@RACHEL MILLER
@DATA TYPE: RETROSPECTIVE
@LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
@COUNTRY: FRANCE
@PARTICIPANTS: S 
@SETTING: PRIVATE
@TIME: LATE
@SCHOOL: SECONDARY

1  Reflecting on live recording

* It's quite weird listening to the recording again.  I think my French has improved quite a lot since it took place.  I think that Mme Michaud gave me a lot of time to ask questions and she provided me with a lot of information.
* I think I gave the right impression of myself.  I felt a bit silly asking some questions as I had already spent almost two weeks in class observing.
* I felt there was almost complete mutual understanding, as I had already explained the project's aims.
* I was pretty satisfied with the outcome - found out everything I set out to ask - not many communication problems.
* I think my tmoignage is fairly accurate as it covers the main points and highlights any worries I might have had regarding the assistantship and working/ living in France.

Transactional

* My responsable and I set a time every week (either Wednesday morning or Thursday afternoon) to plan lessons for the following week.
* My timetable was already set out - my responsable organised my rooms - had a couple of classes changed but nothing major.
* Was not told about examinations but because I work mainly with the SEGPA and 5eD or Seizime, they aren't preparing for examinations.
* I teach most of my classes in French as the level of English in the SEGPA is quite low.  I try to teach as much as possible in English but for civilisation and grammar I tend to speak French.
* It wasn't overly clear originally what tasks I would be undertaking as I originally assumed I would stay in class as a classroom assistant with the SEGPA.  However, it transpired that I would actually be taking them by myself in a separate room.
* My responsable was fairly well organised - gave me themes on which to plan classes -organised rooms - helped me plan lessons to start.
* I didn't feel surplus to requirements because four of my classes (SEGPA) have an extra hour of English a week because they come with me.  With my other classes, I take half the class for an hour which is useful as the teacher and I can do different things, eg orals, games.  The students get more attention.
* I stayed in class with the teachers for the first three weeks to observe and then started teaching.  I wasn't observed when teaching but I did get a lot of feedback from my teachers as they would ask the students how it went and then report back to me.
* We generally meet every week for an hour to plan lessons for the following week; however, as the year has progressed, I have more and more freedom with what I teach, especially with the Troisime.  My responsable gives me a theme and I can expand on it in the way I want.
* My responsable often gives me or helps me with resources, although I do find a lot of stuff myself in books or on the internet.
* Discipline - any problems and I should mention it immediately to my responsable -students get a second chance but are excluded from my class after that.

Interpersonal

* My responsable was very reassuring and supportive as she spent three years as an assistant so knows the situation I'm in.
* Despite being very busy and having a young baby, she makes a lot of time for me and as she lives near to me, she told me that if I have any problems then I can just pop around to her house.  (I actually did go round one time, because I had a flat tyre and I didn't know what to do!)  She has been very helpful and available.
* On the first recording, I didn't have a lot of conversational space, but I was only asking questions.  In general, she gives me a lot of 'conversational space'.  
* After the initial period, I do have quite a lot of freedom in lesson planning.  My responsable helped me quite a lot to start with in planning, but as the year progressed she tends to just give me a theme and I expand on it.  With one of my classes (with another teacher) I have complete freedom, which I find quite difficult to find resources for as the year has progressed, as it's a SEGPA class.
* Accommodation - flat provided by school (no rent) - live with two other assistants - eat in the canteen - we get our laundry done.
The school sent me a letter beforehand, informing me about the provision of accommodation.
* My responsable is very helpful, and I feel that I can ask her about anything.  One of the other English teachers took me to see the head teacher and also helped me open a bank account on the first day I was there.
* Within the first couple of weeks I went on a school trip with one of my classes to Saint-Thois, where we spent the day doing archery and canoeing, and had a meal in the evening with all the other teachers who work with the class.  This was really helpful as it made me feel welcome into the school establishment and I got to know the class and some of the other teachers better.





