ETA: It would have been wonderful to finish this post back in August, but.....life. With only one month left in my 21st year in the high school classroom, I am determined to finally finish this post on two decades of learning and growth before this school year comes to a conclusion.
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When I reflect on these past 20 years of teaching, I feel a sense of nostalgia, accomplishment, and a continual desire to learn and make more memories. My life as an educator includes the back-to-school celebrations and photos, school breaks, hurricane and snow days, joyful times, challenging times, sweet surprises, Aha! moments, independent and collaborative learning, continuing education courses, conferences in and out of the country, enriching project partnerships with educators around the world, friendships that were made through our shared love of teaching, graduation ceremonies, and the much needed summer time to both reenergize and prepare to do it all over again.
First Year of (High School) Teaching
Fall 2005
Technology in 2005
-There were flip phones that barely made an occasional appearance in the classroom.
-I had an overhead project on a cart. (There were whiteboards, though!)
-YouTube debuted in December.
-Google Translate became available in April 2006.
Generations of Learners
-Millennials
-Gen Z
-Coming Soon: at least some of the Gen Alpha group
High Schools
-3 (soon 4!) public schools : 13 years and counting (Moving to the new high school in July!)
-1 private school : 7 years
-all campuses are in South Carolina
Courses Taught
French 1, 2, 3 (CP & Honors,) 4 (CP & Honors,) 5
AP French
Mascots & Colors
-the Knights, purple and silver
-the Skyhawks, red with a little royal blue and white
-the Stallions, red and white
-the Blue Eagles, navy blue and grey
-the Chargers, light blue and yellow (Coming Fall 2026)
Yearly Constant
-building a caring and working relationship with my learners
-sponsoring a French or International Club (I chartered a National French Honor Society in 2 schools, and will do so next year at the new school.)
-developing new ways to coach my learners to reach higher proficiency levels
-engaging in numerous professional learning opportunities as attendee, presenter, and/or board member
The Pandemic
-In spring of 2020, my district already had 1:1 MacBooks and iPads, so our learners received instruction through Canvas, our learning management system. When August 2020 rolled around, teachers went back to work, with a thermometer being pointed at our foreheads as we entered the building on masked up. Our students sat in a desk in their individual plexiglass "box." Each room had 12 total desks, so students reported to school two days per week on an A/B schedule. The other 3 days were spent doing eLearning at home. The graduation ceremony for our class of 2021 was held outside at a drive-in theater. It made national news on CBS Sunday Morning! I was home with my 1-year-old baby and too afraid to be exposed to all of the people at the event. (I've had Covid twice -- Fall 2022 and Fall 2025. Whew!)
-It's best to mention this world crisis before I share about curriculum and instruction because this is one of the positives (I know... There's more than one?!?) that came out of that unfortunate period of time in our collective world history. It allowed me to slow down and reevaluate the way I taught going into it and how I wanted it to look going out of it. I do not teach in the same exact way that I did before the pandemic, and I'm thankful that I decided to use that time when we couldn't have celebrations, pep rallies, in-person collaborative work, etc., to revamp and revise much of the materials and methods I used in the classroom up until then.
-When schools shut down across the United States on March 13th, 2020, I was already home on maternity leave, and my newborn, precious boy was 10 days old. I had already posted all work for the remainder of that year on Canvas, fortunately, so my longterm substitute teacher was still able to provide instruction. Because of the shut down, I was able to spend all but two weeks of the first five months of my baby's life with him at home.
-French Club continued to "meet" every month for the entirety of the school year 2020-2021 through the use of WebEx. Students showed up! Despite our faces just popping up in a little square on the computer screen, we were so happy to connect and "see" each other. For Mardi Gras, we "met" to make Mardi Gras personal protective equipment masks that we could wear to school. Mine is still hanging up on the bulletin board to this day. Additionally, we made cinnamon rolls and decorated them with Mardi Gras colors from the comfort of our own kitchens. We showed them off to each other on WebEx. Such a sad thing to remember, but it was comforting to be together in the best way we could during those dark times.
Curricular Work & Materials
-wrote the French curriculum for levels 1-5 and AP for the private school where I spent 7 years
-led and continue to help lead pacing guide changes to better serve our students as research continues to evolve
-served on the textbook adoption committee for the state of South Carolina around 2007
-distributed textbooks to use with learners for the first 4 years of teaching. I have been creating my own resources to coach my learners ever since.
Places I've Visited for Professional Learning
-Orlando, Florida: ACTFL and High Schools That Work
-Atlanta, Georgia: SCOLT & French Workshops
-Sacramento, California: AP French Language & Culture certification course
-Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: ACTFL and AATF
-San Antonio, Texas: ACTFL
-Winston Salem, Raleigh, Charlotte, North Carolina: SCOLT & FLANC
-Columbia, Lexington, Greenville, Charleston, South Carolina: SCFLTA
-Columbia, Charleston, South Carolina: AATF Fall Workshops
-Montréal, Québec, Canada: AATF
-My House -- I earned tons of professional learning credits through webinars during the pandemic years.
Technology
-used an overhead projector for the entirety of my first year of teaching
-moved on to the digital projector on loan for my second and third years of teaching, thanks to the most wonderful world languages coordinator at the SC department of education, Ruta Couet (She saw that I was ready to do more with technology despite the lack of funding for tech resources at the time, and let me tell you how grateful I was and am to this day! Merci, Ruta!)
-took learners to the computer lab, via reservations, so that learners could engage in special tasks or projects (This was the case for the first 4 years of teaching.)
