Les Lycéens

My students have, for the most part, stopped acting up as much as they did in the fall. Part of this is due to my improvement as an assistant, part of it’s due to our better rapport, and part of it is due to maturity. I had forgotten how much 15 year olds can change within a few months, how in flux their personalities are. Nonetheless, I still have some disciplinary issues. There are a few boys who act like hyperactive Labrador retrievers: they always to play with their friends and can never seem to calm down. However, one “Tais-toi!” (Be quiet) from me is enough to elicit a, “Pardon, Monsieur” and then we go on with the lesson. Some of my female students are very quiet, and some are very loud. Most of them don’t realize just how loud their voices are and I keep having to remind them that high school students should be able to express themselves without screaming. But then there are the select few male and female students who have respect issues. I usually just ask the teachers to have a discussion with the loud students who apologize, but I’ve sent a few kids back to their teachers with a note to give them detention. One in particular is quite intelligent, but is used to breezing through life on charm that she can be a bit touchy when corrected. Overall, though, the students are making lots of progress and I can see that having discussion time in a small group helps some of them to put things in context. It’s much easier for me to speak in French or Spanish in blocks rather than in discrete words because my brain hates switching between them and English. My colleagues are also wonderful – they support me inside and outside of the classroom.