2  Reflecting on relationship with responsable

a)  Development of relationship

* My initial impression what that she was very friendly and welcoming (both of them - as I have two responsables really).  When I arrived, Mme White made me a cup of tea and explained a bit about the school and introduced me to some of the teachers. She also took me to see the head teacher.  My other responsable, Mme Michaud, then arrived and we went down to town for lunch.  After that Mme White helped me open a bank account and then took me back to my flat. I found them both extremely helpful and approachable, so I didn't have any worries about asking any questions.
* I don't think our relationship has changed a great deal; if anything we have become closer friends.  We got on well to start with, and we generally tend to talk about anything, from lessons to our social lives.  I often pop around to her house for coffee, or she invites me around for dinner.  We are both quite busy (especially her) but she always finds time to have a coffee with me and check how things are going.  She also asks after each class how it went, as I work seven hours a week with her.
* I don't think it has changed a lot since my last entry; I think our relationship may have become more equal, in the sense that beforehand I felt quite reliant on her to help me plan my lessons and teach, whereas now I feel more confident teaching and I plan my own lessons and find my own resources.
* Now I feel like my responsables (both of them) are good friends.  We get on well, we talk about a lot of things and we even socialise together.  I hope that we keep in touch when I go back to England.
* I think that my logbook is a fairly accurate account of my interactions with my responsable and other members of staff.  My recordings of interactions are quite spaced out but I think that is because the interactions that I haven't recorded are just very short ones eg "Salut.  Ca va?"  "Oui, a va ..." etc.  I tried to record my thoughts on the interactions that I thought were significant, for example the ones that concerned administrative/ domestic details, discipline, lesson planning etc.
* I don't think that participating in the PIC project has affected the relationship to a great extent.  I feel that it might have added a bit of formality to the relationship in the beginning as we had to arrange a time to record the interaction.  However I do feel that it has helped me to clarify my relationship with my responsable and other members of staff and it has also helped me to chronicle my first weeks at the school, which usually might pass as a bit of a blur.  My responsable (s) and I get on well; they are both immensely kind and helpful in both professional and personal matters.

(b)  Misunderstandings/ communication difficulties

* I haven't had any great problems or communication difficulties.  One of my responsables - Mme White - is English so we generally tend to converse in English, whereas Mme Michaud speaks extremely good English having spent three years in Anglophone countries.  Nevertheless, for the most part, we speak in French and it's only if I really can't explain what I want to say that we will switch into English.  The only misunderstanding that occurred was before I started teaching and I thought that with the SEGPA I would be staying in class with the teacher.  However, it transpired that I was going to take half the class by myself for an hour and this misunderstanding was rectified quickly (at the first recording when I asked her about what I would be doing).
* As there were hardly any misunderstandings or communication difficulties, I don't feel that this has affected our relationship in the long term.

3  Reflecting on the Assistantship experience

a)  Preparation before departure

* It would be useful to have our arrt de nomination earlier, so we can contact the school before they finish for the summer holidays and not wait until September.
* I think more preparation from the university is required, as they were quite good on administrative matters, but there wasn't much information about the actual assistantship.
* Also, more practical advice on the actual teaching would be welcome, as when I arrived at the school, there were no resources for the assistant and I have had to amass my own resources.  This hasn't been a problem as such, but I haven't had much teaching experience before hand so it would be useful.

(b) Allocation process

* I think the allocation process is quite good; I'm only working in one school, which is fairly hassle-free.
* I also think that the allocation process could be more specific about where you are allocated to, because although I'm in the dpartement of Rennes, I'm nowhere near Rennes itself.  This isn't a problem for me, but I know some people who were told they were in Rennes (the dpartement) and then found they were out in the middle of nowhere in a small village, whereas they were under the impression they would be in Rennes.




c)  Establishing contact with the school

* Again, I think that we should receive our school's contact details in time for us to contact them before they finish for the summer holidays.
* As advised, I sent a letter to both my head teacher and my responsable and I received a letter from the head teacher informing me of accommodation provisions and other details.  I also received an email from one of my responsables, and we continued to email each other until I left England, which was very useful as she gave me directions to the school and we arranged a rendez-vous for when I arrived.

d) Integrating into school life

* I've found it quite easy to integrate into school life.  I have been on school trips with one of my classes, and I try to sit in either the main staffroom or the SEGPA staffroom at break and have a coffee with the teachers.  The SEGPA staffroom is fairly small and there is a real sense of teamwork. I also go along to the SEGPA meetings and this is useful for me to know what the students are like.  The other SEGPA teachers are also very supportive if I have any problems with a particular student.  I also always eat in the canteen at lunchtimes as I find it is very social and it is good to sit with teachers and get to know teachers from other subjects.  I also try to go to other classes of others subjects (eg Geography) if the teachers ask me, to talk about England or help the students.
* I also was asked to be involved in one of the IDD projects with a Quatrime class, as they had to interview me on various aspects of school life in England to include in their project/ magazine.  There are also various evenings organised by the college, eg Soire Cous-Cous, La Galette, etc, that I try to go along to meet the other teachers and to participate in school life/ experience Breton culture.  I also helped out at a cross-country event organised by the college, as I am quite interested in sports.















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