interesting to see how teaching in the early years differs. The children in CP are aged six and seven. This is because in France children begin school at six, unlike Scotland where children can be as young as four years old.

There are three CP classes in Romain Rolland, however, I just observed one. The first thing I noticed going into the class was how young the children were, having gotten so used to working with the oldest class in the school this was a big jump. The day began with a

French lesson. The children were doing what we would understand as phonics. They were revising various new sounds before focusing on a new sound. I found this lesson very useful as I learned many new words. Because I don’t have a high level of French this basic French lesson taught me a lot.

In Scotland I believe that early years teachers adapt their teaching style to suit the younger children, taking on a more maternal role. I found that in France the teachers do not treat the younger children any different for the older ones. I believe that, in general, teachers in France are a lot stricter. Although I don’t totally agree with strict manner of the teachers, I have noticed that the children in France are very well behaved and respect the teacher. This shows that despite it seeming like a cold approach, it works well within the classroom. The children do not test boundaries and understand their place in the classroom even in the youngest primary.

After morning break the children had a French lesson on the topic of appearance. I stood up at the front of the class and they had to describe what I looked like and what I was wearing. The children in CP were very shy as I was a new face in the classroom. I walked around the class as the wrote down their descriptions. One thing that I noticed that surprised me was how neat their handwriting was. Having observed in early years classrooms in Scotland, handwriting is something that usually improves with age. However, the children in CP’s handwriting was just as good as the children in CM2. This may be to do with the strict teaching style most French teachers adopt. If something is not done correctly the child must do it again until successful. This also allowed me to think about the fact that children in France begin school at the age of six. This could be a factor in the level of work they are producing. From observing the CP class, I believe that starting school at age six is a very good thing. The children are at an age when they are ready to learn and do not need to be treated as babies.

In the afternoon I had some time to plan before doing my first English lesson in CM1. I was nervous as this was the first teaching opportunity I had had since arriving in France. I had planned a lesson around clothes. The children had to describe what they were wearing before doing a memory game with words and pictures. This proved very challenging as the CM1 class were very restless and noisy. I found myself having to constantly ask them to listen as they kept talking over each other. In France they don’t use the term behaviour management strategies and therefore teachers don’t have a set way to handle behaviour. I found this difficult as I could not imitate the teacher and had to try and resolve the behaviour on my own. I used both English and French to address the children that were distracting the class, however, because it was the last half an hour of the day the children did not settle. Despite this, I still managed to teacher my lesson. I believe that the children are very competent when it comes to the topic of clothes. They had a sound understanding of both the words and the pronunciation. I believe that moving forward more complex vocabulary can be added into the lessons to challenge them more. Overall, my first experience teaching was stressful but also very exciting it has given me a taster of what I can expect of the coming weeks. I believe that the use of games in relation to learning English is very important as it engages the children and allows them to associate the language with something fun.