They'll eat you alive!

...is what one of the school directors told me before I began English lessons.

And actually, such was not the case. Here I sit in the salle informatique (computer room) at Ecole La Tournière two days into and complete with my first lesson for both schools.

"What is the date today?" "Where do you come from?" "My name is..." and U.S. geography.

At first it was slightly stressful because none of the teachers here have any clue how English should be taught. Nor did they have anything that resembled a comprehensive schedule for me. So I kind of went from room to room and tried to figure it out. Day 2 went much better. Some teachers are more helpful than others, but I think I've devised a system that will work pretty well.

I'm in charge of teaching the same thing to three different levels, CE2 (third grade), CM1 (fourth) and CM2 (fifth grade).

Of course, the CE2 students have never taken English lessons before, so that's a bit of a struggle. They don't understand my "thick French accent," and when I speak English, the majority of the class is hearing it for the first time. So there's going to be a lot of pictures and songs I feel.

As for the CM classes, they knew everything already! My 45-minute games and plans dissolved after only 20-25. So they had a lot of repetition, but I don't think anyone really seemed to mind. For the second half of the week, I have to plan a lesson with many more, challenging activities for the older students.

As for my schedule it's finally been sorted out and looks something like this:

Monday: 8:30 - 10:00, 1:30 - 4:00

Tuesday: 8:30 - 11:30

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: 8:30 - 10:00, 1:30 - 4:00

Friday: 1:30 - 4:00

Not bad, not bad at all :-)

After lunch at the cantine (cafeteria) in five minutes, I'm making my way back home for some more lesson planning and then some fun! Not sure what that entails exactly, but fun will be had.

POST-LUNCH UPDATE: The food is a completely new experience to me every time. And I thoroughly enjoy it! Today it was fish again, with a tomato-basil salad and chocolate ice cream. Plus tons and tons of bread to clean up the plate with. As for the meal itself, I think I've made a few little friends :-) I think it should be obvious why, but all the little boys in my CM1 class followed me around throughout the lunch period!! So cute. One told me his dad is an English professor and that's why his accent is so good. Another told me he and his dad bought a Mustang in the U.S. and drove from Texas to New York one summer. So all day long he brags about how their car's mileage is just that -- not in metric like everyone else in Europe.

The girls all wanted to grab my hand and show me what games they were playing and then hug me after. My first hugs in France! Adorable :-) Those little moments right there, the ability to be a student's friend and make them excited about learning even if it's just for a minute, make this entire thing worth while.