Being a French teacher


Our math teacher just came back from a week long meeting.
He is full of innovative ideas.
  One of them today involved me. He was explaining consecutive numbers to Swiss children in French. They did not understand.
I didn't understand whether it was me who didn't understand, the children who didn't understand or the teacher who had forgotten how to teach during the last week.
I may have been the one laughing the loudest. I'm not sure.
  And here comes the innovative idea. The teacher asked me in French whether I knew what consecutive numbers are. I admitted I did.
  Next, he asks me in French to explain consecutive numbers to Swiss children in English.
  At this point I nearly forgot what consecutive numbers are.
  I'm not sure whether the teacher still knew what he was talking about.
  So here I am in front of the whole class, talking, (HEAVEN!!) in English. I said x and x+1
The Swiss children looked at the French speaking math teacher for some clues. At this point, not only did they not know what consecutive numbers are but a new problem arose: English.
The French teacher explained to the Swiss children that we are learning math and English together. I took my job seriously and went on explaining the definition of consecutive numbers
It's interesting to be a teacher. I've noticed that the children have stopped laughing and I had their undivided attention.
  This is not because I was a magician, but because children are curious things. While I had their attention I used examples which captured their attention further. After this I watched the islands of knowledge around the room. Like a virus, somebody understood, and passed the information further around the room.
  It was quite fascinating and empowering to watch.
I also understood why the teacher passed the job over to me. Being a teacher, trying to explain something to children the best you can and seeing that nobody understands is extremely frustrating.
Was it fun to try being a teacher? Yes.
  Would I want to be a teacher? No way! It's scary.

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