Stromae is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight!

I cannot tell you how awesome I think Stromae is.  He is a Belgian singer, rapper, and hip hop artist né Paul Van Haver.  His lyrics are topical, sometimes funny, sometimes in your face, and full of meaning.  The tunes are highly danceable and his deep voice makes you want to sing along with him.  Of course, it helps quite a bit if you know French because that is the language he sings in.

Best Mac background ever

Have you been wanting to learn French?  Now is your chance with Stromae's music.  First order of business: watch him on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight, April 27.  Then buy his album on iTunes and listen to it over and over and over.  Then I would recommend watching his videos and interviews with him.  You won't regret it.  Non, je ne regrette rien!

Je t'aime, Stromae!  Venez à Kansas City, s'il vous plaît!  Mes élèves et moi irons vous voir sûrement.

Guest Speakers from France

I had a fun day at school yesterday with my two guest speakers, Antoine and Marion.  They are French interns learning about how firefighting works in America.  I brought them in to expose my students (and my fellow French teacher's students) to real-life French young people.  I was hoping that our students would try out their French speaking skills with these wonderfully friendly young people.

I think everyone had a great time, even the shy kids who weren't confident enough to ask questions. Marion and Antoine are planning on coming back soon and bringing two more French interns with them.  Next time, the students will be better prepared and will work in small groups so they won't feel as self-conscious when attempting to speak French.  I'm really looking forward to it!

Merci bien, Antoine et Marion!  À la prochaine!

Au feu, les pompiers!

--J

Back to School, End of Summer...

All good things must come to an end, as they say, and summer vacation is no exception (although this would not have been the case had I won the lottery this past weekend!).

I have already spent two days in pre-service training at school and I spent 4 1/2 hours yesterday (Saturday) at school trying to get my room in working order.  I switched rooms this year so I am starting from scratch again.  And I have my work cut out for me:

But I had this to help me out:

So now comes the hard part--putting in the time to make lesson plans and grade papers, getting up before sunrise and working for more than 9 hours per day.  And of course, another hard but rewarding part--meeting and building a rapport with over 100 students every day.  I have that many students in my classes, plus I encounter hundreds more when I do lunch duty.  Teaching is exhilarating and exhausting and that's why I took the whole summer off--off. (Think ludicrous Cadillac ad.)  I had to recuperate from last year's wearying pace, but now it's almost show time again.


So you'll see fewer of these:

And I'll see less of this: 

But that's OK because I need to teach and my students need to learn!  Bring it on!

And on the weekends, I will be adhering to this:

(from U Create)

Have a wonderful school year and enjoy the last precious moments of summer!  

J

Busy time of the year: lovely birds, Honor Society Induction, secret anniversary party, French rock star, and more!

I want to sing from the highest branch in my nascent cottonwood tree that I LOVE SPRINGTIME!!!  

"Le ciel est par-dessus le toit/si bleu, si calme/un arbre par-dessus le toit/berce sa palme/La cloche dans le ciel qu'on voit/doucement tinte/un oiseau sur l'arbre qu'on voit/chante sa plainte..."

As a high school world language teacher (I teach French and Spanish), this gorgeous time of the year comes at a price--the end of the school year madness.  It is almost time for seniors to leave so they will need to take the final early, then comes graduation, then comes finals for everyone else, then comes training for our new Apple products in my district.  I haven't even mentioned the fact that my two nieces are graduating from high school themselves and will have parties and ceremonies, as well as the children of friends who are graduating or getting married.

I want to go out, and with the help of Zyrtec and Flonase, enjoy this:

or this:

But this past week almost did me in with all the preparation I did for the induction of 34 students into the French National Honor Society, for the first time ever at my school.  I was the sole planner and organizer.  If you know me at all and have seen the area around my desk, you will know that planning and organizing are not traits I was born with and have yet to fully develop.  So I was stressed out beyond belief.  I didn't even get any photos of the ceremony but I hope to get some from my friend Connie whose son was inducted.  I must thank Connie and our friend Amy, who both did the shopping, layout, and clean up of the refreshments after the ceremony.  They are awesome ladies who will be duly rewarded with a Bordeaux soon!

And speaking of Bordeaux, a rock star from that lovely city on the Garonne visited my school this week.  Pierre, who has become sort of my French nephew (je m'appelle tatie d'Amérique--well, that's how I think of myself), raised a ruckus among the frenzied girls in my high school.  And all he had to do was walk through the halls, visit a couple of classrooms, and speak with a French accent.  He had no idea he would have such an effect on these youngsters.  I hope he doesn't get any ideas to start a cult because he would be a very successful leader.    :)

Voilà Pierre:

Très beau, non?  Et extrêmement gentil et patient avec les élèves.  Bravo, Pierre.  Tu es la nouvelle vedette rock and roll, et tu ne le savais même pas! 

And now I must leave soon to attend a meeting to plan for a secret anniversary party for a certain couple reaching a certain amazing achievement of 50 years together.  This couple is not online (it costs too much) so I am not worried about letting the cat out of the bag, but I'm pretty sure they know what is going on because it's hard for 100 people to keep a secret like this. 

So, have a lovely weekend and take time to smell the roses, or lilacs since roses haven't bloomed where I am yet.  And I hope someone as awesome as Pierre makes an appearance in your life soon!  If not a young Frenchman then maybe a pretty cardinal or a fragrant flower.  Because as far as I'm concerned, all these beautiful things are rock stars!