écoles, élèves, et écriture

well after spending all of two weeks in the schools i have some (very deep i'm sure) insights and observations on the french school system.

first, the teachers are all addressed as 'teacher' (maître or maîtresse, which incidentally also means 'mistress'). kind of endearing, but it can get a little confusing. also, many of the rooms do not have clocks. the teachers tend to rely on students with watches, which seems like it could be a dangerous policy.

as you probably already know, the french take their relaxation very seriously. the french calendar, and school day, are no exception. the students have a half-hour recess in the morning and afternoon as well as a two-hour lunch break during which the students all go home and eat with their mothers. who are apparently all at home. what year is this?

it would be a long two hours if the teachers' lounges weren't so nice. there always seems to be tea and fresh coffee. several were also well-stocked with wine. go figure.

the final hurdle in bridging the american-french school system gap was communication. obviously the language barrier (read: my pitiable french) poses a problem. what i did not expect to pose a problem, however, was my handwriting. i feel obliged to mention that my handwriting, on the chalkboard or otherwise, has never been a problem in the US. but when i wrote in print on the board, i got blank stares and puzzled expressions. when i looked at their notebooks, i realized why. first of all, their notebook paper is actually paper that's probably designed for quantum physicists or architects; it's graph paper that's divided into millimeters (or something equally tiny), which is then grouped into lines. their handwriting (which they begin learning in cursive) is impeccable. (not an easy task considering they all write with fountain pens.) i tried to find a font it most resembled, but i couldn't find one fancy enough. i actually had to learn how to write in 'french' cursive.

not only are their notes impeccably well-written but they're incredibly well-organized. students always have a ruler at their desk (you know, for underlining, connecting the dots..) and several types of pens (fountain or ballpoint?) at their immediate disposal. when i ask them to write the date, i inevitably get 10 students who ask me where it should be in relation to the margin and another 10 who want to know "is this okay?"

i've yet to discover the ultimate goal of this extreme anal-retentiveness but the french have certainly got them well-trained.