Aero: Kimberly Gage – France 2015 – Life at School
Aero: Kimberly Gage – France 2015 – Life at School
Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project
Aero: Kimberly Gage – France 2015 – Life at School
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Kimberly Gage
I felt like I was transported back to high school! The only difference between my own high school and the lycée was the language and the people. The class sizes were about the same ratio as my classes in high school. The sizes were relatively small but they varied from class to the class. For instance, the math class had roughly 20 students and the English class only had about 8 active students. Even the computer operating systems were the same as when I graduated from high school.
The first day we spent at the school we were in the library. I noticed the computers the students used were still Windows XP operating systems. This would tell me that there isn’t a need to update computers as much as we would in the states. The teachers’ computers were Windows Vista or Windows 7 – I couldn’t get a good look at them – but just as with the student’s computers in the library, there didn’t seem to be a need to update.
Due to the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in January, the school has policies against using electronic devices on campus. Even the remotes to turn on the overhead projectors in the classrooms were removed due to this policy. Smartphones were only allowed outside on the campus, just not inside the classrooms. I learned this the hard way while waiting for our instructors outside the teacher’s lounge. The phone was returned after we tried explaining that we were just visiting and did not know the school policies.
ML@FLCC France 2015 Flickr Photo Gallery
I attended a few math classes, a science class and an English class; the science teacher told me that she does not congratulate her students when they are right, and that she will criticize them when they are wrong. The math teacher reminded me of my art teacher but from an alternate universe where she spoke French. Even though I could not completely understand her, she seemed very enthusiastic about her teaching. Several of the students would be talking amongst themselves while she was instructing, but she wouldn’t stop to tell them to listen or anything. I also attended an English class by tagging along with one of the other host students. A few of the FLCC students also attended this class, and we had to introduce one of our friends to the rest of the class (we were allowed to speak in English). We got the help out with their reading comprehension homework.
Kimberly Gage
LEAF Contributor
