1. Académie dAix-Marseille Formation Assistants

2. French schools :Collège Four forms: 6ème, 5ème, 4ème, 3ème Age group: 11 to 14, 15 Final exam: Brevet des Collèges – English is included in the exam European Framework A2

3. French schools : Lycée Three forms: 2nde, 1ère, Terminale Age group: 15 to 18 Final exam: Bac –short for Baccalauréat Some Lycées have post-Bac studies : BTS (= Brevet de Technicien Supérieur) with specific exams after 2 years

4. In your school, you are a member of the staff Be aware that you should present yourself as such to the students.(Think of the dress code!) Assert yourself Prepare your teaching sequences in advance Choose your subjects in agreement with the curriculum.

5. In your school, you are an asset You bring genuine insight to your countrys daily life and culture You can help the students to contact companies in your area of origin with a view to obtaining training periods or internship possibilities You can get involved in partnerships for the school or the Académie

6. With the teachers of English : First try to attend some of their classes Keep them informed of your work with your groups Ask to borrow a copy of the textbooks used in the school

7. You will be asked to Take small conversation groups (split classes) Planning class or online activities, follow-up workshops, role- plays, pair work and games to enable students to practise their English and acquire conversational spontaneity and fluency. Team teach with the class teacher with the whole class present, you will be the main resource for native speaker reading, pronunciation and speaking. You may help to exploit texts for conversation classes. Provide coaching for students (solo teaching) 20 minutes mock oral exam, for example to help students to develop their speaking skills.

8. You may be asked to Help students to develop written language skills Give remedial assistance to individual problems of students Hold an English club Collaborate to a school exchange project Transcribe to tape materials aimed at enriching the audio or video collections of the school library or the Foreign Languages department

9. About your teaching : Use as often as you can genuine documents, especially videos Keep in mind you are to talk and make your student talk Choose your topics so as not to upset your students about political or religious issues (check with the teacher beforehand)

10. About red tape : Keep a written trace of your work Make sure you are covered by an insurance for all the school activities (see with the head) as well as for responsabilité civile for your residence Those who do NOT have a European passport and have a carte de séjour, in case you leave French territory, make sure to get a visa de retour

11. More information on the web Le site académique danglais : http://www.anglais.ac-aix- marseille.fr/spip/spip.php?rubrique23 http://www.anglais.ac-aix- marseille.fr/spip/spip.php?rubrique23 with a page dedicated to Assistants covering the main points about being an assistant, and giving links to practical sites.