Aujourd'hui

I am currently in my first year as a French teaching assistant and graduate student at the University of Cincinnati, where I am teaching French 101 to undergraduate students. I have used my previous experience as an English assistant at a high school in France to help me, but I am currently focused on these goals to improve my teaching skills:

1. Only speaking in the target language: I would like to minimize the amount of English I use in the classroom to only administrative issues. To achieve this, I have pointed out the tools available to my students to understanding the French used (asking "que veut-dire?" "comment est-ce qu'on dit..." "repetez, si-vous-plait" and using the dictionary in the book as needed), and I am focusing on the tools at my disposal (visual aids, physical demonstrations, and class activities).

2. Creating a comfortable atmosphere: In order to learn a language effectively I believe one needs a classroom where students feel comfortable to try, make mistakes, and learn. I believe encouragement is very important and learning about students' interests and likes is important for achieving this, so I am focusing on these things in order to create a classroom where every single student is at ease to learn and speak French.

3. Learning from courses I take: As a graduate student, I am currently enrolled in Caribbean Literature, 17th century French literature, Research Methods, French practicum, and Arabic 101. I try to learn as much as I can from these classes and the professors who teach them to improve my own class.

4 . In the near future: I plan to study French in Paris over the summer to further improve my language instruction for future French courses.