Lesson learned

I am sorry for the almost two week-long lack of blogging. I have many things to write about (and promise to post them soon!) but since arriving back in France things were a bit hectic.  Firstly, the lack of sleep on the airplane & jet lag/time-change really did a number on me and I was quite out of it and very fatigued for the first week or so this month. (Thanks, mono. More on that in a different post, though.)  While I was excited to be back in Dijon and see everyone again, it was a bit difficult after spending two fantastic weeks at home.  (It sort of felt like I was ripping off the “moving across the ocean” band-aid again.)  But, luckily, many of my friends here felt similar and so we were lucky in the sense that although it is never fun to say goodbye to friends and family, we knew we now had our own sort of family in Dijon, too. Unfortunately for me, my lycée had been going through some major changes this year and it has been very stressful for the full time teachers to adjust and keep up with.  This added stress caused continuous disorganization and lack of communication between the profs and I which was present from my arrival until about a week ago.  This lack of communication at school in addition to just coming back from home, made for a rough combination.  Finally, I spoke to one of my teachers and we arranged for a meeting to discuss some things with the three other teachers I have mainly been working with.  I created a list of things that had either made me feel uncomfortable, confused, or frustrated in hopes to express my concerns in a professional way.  To my surprise, at our meeting, the teachers profusely apologized before I could even really start to express how I had felt.  They acknowledged all the points on my list (before I even said them!) and explained that there had been many changes at the lycée and as they were trying to adapt to them, they felt that had not properly welcomed me in the process.  (Their words, not mine.) They also told me that the students love working with me and always enjoy what I plan for lessons and that as profs, they are very pleased with my work. This information made me really happy as I have been planning and teaching lessons completely on my own from the start, and honestly enjoy the majority of my students—very nice to hear both the students and teachers appreciate it!  This meeting was the biggest relief!  Our communication has already significantly improved, I feel much more comfortable asking them questions about the school and classes, and feel so much more at ease while in the Salle des Profs (teacher’s room).

As this is my first year in the “working world” I learned an important lesson: it is always important to keep communication open within the work environment.  At first, I did not want to “rock the boat” by bothering my profs with certain concerns, but, as they were so stressed and busy without my saying something they did not know exactly how I felt.  So, even though this had created some frustrating and difficult times in a way I am grateful for it and what I have learned from it.

Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends at home, as well as my new friends here, for their advice, support, and listening ears as I went through the ups and downs of these first few months at  school.

Word of the Post: la communication -- communication (same spelling, different pronunciation)