the day i got 100 passports

French media mail will be thanking me because I already have more books than I could possibly bring back to the USA.

Can I just say that the SPCD in Vichy is exceeding my expectations by so much. First, and most importantly, it is organized as all. It makes Carre International (where I got my degrees last year) look like it was organized by chimps. Seriously. I've been told from day one exactly which parcours I'm in, which professors I will have, which room I'm in, how to access our online platform, everything. Not once has a professor been unprepared or even uninteresting. I have a bunch more classes lined up and I hope that continues.

But what I appreciate the most is that everything I'm learning is practical in class. We spend very little time on theory and much more time on methods of implementation for our very diverse students' levels. Plus, we practice every worksheet and every game so we know how our students will feel.

I just finished my first year teaching and haven't had a real training yet because NJEA was cancelled last year. But I hope they are all like this because I'm learning so much.

New grammar books for my students plus 100 "passports for learning" that I will be using forever.

I'm most excited about the book in the middle, "Les Bulles de la France," which is a collection of Bandes Dessinees. The publisher asked a French comic to make a certain number of strips per theme. Then made educational worksheets out of each strip. It's super adaptable per level and authentic too!







Plus, I'm loving being a student again. Seriously, if I could be a student forever, I would be. Today our group had to do a group exercise where we pretend we decide to buy a house and we have to determine rooms, budget, chores, etc. Guess which group decided to sacrifice a second bathroom to install a jacuzzi and to add 50 euros a week to the budget for our party fund?

En stage

Some highlights of Vichy and the stage (teacher training) so far. 

-Vichy is so small that even when I got completely lost in town last night I managed to find my way and it only took me a half an hour. 

-My host family is wonderful. Super patient, welcoming, and good cooks. Plus, they have an adorable one-year-old and a super animated seven-year-old who loves to talk about any and everything. 

-It takes me three minutes to get to class every day. 

-The classes are well-organized and interesting. Right now I am in a daily program addressing how to favor oral communication in classes. We learned plenty of activities and techniques and it is only day two. 

-My fellow French teachers are awesome! Although the grant was available to Americans, the University accepts people from all over the world. I find myself again in a "petite planete" where we can learn each other's cultures and techniques and practice our French together. I am impressed by how appreciated we all are to one another, and how we are seen as colleagues by the professor, and not as students. It's a nice distinction, to be a party in sharing and not just one expected to learn. 

And the one I'm happiest about: two days in and I already feel lighter in body and in spirit. My class is on the 6th floor and I force myself to take the stairs all the way up 3x a day. I meditate before bed at night. Vichy is known for its spas, and I am going to book myself an Ayurvedic rebalance later this week. Plus, no snacking. No gourmandises except to try something new. I can already tell it's going to be hard to leave. 

But, oh, not as hard as all that, cause in less than two weeks I get to reunite with my famille Normande!