Do you need some help ?
If you click HERE you will find a quiz of 100 questions to revise the main grammar points for the Baccalauréat. You can tell me your score. I got 96% !!! Can you beat me ?
HERE is a second version of the test, to try again.
To work on your vocabulary, click HERE
Mots de liaison HERE
We welcomed our partner class of CE2-CM1 kids to the lycée today. They arrived in time for a picnic lunch, had a guided tour of the school and then played some games with my 1STMG students before leaving to go back their school.
It was an amazing visit. The close bonds between the generations was touching to see. The older kids were very protective of the younger ones and very caring and attentive. The little ones obviously felt so grown up, being in the lycée. They were so excited at everything they saw. my interactive white board just blew them away!! A lab colleague showed some of them round the science labs. Wow ! A Spanish colleague welcomed some into her lesson. And a group that was visiting the Lycée Pro were given a go on the soap production machine, coming away with some bars of soap as a souvenir. Thanks to those colleagues. None of that was planned in advance – just some spontaneous gestures of kindness and availability that are so appreciated.
The CE2-CM1 kids had prepared some songs to sing for us. They then taught my pupils the songs. Seeing my older kids, usually so cool and image-conscious, joining in with Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes – that has to be one of my highlights of the year !!
During the games session, we wanted to introduce some questions based on telling the time. My 1STMG kids began to panic – we all know that telling the time is one of their weak points. The CE2-CM1 kids were being reassuring, saying they would help the older ones out !! Ha ha !!
It was a great visit. Having little kids around, so natural and innocent, makes you go back the basics of what school, learning and education shold be all about. Thanks to Karine, the class teacher and to all her pupils for thier infectious enthusiasm. And thanks to my 1STMG class – for following me in this wacky project, but one which will remain with us all for a very long time.
This seems to be a recurring theme for me – how to balance family with work and what percentage to give to what ? I know that I get it wrong most of the time. When you actually enjoy reading about educational issues and experimenting with software and tecchie stuff, this is one of the dangers. It doesn’t actually feel like work to catch up on the tweets about lastest teaching stuff, or to flick through a new textbook as it is actually interesting. But, having said that, at the end of the day, it IS still work.
This picture sums it up quite nicely for me.
I feel it is important to work on those little bridges you can see which take you from life to work and from work to life in this picture. If those bridges are solidly in place, I am sure the rest kind of clicks. But the bridges are definitely the key to success, in my opinion.
On my To Do list for the weeks to come, I definitely want to read a really gripping book, one that you really don’t want tp put down and that you can get totally lost in. I also want to look after my garden. I talked a while back about dealing with the front bed before the weeds took over. Well, guess what ? The weeds did take over and I am going to have one heck of job on my hands to get that cleared !! But I will. And I want to do some furniture restoration. I love tinkering with old chairs and drawers, bringing them back to life. Those are my plans for the weeks to come.
Work-wise, as school starts to wind down for the exam season, it is time to think about the Big Tidy-Up. I haven’t cleaned out my study for years (if ever) and it was originally decorated as a nursery for my son, who is now 13. The teddies stencilled on the walls could perhaps do with an update. Maybe some funky and groovy colours, rather than the baby pastels ???
In terms of tidying, the end of year brings mountains of papers to my attention, that sit there, just getting bigger as the year progresses. They will all need to be filed away and sorted out. I dream of a paperless office – ha ha !!!
Does that sound quite balanced ? Still a little way to go yet, but I am getting there.
En réponse à une question d’élève, qui se reconnaîtra (je l’espère), voici quelques éléments de réponse :
Onduleur : j’ai trouvé UPS – uninterruptible power supply
http://www.commentcamarche.net/contents/994-onduleur
Est-ce que cela correspond ?
Bornier – je ne me souviens pas bien ce que c’est. Est-ce visible ici ?
Est-ce que l’on trouve des réponses ici :
http://www.linguee.fr/francais-anglais/traduction/bornier.html
… is fast approaching. It is hard to keep the momentum going and yet, there is still a lot to be done. We are starting to look ahead and plan for a new school year. This is one of my favourite times in the school calendar – lots of plans and exciting initiatives to put in place. The year ahead of us is like an open road – we can plan our route and then head off into the distance. 
Here is another enigma for my students – as I know I have a lot who like playing games.
Why have Google published this on their search page today ?
In under two years, this blog has had over 20,000 hits. It is hard to believe and yet it is true. So thanks to everyone who has clicked here and here is to a continued future.
It has got to be today – that day that we hit 20,000 hits on my blog. Can you believe it ?
The Big English Blog 