The summer holidays are looming. Some students have already finished their classes. As for the teachers, it’s the final stretch. Louis, a primary school teacher in the North in REP, is giving his last lessons of the year to his CE1 students. Recently, the projects have been finished, the reports have been handed in and the schedule has changed. “For the end of June, I’m keeping French and math activities in the morning but the afternoons are more fun: workshops to revise while having fun, outdoor games. We’re also planning to go to the park not far from the school to observe nature, share a snack, and play together,” he says. These last few days are also an opportunity to prepare for the start of the school year in September, to receive the arrival of supplies, to tidy up his classroom, to make photocopies, etc. “The goal is to be ahead of schedule. That would allow me not to start a week before the start of the school year in August…”, the teacher explains. He also takes the opportunity to take stock of his practices. “I’m only in my 4th year, I can still improve a lot of things! It’s a job where you often question yourself,” he admits. Louis still has to take part in a teachers’ council, a school council and an ESS (Schooling Monitoring Team, Editor’s note). “The school psychologist is present during these meetings, so she can give us avenues of work that we hadn’t considered,” adds Louis, who will really be on vacation on July 5.
In middle school, we prepare future level groups
At the end of the year, it is difficult to make middle school students work. The class councils have passed and the changes in temperature tire students and teachers. Aurélie, a French teacher in a middle school in Essonne, is in charge of classes of 6e et 5e . She managed to finish her sequences and have her students work until Friday June 21. Classes end Thursday the 27th at noon. In the afternoon, the “Success Festival” takes place which highlights the students’ activities during the year and which rewards those who have had mentions in all three terms, or even throughout their entire schooling at the college. On Friday, the rooms will be prepared for the brevet which will take place Monday July 1st and Tuesday July 2nd. In the meantime, this week, Aurélie has lightened the program. “In 6ethe students are still quite willing, they are almost all present. In 5ethey are harder to motivate,” she notes. So she opted for “escape game” or “Taboo” type games to continue working without it seeming like it and a film related to one of the themes seen this year. Once the lessons are over, Aurélie will supervise the brevet on Monday and Tuesday and will correct it on Thursday.
Here too the last days are favorable for meetings. “The literature teachers are having a meeting with the inspector to prepare the 6th grade lessons.e et 5e who will be in level groups in French and maths next year. The next day, we have a webinar on the same subject,” she explains. At the same time, the main teachers are invited to participate in the constitution of the classes. “This is a common practice for us every year. It allows us to avoid certain bad “associations” of students. It works more or less but there are students who cannot be changed because of the options,” she adds. Friday, July 5, the traditional end-of-year shared meal takes place and “we will finally be able to feel like we are on vacation,” says the French teacher.
Getting Ahead During the Lull
Gweltaz has been a history and geography teacher for 11 years in a high school in Hauts-de-Seine. This year, he is not asked to correct the baccalaureate exams or to be an examiner for the grand oral. He will only have to correct the brevet exams on July 4. But if some Terminales are going to catch-up exams and need help, he will make himself available at the high school to receive them. Although the classes are over, everything is not over yet. “I have to attend meetings to share my wishes and constraints for next year in order to define our future timetables. I already know the classes I will have because the service was established a few days ago,” he informs. He is also preparing for the start of the school year by doing in-depth work that he does not have time to do during the year. “I usually prepare my lessons on a tight schedule, a week in advance, but here I take advantage of it to do some reading, cut up sequences, tidy up in the library, find references… All of this is quite tedious and it’s better to do it during this quieter period,” he confides. Gweltaz can do this work from home, which allows him to be freer.
In Superior, research activity continues
In Superior, classes have ended for more than a month and a half. The following weeks are devoted to correcting exam papers and possible catch-up sessions. At the same time, there is also the monitoring of the research work of Master’s or doctoral students, administrative tasks, research activities (documentation, writing, conferences, etc.), various meetings. “We have finished the selections for Parcoursup, Prépa and Master access. We are in the process of defining who will teach the courses next year. We are also preparing course content, possible model changes for the start of the school year,” declares Yann, lecturer in private law and criminal sciences, specialist in drug law at Paul Valéry University in Montpellier. “For some, there is also participation in various juries, such as those for National Education recruitment competitions (CAPES, aggregation), Écoles Normales Supérieures, etc., whose oral tests can take several weeks,” recalls Florent , lecturer in English linguistics at the University of Artois. Yann is a member of the juries to determine who has passed the academic year or not, and also for the diplomas.
For lecturers, summer is not synonymous with real vacations. Half of their time is devoted to research, a long-term activity. “This summer, I will follow the sessions at the National Assembly and the voting of laws concerning my field. This will allow me to update my courses, explain the latest trends to students through my research and write. I left not to have a real vacation but my schedule will be lighter despite everything because you have to take a break, we need it,” explains Yann. Especially since the start of the school year starts very early at university, the last week of August compared to October in the past. “As far as I am concerned, I will not consider myself on vacation until around mid-July, when I will take a real break, because this is one of the professions in which the boundary between work time and personal time can be very porous,” emphasizes Florent. A summer break that is more or less long for everyone but which is highly anticipated.
