Abby Arace, OFLA Beginning Teacher Chair
French Teacher, New Albany Middle School

The OFLA Beginning Teacher Committee is working hard to connect with new teachers and to support them in becoming excellent, innovative, resourceful, and long-lasting world language educators . Our goal is to provide a network of resources, strategies, and tools for new teachers. We want our newest colleagues  to know that they are not alone and that OFLA is here to help them. To this end, we will be interviewing new teachers throughout the year and highlighting them in The Cardinal. Sam Reffner is a French teacher at New Albany High School in New Albany, Ohio in her 3rd year teaching French.

What is your favorite thing about being a teacher?

There are lots of things I love about being a teacher. I specifically love being a language teacher because it allows me the opportunity to give others the gift of language. I get to constantly explore different cultures and use it as a teaching tool.

What made you want to teach?

I always knew I was going to be a teacher growing up. There was no specific event or person that made me want to be a teacher – just a feeling that it was my calling. I’m very extroverted and I always enjoyed being around others. I grew up loving projects and presenting, so I knew that my future career would be something involving that. 

Who has had the biggest impact on your teaching and why?

My two mentor teachers from student teaching in 2020, Maureen Gerber and Josh Ferrie, have had the biggest impact on my teaching. I did my student teaching in the Fall of 2020 when there was a lot of uncertainty in the world, which forced me to be dynamic and flexible to the environment around me. Both Maureen and Josh taught me how to roll with the punches, enjoy the ride, and most importantly, teach French! 

What is one thing you learned from another teacher that helped you this year?

Our district has given us several professional development opportunities to learn about using AI in the classroom and I think that has been super helpful! We’ve been exploring how to use it in a way to enhance the learning experience. 

What is a project or lesson in your classroom that you are really proud of or happy with?

I’m currently giving our “Where are you going?” unit an overhaul where the focus is Paris. Each week we focus on a new monument in Paris and we do a fun activity related to that monument! For example, I recently built a Louvre escape room with the help of my Spanish teacher colleague, Hannah Macko. The students really enjoyed it and had the opportunity to discover the art around the museum and work on their language skills in a creative way! 

What is one thing that you have struggled with as a new teacher?

Finding authentic resources for our curriculum is challenging when you’re newer to the profession. It takes time to comb through the videos, audio clips, and websites to find the perfect resource out there. I’m thankful to have had support over the past few years from my colleagues and language teacher friends across the state to help me when I’m looking for something to use in class!

What advice do you have for new teachers?

You’re not in this alone! Ask for help. There are Facebook groups full of language teachers ready to give feedback or share their resources if you’re in a pinch. I have language teacher friends from college that I keep in touch with and we share materials all the time to help each other out. It’s important to make those connections and stick together! If you’re the only language teacher at your school or your colleagues teach other languages, I think it’s always good to share and ask for ideas anyways! I’ve transformed so many Spanish activities into French and put my own twist on them. There’s never any shame in asking for advice, help, or ideas! The more the merrier!