TPACK in the Classroom: High School French Class

When I was in high school, there were very few classes that made it a point to integrate technology in a meaningful way that would enhance our learning... except one.

In high school, my French teacher, Mme Duquette, always seemed to have a way to incorporate technology of some sort into what we were learning. Whether it be making movies and having us voice over the visual component, having us record ourselves reading or having a conversation, creating comic strips written in French, to world interactive maps, there was always some way for us as students to reinforce and build on our learning.

Specifically, one of the most crucial moments that I remember as a student in the class, as well as a student teacher in the class, where the various recording that we had to do. Being first taught the words, the phrases, and the syntax, Mme Duquette supplied us with all the resources that we needed in order to properly speak in French. However, the point of the recordings was a way for her to check in on our development, our pronunciation (which was the thing I struggled most with), and to make sure that we understood the complex syntax of the language. In addition to acting as a formative assessment tracking our understanding, Mme Duquette also used the records as an opportunity to individually provide the support that each student needed. Example, since I struggled with pronunciation, Mme Duquette would use records as a chance to correct my mistakes by sending me proper pronunciations of words I struggled with. In a subtle way that allowed me to correct my mistakes without being embarrassed in front of my classmates for my inability to speak, I received the help I needed in a sort of 1:1 manner.

As Mme Duquette incorporated the use of technology into her pedagogy, as she provided many ways for us to use technology in a way that would appease our learning styles as well as our individual needs as students, I feel that I took more out of her class than out of any other class. By the time senior year rolled around, I had gone from a timid Freshman unsure of my capabilities to speak foreign language to a enthusiastic senior who was more confident in her ability to speak French, but who also made note of the various forms of activities used in French class to hopefully one day apply it to my own classroom (fun fact, I was awarded most-improved French Student my at the end of my senior year, but honestly I'm still not great at pronunciation). 

I feel I had a positive experience with the TPACK model in my French class, even though I am not sure that was the intention of my teacher to follow it. Today, I would be interested to see what suggestions Mme Duquette could make to help me to have the same sort of model in my future Math classroom. Given that French and Math are two totally distinct fields, I want to learn how to have such a successful model of teaching and learning within my classroom.