Abby Arace, OFLA Beginning Teachers 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 teachers. Our goal is to provide a network of resources, strategies, and tools for new teachers. We want new teachers to know they are not alone and that OFLA is here to help them. To this end, we will interview new teachers throughout the year and highlight them in The Cardinal. Kendal Smith is in her 3rd year teaching French at Johnathan Alder High School in Plain City, Ohio.

1. What is your favorite thing about being a teacher?

I really enjoy being able to do something different each and every day with my students to help them learn French. I also love being able to see when students understand a concept and when they have their “lightbulb” moments.

2. What made you want to teach?

I have been surrounded by education my whole life as my dad is in education and I really loved being able to help him with “school stuff” (cutting out, laminating, making an anchor chart, etc.) when I was a kid. I also wanted to do something that I could make a difference in people’s lives and I reflected for a long time on who has impacted my life the most (besides my family) – and by no surprise, it was my teachers. I realized that teaching would combine everything that I was looking for in a future career – the chance to learn something new each day, the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, and the ability to teach others about something that I really love (French!). 

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

Teachers from when I was a student, mentors I have had, and my dad. All these educators in my life have been so willing to share any resources, answer any questions, or even just to listen to me. They have helped me consider what I can do to make my teaching even better for my students and even have just helped to encourage me on days when I didn’t feel I was my best. 

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

Every year I learn something new from different teachers in my school, and I am so grateful to get to work alongside them each day. One of the highlights for me this year was getting to learn more about our Career and College Readiness class and how I can best work with the course teacher in my own unit where students consider their futures. It was great to see how connections can be made across curriculums and how I rely on her expertise to help me create a unit that prepares students for whatever career path they choose. 

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

One of my favorite projects that I created in my first year teaching was giving students the role of being a real estate agent and tasking them with finding the perfect home or apartment for a client based on their criteria. Each student presented their pick for their client in a gallery walk and their classmates acted as the client to see how closely each home or apartment matched “their” criteria. It was really interesting to see which homes or apartments that they chose for each client and to hear them convincing their classmates that they found the best option.

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

The biggest challenge that I have had as a new teacher has been my own expectations that everything must be perfect. I think that I got caught up in comparing myself to other seasoned educators and didn’t fully understand that making mistakes is vital as you start out. You have to be willing to try new things, make changes when it doesn’t work, and continue to work to make it better. 

7. What advice do you have for new teachers?

Don’t be afraid to go to other teachers when you have questions or even need to talk through an idea. All teachers have been in your position before as a new teacher and, in my experience, are more than willing to help in any way that they can.