Teacher Emergencies

As in any job, there are days where everything seems to conspire against you in a declaration of war against your sanity.

Now, for teachers, this is normally hormonal teenagers going through the most extreme of existential crises, that we could not possible understand. Today, however, was not one of those days. No, instead, it was a day when all the computers and the school’s internet were unexpectedly down (in addition to almost being late due to a traffic accident and a metro strike).

The golden rule for teachers – always have a backup.

With technology rendered obsolete, this meant back to basics and paper handouts for a lot of teachers. I, however, tried to remain dynamic in my approach to the classes and led a number of games with the students that encouraged them to work together in teams, and individually, so as to practice their English without a sense of disruption to the overall lessons.

I had to act quickly to make sure I was able to efficiently and effectively control the situation. I borrowed some dice from one of my colleagues so as I would have enough for a class board game of snakes and ladders, and had the children use markers from their pencil cases (rubbers, pen lids etc). The different versions of the game promoted the practice of different verb tenses, and the use of vocabulary for different body parts.

Later we also enjoyed a team activity of 20Q, where I wrote the name of a famous person on the board and one child had to ask questions to guess who they were.

With younger learners, we also played the alphabet shopping game, and introduced Simon Says.

Although the lessons were not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, the day challenged my ability to roll with the punches (or dice) and, whilst highly tiring, the classes generally enjoyed the day and mentioned this to me on leaving class, which always serves as a positive reinforcement for myself. 

Hakuna Matata

Showing video clips of popular programmes and famous films is another fantastic method of encouraging the students, and consolidating the amount of English they have learnt.

This week, I developed the film theme so as pupils could write their own reviews of famous scenes from different movies, or discuss the positive and negative aspects of their favourite cinematic blockbuster.

Starting the lesson, I explained that I wanted the children to read reviews of Disney’s inescapable “Frozen” (La Reine des Neiges), and tell me what the critics believed to be the strengths and weaknesses of the film.

Comprehension proved a challenge: the pupils were overly concerned with understanding every word perfectly, rather than the overall gist of the sentence. This proved a pivotal moment helping students change their reflex reaction of fear and panic to comfort when faced with unknown phrases. I simply read sentences and asked them if they were positive or negative, and what words they understood.

Together, the students discovered that they could respond to the majority of questions, even if there were several hurdles to overcome. The exercise challenged my ability to respond under pressure: pupils were becoming discouraged and I had to quickly find an alternative means of demonstrating that these texts were, in fact, accessible if they did not become bogged down in every single sentence.

I reasoned with them, “Do you know every word in the French language?” No, of course. But that does not prevent you from learning what a word means from context.

Difficult sell over, we watched clips of The Lion King and discussed the film making, the music, the animation, the comedy, and the tragedy and why the film was enjoyable all over the world. The pupils quickly forgot their angst from the reading comprehension and debated with each other over the finer points of the film, together writing a review that summated the story, praised the positive aspects of the movie and gave a rating. All whilst singing along to the “Circle of Life”, which is a universal classic.

Film lessons? Hakuna Matata – no worries.

Nous Sommes Charlie: France demonstrates its brotherhood renewed.

In defending their founding rights to liberté and égalité, the French have once more found fraternité.

Demonstrations, Place Castellane, Marseille

Silence followed the school bell that normally signals the sound of lunch at 12 noon last Thursday; no ravenous teenagers running down the hall to the canteen, nor shouts and screams of friends in the playground. Instead, a silence that is just as loud and palpable settled over the high school I am working in this year, as French teenagers, as unruly and apathetic as adolescents anywhere, stood and paid their respects to those murdered in the attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters last Wednesday.

Song superseded the silence, as, in unison, these adolescents, suddenly so ignited by fervent passion for their nation, burst into La Marseillaise, the national anthem.

To say that Marseille, where I am currently living and working, does not always get along with Paris would be an understatement. Marseille is an anomaly on the French map: a Mediterranean port town that has grown and cultivated its own traditions from an influx of immigrants, refugees, and French seeking a warmer climate, all mixed as the bubbling Bouillabaisse, the local fish delicacy.

Vieux Port "Love Letters" for Charlie Hebdo

Many of the children I am teaching are first or second generation French immigrants; their parents come from North African countries or beyond. These are people who, aware of their heritage, are not fully indoctrinated with the ethos of liberté égalité fraternité that proudly blazons from every official office and building around the major cities of the country.

Whilst the French remain proud of their introduction of liberty in modern Western Europe, there is not a nationalism or pride from the people themselves. France they see as a beacon of bygone greatness, at a time when the English language has come to dominate.

Demonstrations in Marseille, Saturday 10 January

Yet, the attack on Charlie Hebdo last Wednesday, and the subsequent attacks across Paris on Friday, have ignited a dynamism that has given France and her people an identity and a reason to believe in herself once more.

Millions demonstrated across the country this weekend. It was not just Paris that had large crowds; hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Lyon, in Toulouse, in Nice, in Marseille and everywhere in between. Out of a France in shock came a nation that is, for the first time perhaps since its painful decolonisation that still haunts parts of Marseille, cohesive and unified.

Marseille, renowned as the crime capital of France, has never felt the safest of locations, probably thanks to such dubious titles. Questions of assimilation and integration are rife: with a Muslim population of more than 40%, France’s oldest city is quintessentially un-French. In 2012, it was declared one of the most dangerous places to be young, with drug and gun crime so high that certain politicians suggested the army would be the only force strong enough to resolve the spiralling problem.

