Mrs. Segal

Education: Bachelor of Arts in French and Secondary Education from Florida State University ; certificates in French language (CFLE) from L’Institut Catholique de Paris, La Sorbonne and L’Universite de Bourgogne; coursework toward a Master of Arts in French from Middlebury College, Vermont.

 

As a child, I never would have imagined that I’d be a teacher. I began college as a business major. As such, I was required to take a modern foreign language, as my years of high school Latin did not count.  I chose French on a whim.  My first class was taught by a teaching assistant, who was wonderfully gifted and passionate about the language.  I took the required courses but discovered I did not want to end there.  After much discussion with my family, I decided to change my major and become a teacher of French.   I wanted to be the kind of teacher who loved and motivated her students, just like the teaching assistant from whom I discovered my passion.  In my junior year I was awarded a scholarship to spend the summer in Paris and attend college at the Catholic Institute, which brought to life all that I had learned:  language, art, architecture, food, culture… I couldn’t wait to share my passion about all things French with my future students!  Fortunately, several years after graduation one summer, I ran into the TA at a museum in Paris and was able to share how she had influenced my choice of a career.

 

 

My previous training in the AVID program has had the most influence on me in terms of how students learn, process, and retain information.  It became abundantly clear early in my career that students not only needed to be engaged in what they were learning, but also held accountable to the highest standards while being provided academic and social support. Having been trained with these research-based strategies completely changed my perspective as a teacher.  Training other teachers in these methodologies has shown a positive influence in their classrooms as well.  I’m looking forward to sharing these skills with Holy Trinity students!