Out of the Frying Pan, Into
the Fire:
Reflections of a First Year Immersion Teacher
The ACIE Newsletter, November 2004, Vol. 8, No. 1
by Molly Anderson, Foruth Grade French Immersion Teacher, Normandale Elementary, Edina, MN
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Molly Anderson and her fourth grade French immersion students. |
It’s funny, but I never thought I would be a teacher. And here I am, a first year teacher at Normandale French Immersion Elementary School. Years ago I graduated from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities and set out East to enjoy a rewarding career in public relations. As it turned out I didn’t find that job to be so rewarding. I moved back to Wisconsin, stayed with my parents, and rethought the course of my life.
I had always loved French language and culture. Because of
this love, as well as my successful experiences working with
kids, I began to consider the teaching profession. I chose
to return to the University of Minnesota in the Second Languages
and Cultures Postbaccalaureate Program to earn my licenses
in French and ESL. In all honesty, I only wanted to teach
French, but I knew having two K-12 licenses would make me
more marketable.
Once I became a language-teacher-to-be postbac, I certainly
never thought I would be an immersion teacher! Throughout
my fifteen months in this language teacher development program,
I geared my thoughts and studies towards secondary language
teaching, mainly because that is what I knew best. I grew
up learning French in the traditional secondary setting and,
for a French-loving person living in the Midwest, this was,
I thought, the best opportunity for me to use my French and
work with kids.
First exposure to immersion
My first glimpse of immersion education occurred during a
visit to Normandale Elementary School to observe a second
grade class for an assignment. I was blown away by the speaking
ability of these immersion kids. Seven- and eight- year-olds
were carrying on conversations that I wasn’t capable
of until high school and college!
I was impressed with the concept of immersion and teaching
language through content. Until then content-based instruction
had been an abstract idea we had discussed at length in our
seminars at the university. Though we had studied how to integrate
content into a traditional language-learning environment,
our discussions had also considered the challenges of teaching
a language in both immersion and traditional language learning
settings. As anyone who has taught a world language (in any
setting) or done research on language learning knows, one
of the main challenges of the traditional setting is getting
students to speak fluently. The challenge of the immersion
setting, however, is getting students to understand new concepts
and correctly use grammar. The impact of the difference between
these two challenges is something I am still only beginning
to understand.
Unbeknownst to me, my observation of second grade would not
be my last time at Normandale. Just before my final student
teaching placement I attended a job fair in downtown Minneapolis
where I met several of the Human Resource staff for the Edina
Public Schools, as well as the principal of Normandale Elementary.
I felt very welcome and comfortable talking with the staff
and jumped at the chance to interview for an opening at their
French immersion elementary school. Though I was excited (and
nervous) to interview, I was still not sure I wanted to teach
in an elementary setting. As I said, throughout the past year
I had geared myself towards secondary language instruction.
In addition, I knew that the licenses I was about to earn—K-12
French and ESL—did not qualify me to teach elementary
students. If I were offered a job, and if I were to accept,
I would have to return to school—again—to pursue
an elementary license.
Choosing immersion
As it turns out, the interview went well and I was offered
a job as one of four fourth-grade teachers at Normandale Elementary.
Despite the additional schooling this decision would require,
I accepted the position for two reasons. First, teaching in
an immersion school helps me attain two important life goals:
to have a career that I love and of which I am proud and to
improve my own French language skills. Second, the more I
thought about immersion education, the more I realized that
working in an immersion school was the only way for me to
teach a foreign language. I had always assumed that I would
teach French in a traditional secondary setting where students
are in French class for less than one hour per day. After
spending time in the immersion setting I realized that immersion
is the best way for students to learn a second language because
they use the language throughout the school day in authentic
content-based contexts. As I thought more about language teaching
I was excited about the prospect of speaking entirely in the
second language and teaching language through important and
meaningful subject matter study (something my postbac classes
had consistently urged me to do).
My decision to move toward immersion teaching was cemented
when I spent three weeks student teaching at Normandale at
the end of the 2003-04 academic year. Once again, I was impressed
that the students could speak so well and learn the same district-mandated
3rd grade curriculum, only in a second language. I was awed
by the genuine warmth of the students, staff and community
at Normandale, and by the end of the three weeks I couldn’t
wait to start my first year of teaching with my very own immersion
classroom.
These first three weeks of school have been a struggle, but
they have also been some of the most rewarding weeks of my
life. Every day I am learning from my teammates, my students
and myself. I think my learning curve is steeper than that
of my students this year! It promises to be a year full of
learning and growth. I am excited to be at school every day
and have the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations
(in French!) with my students and colleagues. Though I never
thought I would become a teacher, let alone a French immersion
teacher, today I can't imagine any other place I would rather
be.