Michelle Emery
French Teacher @Burr And Burton Academy
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WORK HISTORY
French Teacher @Burr And Burton Academy
Manchester, VT, US
I am the only French teacher at BBA, which is a public/private school for grades 9-12. I teach all levels of French, Levels 1-6(AP), as well as advanced independent studies. At BBA, I have led four trips to Quebec, five home stay trips to France, and three service trips to Morocco for students. I have led numerous trips to France and Quebec at my former schools as well. I established a French Exchange with a school in Pau, France for BBA in 2016, and 2018 then in 2020 we hosted but were unable to travel that April. We successfully rebooted the Exchange in 2022, overcoming numerous challenges to do so. I have done all the arrangements for the Exchange personally, I do not use a tour company, but I hope to find one to partner with for the next trip. Our April 2023 trip was to Martinique, our first trip to the Caribbean! My students do well on the new AP exam and I have grown the program to where even with only one teacher we have had a Level 6/AP and even occasionally a Level 7 or even Level 8 class. I have also run a French Club, a Cooking Club, a World Cultures Club, and now a Fiber Arts club. I have also run numerous fund-raisers for our trips; crepe sales in and outside of school, catalog food sales and our annual Moroccan Dinner which is always a big hit. During the pandemic I taught live, full classes on Zoom every day, then in 20-21 taught hybrid (1/2 Zoom, 1/2 in-person) for a full year. I strive for authentic activities and community connections when possible. I lived in Paris for 8 years and still have family in France so my connections are very strong. My program is growing back from pandemic-related losses for many reasons, but first and foremost because students at our school understand the importance of learning a foreign language in today\'s world and have tremendous buy-in. Their enthusiasm is wonderful!
EDUCATION
Strath Haven High School
High School diploma
Grinnell College
B.S., English, French
University of Pennsylvania
M.S.Ed., Secondary Education, A average
School Year Abroad (SYA)
French Language Teacher Education
ABOUT MICHELLE EMERY
My passion is teaching French Language and Culture. I love exploring new teaching techniques and technologies that can help people learn in different ways. I am also passionate about travel, especially student travel. Discovering other cultures is essential not only to learning language, but also to one\'s own self-understanding. It is therefore a necessary part of the education of any global citizen. Foreign language study also allows one to connect knowledge in many fields, as we read and discuss topics in science, the arts, philosophy, history, literature, math, and sports. Many times my students come back to me and say that they were the only one in class that knew about something (grammar point, historical fact, environmental science). In my teaching, I try to teach students how to figure things out by themselves, how to search for information intelligently, and how to be critical thinkers. My goal in teaching is to improve every year. I have organized student trips to Quebec, Morocco, and France. During my time at BBA I am proud to have organized a French Exchange with our sister school Lycée St Cricq in Pau, France starting in 2016. In 2020 we hosted our 3rd group of students but were unable to travel to Pau because of the pandemic. We successfully rebooted the Exchange in the spring of 2022, receiving students in February and traveling to France in April. In fall of 2022 I also added the option for our students to study for a whole semester in France! My most recent trip was April 2023 to Martinique with 10 students. The increase in engagement and motivation, even among non-traveling students, is exponential, leading to better student outcomes and longer term study for many more students.
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