Hello...my...name...is...Hannah

To French school children, I am a superstar. Some of them actually cheered when I entered the room. I spent today observing in 2 different French primary schools. The first one is kind of unorganized, which makes me a little nervous. I think I’m supposed to be teaching 5 different classes, but today I only observed 3 and only one of them was an English class…so we’ll see. They also didn’t seem too concerned with telling me what the kids were learning in English and what I should prepare for next week.

I’m only teaching one class at the second school, and that teacher was really excited to have me there. We also thankfully discussed what we’d be doing next week when I actually start teaching. It made me feel much calmer after the craziness in the morning.

The kids found me to be fascinating. Whenever I entered a classroom all eyes were on me, and if I sat at the back of the class their heads would whip around to stare; if I caught them looking they would grin and turn quickly back around. There was also a lot of pointing and whispering. This was partly cute, partly funny, and partly unnerving. I wasn’t offended at all, but it’s weird to be constantly watched and to feel like an object of wonder. I was really glad when I had a moment alone in the teachers’ lounge (well, room). When I walked up to the second school, kids started shouting “Hello!! Hello!! Goodbye!” The teacher said the kids were “ravi” to have me there. One boy asked me if I was Hannah as in Hannah Montana. When I told him yes, his level of excitement made me think that I had just told him I was Hannah Montana. I clarified that we merely shared a name, but he seemed equally enthused…go figure. I showed one group of students some dollars that I still have in my wallet, and they nearly jumped for joy. A couple of them suggested that I make copies so that they could have a souvenir. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything illegal.

Since I’ve never been to public school, it’s kind of hard to compare French and American student-teacher relations. Some of the teachers joke around with the kids, but in general, they all seem pretty strict. I’m going to try not to look scared when they start scolding/yelling at the kids.