Fulbright Visitor

Wednesday was a really fun day for me at school because my Fulbright friend Rachel came to La Retraite for a school visit. Rachel is working down in Kent and wanted to come see what a London school looks like, so she hopping on a very early train and spent the day with us. I had so much fun taking her around, showing her the school, introducing her to my friends, and having her in my lessons. Since I had some extra free periods on Wenesday, we were even able to pop in to see a couple lessons from other teachers in the building, which is a great way to learn new teaching strategies and just get a feel for the school environment.

 Showing off the school to Rachel reaffirmed for me what a great environment it really is. Sometimes, with the day-to-day stress of things, it's easy to loose sight of what a highly functioning, successful school it is. The pupils at our school really are happy and engaged in their learning. It's also been a challenge for me to keep up my enthusiasm for teaching during this warm month of July. Since I've never taught this late into the school year before, it feels a bit strange to still be going to work each morning while everyone back home enjoys their holidays. But seeing the school from Rachel's fresh perspective was rejuvinating for me. Her praise for the school and her delight in meeting the children and participating in lessons made me realize just how much I'll miss being a part of this team next year. I think saying goodbye to La Retraite is going to be even harder than I realized.

Rachel and I in my classroom