Demonstrations in Marseille, Sunday 11 January

However, this week, as friends ask if I feel in danger here, I can assuredly say that this is the safest I have been in this city, surrounded by a population moving as one. Together, the largest movement in France since the revolution has made other social factors mute. The French segregation of state and religion creates a void that has threatened to tear the country apart for decades; this weekend, the amalgam of Christians, Jews and Muslims walked Marseille together in a scenario almost thought impossible when such a high percentage of the population are still viewed as people of “foreignextraction” according to the town mayor.

With the republican march on Sunday, President Hollande declared that “Paris is the capital of the world today”, but more accurately, he should have said France is the capital of the world. The nation has at once found a voice that is had long since forgotten; all we have to do is point to the innumerable editions of Charlie Hebdo that mocked the French state and politics as a crumbling and cumbersome edifice.  However, in testifying for liberty and equality once more, the French found their brothers in arms, internationally, and, most importantly, nationally. As 1.5 million gathered in Paris, a further 2 million more marched in cities across the country. This weekend, there was not a person that did not find themselves embraced by the passion of a people injured, but unbroken.

Artwork at Vieux Port, Marseille

Le Monde, France’s largest newspaper, declared the attack “The French 9/11” and it is a comparison that might shock but the parallels are undeniable. Not only did the event ring true in America, but in Spain (the Madrid train bombings) and in the UK (7/7), where the idea of press repression still carries a bitter taste following the Leveson Inquiry. France, faced with fear and tragedy, responded with dignity and ignited a sentiment of resilience that spread fast through the country. Protests in Marseille this past weekend were without arrests.

At lunch last Thursday after the minute’s silence, the teachers are complaining that they are feeling ill. There is a sense of gravitas and momentum, and they can’t comprehend what is happening. A week ago it would have been almost impossible to think that a localised event in Paris would spur such movement at the opposite side of the country, but this is indicative of a French malaise. Stifled and sick from years of settling indifference, Charlie has provided a framework in which to discuss social and cultural issues that have been restricted and taboo subjects in France for decades, regardless of origins or doctrine.

Demonstrations in Marseille, Sunday 11 January

La Marseillaise, originally a call to arms, still echoes through the school corridors.

The City of (Christmas) Lights

Paris, the city of love, is never lovelier than at Christmas time.

I was fortunate enough to spend Christmas and the New Year in the French capital. “Paris is always a good idea”, goes the famous saying, but perhaps I should add, “especially at Christmas”.

Looking down the Champs Elysees
from the Arc de Triomphe

The city of lights is decked on every avenue and boulevard with ornate trees, flashing decorations, and shop windows that become attractions in their own right. Together, this only serves to make me fall even more amorous of Paris.

Simply strolling the Champs Elysees becomes something of a Christmas Wonderland. The entire bottom half of the boulevard that eventually leads to the Jardin de Tuileries is packed with stalls upon stalls of vendors offering last minute gifts, soaps, wines, cheeses, artisan products and of course a vast array of food markets, whose scents mingle together in a perfect Christmas mirage.

Printemps Department Store

Heading up to the top of the famous boulevard, you can climb the Arc de Triomphe (free for EU citizens under 26) and admire the street lit up in one of the most expensive and decadent illuminations that Paris offers for the whole Christmas season. Of course, there is the added bonus of the Eiffel Tower sparkling like, well, a Christmas tree in close proximity. Apart from being one of my favourite sites, that always screams Paris and French history to me, I find the view is one of the most frequently overlooked since tourists are spoilt for choice. The view down to the Louvre is impressive to say the least, with so many lights, colours and smells all hitting the senses.

Skating at the Grand Palais

Paris department stores are also not shy about celebrating their love for the holiday season, and in the windows of the renowned Galeries Lafayettes and Printemps, store managers have carefully curated wonderful and wacky Christmas scenes to entertain and amuse all. My favourites this year were in Printemps, which was themed as a “Journey around the world”, with lit up figures of Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum and more famous landmarks all interplaying with the latest fashion trends. Galeries Lafayettes offered mini window shows with puppet monsters in the style of Sesame Street.

Another trend that has proved popular in Paris in recent years is temporary ice skating rinks. With the new glass floor open on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, a rink was installed here for the first time in several years, so guests could dare to skate 200ft above the city. Elsewhere, one of the largest rinks was opened in the Grand Palais for a three week period. Although tickets were 15 euros and had to be booked in advance, this was an unparalleled skating experience, which combined a popular Christmas pastime, with the history of the palace, and a 70s disco theme. A DJ played songs throughout the session over specially installed speakers, and both strobe and spot lights were added for special effect. Having a Swedish friend as my instructor helped my skating skills as well!

Disneyland Paris

Away from the city itself, Disneyland Paris offered an enticing mix of holiday entertainment, from the Christmas parade, featuring Santa and some Disney character favourites, to Elsa and Anna’s sleigh ride down Main Street. Every evening would be capped off with a magical five minute ceremony lighting the Christmas tree and a 20 minute firework spectacular, called Disney Dreams of Christmas, featuring The Nutcracker, festive carols and of course Frozen characters.

Between theme parks, skating thrills, high end boutiques, and sprawling markets, the city of lights is certainly aglow when it comes to Noel.