Ode to 6eme

It's more than likely that you have heard me complain (possibly at length) about my 6emes. They are both my largest class (about 90) and my youngest (6th graders...so 10-16 years old). I see them for five hours a week -- one hour on Mondays, and two on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yeah. Imagine trying to get 90 6th graders to do anything for two straight hours. Now imagine them four to a desk in 100 degree heat paying attention to someone (me) speaking to them in a foreign language for two straight hours. Yeah.

BUT I have been feeling rather fond of them this week, as they almost all did extremely well on their exams, and I am beginning to feel like at least some of them might be learning a handful of words of English, which totally validates the U.S. government spending thousands of dollars to bring me here. So, with all that said, I thought I would take some time to dwell on some of the wonderful things about teaching 6eme. They may be my largest and most overwhelming class, but they are also probably my most enthusiastic...and certainly my most adorable class (picture 90 6th graders standing up and shouting "GOOD MORNING" at the top of their lungs at you every time you walk into the room. Yeah. Adorable.).

So, as I mentioned, my 6eme class (there are two sections -- I only teach one) consists of about 90 6th graders ages 10-16...Most are in the 10-12 range, with a handful of kids that are clearly quite a bit older. I have about 10 or 15 girls, too, who I try not to play favorites with, but just adore. Several of them are among my best students, too. At my high school there are probably close to 200 students in 6eme altogether, and when you think about how there are only 13 in my Terminale (Seniors in high school) this year, it can be pretty discouraging...but it is hard to dwell on that in class when you ask a question and see 50 hands fly into the air, students literally climbing out of their seats they are so excited to answer your question. Here are some of the wonderful and hilarious things they say to (okay usually shout at) me:

1) "Exercise! Exercise!"
This was confusing to me in my first weeks of teaching, because at the same time as I would start my class, the other section of 6eme would be going out to play sports. "Exercise? Like you want to go run around?" It turns out that "exercise" is the word they have learned (or adopted from French?) for an activity that we do in class. For some reason, they LOVE to do fill in the blanks. One time to practice numbers in English I had them do math (one + one = ____) and the expressions on their faces were incredible. They were just delighted.

2) "Boxer Madame! He is boxer!"
Like "exercise", I am not sure where they learned this word, but it is what they say to me when someone hits someone else during class. Which happens pretty much every day. I have tried to teach them the verbs "to hit" or "to fight" but they will not catch on. When I hear a ruckus and ask "What is the problem?", every time it is "He is boxer!"

3) "Please Madame, I am very very quiet!"
This is what my kids like to tell me when they see me getting mad at them for making too much noise, or tell them I will only choose someone to write on the board who is quiet. I have tried to explain to them (in English and French) that if they are shouting at me that they are quiet, they are not in fact being quiet. It has not been understood. However, I have to give them points for trying, right?

So this is my 6eme class -- exhausting, overwhelming, enthusiastic and hilarious. Almost as often as they frustrate me, they make me laugh...and on top of that, I get to work with students who are so excited to learn. I can definitely remember being in a foreign language class when I was young and all of a sudden being able to fit a new piece of the language puzzle into my brain -- connecting it to my first language and seeing how it was delightfully both similar and different. I see those lights go off in my 6emes -- see kids so excited by the fact that they can express themselves in a new way -- and it becomes pretty easy to forget about the talkers and the boxers.