-used the Smart Board technology to enhance my teaching for 7 years
-have been using the Promethean Board for the past going on 11 years
-teach 1:1 with devices (iPads and MacBooks) since my fifth year of teaching (2010)
-used a little Flip Video Camera and an iPod a few years to enhance instruction
-encouraged use of cell phones for course-related work until the SC cell phone ban began in Fall of 2024 (Cell phones had been a hindrance more so than a welcomed addition to learning for some time, but the device obsession truly reared its ugly head around 2020.)
Virtual Exchange Projects
-These are so numerous that it would take me quite a while to compile a list of them. I hope to look back at all of them sometime this year.
-The first time I remember connecting my students with others abroad was in the computer lab at the private school around 2009. We typed messages back and forth in real time with French students in New Zealand. I had gotten to know the collaborating teacher, Florence, from our Twitter for education connection. It was late in the afternoon here in the United States, and if my memory serves me correctly, it was morning time in the classroom there. We were so excited to communicate in real time with teens far, far away.
-Virtually, my learners have traveled to many places in the world: France (several places,) Martinique, Spain, Morocco, a French language classroom in New Zealand, Sudan via a United Nations peace-keeping officer, and some high school French classrooms in the United States.
-Currently, in Spring 2026, we are connecting with high schools in Rennes and Troyes, France.
Field Trips
-took students to the local art center to see a performance by a West African drumming group -- Amazing!
-coached and took students to compete in the annual Clemson University Poetry Declamation Contest.
-went to Quebec City, Canada, with a group of students and the Latin teacher during our February break back in 2013. It was unseasonably "warm" there that year. We enjoyed snow, but did not get frost bitten!
-often take French Club students to a French restaurant for dinner in Charlotte, NC, as the last activity before we break for the summer. We have been to Café Monte, The Melting Pot, and Amelie's French Bakery. (During the Covid pandemic year, the culinary teacher and his students prepared a 3 or 5 course French meal for us on campus, with plastic dividers set up so that we could social distance.)
-took French and Spanish Clubs to the International Festival in Columbia, SC, in spring 2025, and hope to continue to do so.
-As a chaperone, I've been kayaking and cabin camping with the freshmen class at the Nantahala River a few times. I also had the pleasure of accompanying the select ensemble choir to perform in Vienna Austria, and Krakow, Poland over the December/January break back in 2012(?)
Fundraisers & Drives
-From car washes to Valentine's Day carnations to candy bars, there have been a ton of fundraisers to support travel for students in the French departments where I've worked.
-New this year, we've hosted Moe's Taco Kit fundraisers to benefit the children's programs at an enrichment center that serves elementary students/families in our district.
-For several years now, French Club sponsors an October clothing drive for unhoused men of Charlotte. We work in collaboration with a former neighbor of mine who works with this ministry at her church.
-Thanks to a wonderful French Club officer a few years back, we collect old corrective eye glass frames for the Lyons Club to ship to people in need across the globe.
Summers
-For most of my career, I have engaged in planning, creating, organizing, and any other tasks I don't have time for during the school year. There have been summers where life took me away from it, especially since children, but, for the most part, I try to do a little bit of work every June and/or July. I enjoy taking the time to think strategically and creatively about the ideas that find themselves on the back burner for much of the school year.
-Eight weeks. We used to have eight weeks of rest and travel and just self-care time, but we have lost a week due to the modified schedule of recent years. It's nice to now have a week off in October and then another week in February, in addition to the usual school breaks.
Mentors in the Field of World Languages Education
-I have been fortunate to learn from some amazing French professors at both of the universities I attended: Dr. Twyla Meding, Dr. Michael Lastinger, Dr. Sharon Wilkinson, Dr. Jeff Persels, and Dr. Jeanne Garane. I had lunch with one of them a few months ago, and hope to see some of the others again sometime soon. Your passion and love of teaching truly inspires me. Je vous tous remercie !
-Ruta Couet impacted my professional life early on while she served as the assessments and standards education associate for the South Carolina Department of Education, and continued to do so as we worked together on the board of our state world languages teachers' association. She always encouraged me and supported my ideas. Merci beaucoup, ma chère amie !
-Toni Theisen, High School French Teacher Extraordinaire, introduced me to Twitter back in 2009 and it changed my professional life....tremendously! We live about 8 or so states apart, but no problem -- I found her on the Internet! Ha. She was featured on the cover of our national magazine for world languages education. I searched her name and then I looked for her on Facebook. As luck would have it, she had a profile there, so I private messaged her, like a good stalker, and asked if we could meet at a coffee shop when I was in the area for spring break. She kindly agreed and I made plans to spend a morning (or afternoon?) in the town where she worked. Oh my goodness, she taught me so much at that Colorado coffee shop, and continued to share her knowledge from then on. I'm forever grateful! Merci beaucoup, ma chère amie !
-I would be remiss if I didn't send out a heartfelt thank-you to all of the educators in the field of world languages and beyond who have impacted my professional life. Many of those educators are people I got to know through Twitter and with whom I have formed lasting friendships. Vous êtes les meilleurs !
Looking to the Future
-The classroom is where I've spent my career, and it is where I intend to remain for as long as I work in the field of education. It's my passion, and, through it all, I'm consistent: I have always strived to roll with the changes in society and the way our students "do school" so as to provide learning experiences that inspire some and motivate most. Relationships with my learners have and always will matter above all, and working with young people enriches my life. Onward and upward !
Fall 2005
first semester in the classroom
distance learning lab
Sumter, SC
