School's in Session

As of Tuesday, I have been having students. I cannot begin to describe the differences between American schools and this one, but let me try. So here, we are on a traditional schedule with two days of block schedule on Wednesday and Thursday. That means that on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, I teach all my classes. Here is my schedule: French 3, Planning, French 1, AP French 4, French 2, Planning, and Study Hall. I am only really teaching French 1 - 4 compared to my 6 French classes I was teaching in Greeley. So I am teaching a completely different load than in the States. Every morning, I start off my first period (French 3) with a devotional. Then on Wednesdays, we have chapel that all students attend. Not all the students are Christian; there are many that are Muslim or come from other backgrounds. They know what they are getting into when they enroll. My classes have been running very smoothly. My largest class sizes are my French 1 and 2 that have about 25 students (and that is the cap). Then my smallest ones are the other two classes that are from 8 - 12 students. Nice! Since the classes are smaller, there is rarely any discipline problems. Most of the students come to class everyday and they do their homework -- something I have yet to see in the States. The kids are so hardworking. When I created my syllabi for my classes, I had to really edit them from when I had them in the States. The students are fined about $10 if their cell phone goes off in class and about $3 if they have an electronic device. It has been nice so far. I will try to get a video of my classroom online for you soon.