The Joys of Teaching 10 year old French children

French children:

They begin school at 8:30 Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. No school on Wednesday. They finish school at 4:30.

They get three recesses. One at 10:00, a two hour lunch between 11:30-1:30, and one at 3:00.

That pretty much leaves one hour stints of class broken up by a half hour of running around in the courtyard screaming, jumping in sand, playing football, jumping around, and hiding behind columns.

These kids really get to know the meaning of "childhood."

I like my students. I have no problems with them. Some don't listen. Some chew on their glue. Some throw their rulers around like javelins, but they're just kids.

Sometimes I complain about teaching. Maybe because it's the knowledge that I'll have to be "on" for the entire day. But once I'm teaching, it's okay.

I like witnessing how they learn and handle a foreign language.

My favorite:

Me: "What's your name?"
Student: "What's your name Kevin."

By this particular student's logic, all you need to respond to someone is to repeat what they just said.

I can teach them that this is not right. And when I see them next time, sometimes they make the same mistake. But sometimes they don't. And this is what's great about teaching.