First Day at Marymount International School in Paris!

Today was our first day at the school. The 16 of us were guided to the school by Dr. Robinson and Mrs. Robinson. It only takes about 25 minutes to get there.

We found out that the school bought a huge mansion and turned it into a school. You can completely tell it is a mansion, which is awesome! I was originally supposed to teach in a Kindergarten class, however one of the girls on the trip, Govinda, has just started a job teaching Kindergarten. So i decided to switch with her because I actually am starting to become interested in second grade. We had no idea what we were getting our selfs into. After the tour of the school, we got dropped off one by one at our classrooms. I was the first to get dropped off! Which was super nerve racking.

Once I got in I found that my teacher Madame Garnier, was super nice! She was telling me about different things and just trying to get to know me. I was absolutely amazed at how well behaved the students were in this class. I have never seen a class like it, especially coming from a Title 1 school. All of the students literally started the class with their hands crossed over there desks, it was like a dream. Marymount is Catholic based however not all the students are catholic. They start the day out with a morning prayer. Eventually, they do reading. I really liked how they had all the different ability students switch classrooms and go to the class that best meets their needs. My class was the highest readers of second grade. I was absolutely amazed at how well these students could read. They were reading chapter books, when my title 1 school students hadn't even started chapter books. The rest of the day went smoothly and I learned that there are students from the USA, Italy, Africa, Korea, Sweden, and so many other places in my one class. This school represents 70 different countries.

The last part of my day, I sat and watched my second graders practice for their First Holy Communion. Overall,  I was super exhausted but had a great experience. The way these classrooms work are so different than in the US. They are more relaxed and have to deal with less behavior issues.

Tomorrow we have the day off because it is labor day here, so I am going to nap now. Tonight we are going out to a restaurant with fondu and that serves you wine in a baby bottle? this should be interesting.