Northside’s newest French teacher reflects on her influences, goals, and experience
by John Gonzalez

Ms. Annie Huestis is Northside's newest French teacher. Photo by John Gonzalez

“[I] never thought that I wanted to teach until I taught English to French students,” Ms. Huestis said.

When she was nine, however, Ms. Huestis fell in love with the French language and began studying it. Her desire to be immersed in the French Culture ultimately led her to France.

“[I] loved the [language] and was able to go to French speaking countries to put the language to use.”

Ms. Huestis’ time in France can be linked to her belief that one can only truly learn a language when one is immersed in it. When Ms. Huestis was learning Spanish in a summer course at Northeastern University, she noticed that her Spanish teacher only spoke Spanish in class in an effort to immerse the class in the language. Ms. Huestis uses this approach in her French language classes.

“Students need to constantly hear [and] see French,” Ms. Huestis said. “I really discourage translating into English. There needs to be a particular form of interaction to reinforce what they are learning.”

Ms. Huestis also enjoys using Moodle because it then becomes easier to integrate the French culture and language into her classes when the use of technology is available.

“I love [technology at Northside],” Ms. Huestis said. “I am trying to incorporate Moodle and place projects [in Moodle].”

As such one of the reasons that Ms. Huestis enjoys Northside is because her students surpass her expectations and immerse into the language, and are given more time to reflect on their lessons.

“Students are grasping the responsibility, [and] exceeding my expectations,” Ms. Huestis said. “The motivation is there and so is the responsibility.”

Ms. Huestis hopes to show her students how English and French are more similar than different.

“[There are] more similarities than differences [between French and English],” Ms. Huestis said. “… High school students are interested in seeing cultural interaction in education and beyond. I got excited about continuing to learn about high school students and teaching them cultural knowledge.”