Votre Professeur

NAME:
April Burton

SCHOOL:
Francis Howell Central High School

CLASS:
French 1 and 2

SCHOOL PHONE:
636-851-4576

SCHOOL EMAIL:
april.burton@fhsdschools.org

About Mme B…

I graduated from Southeast Missouri State University where I majored in French Education with additional certifications in English and Middle School. Currently, I am working on my Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from University of Missouri Columbia. I love technology, and I use it often in my classroom. I encourage students to bring their cell phones, IPods, tablets and laptops to class. Technology can open the French speaking world up for us in ways that have never been done before.

This is my 14th year teaching, but my 11th year at FHC. I came to Central as a Comm Arts teacher, but eventually was drawn into the World Language department. I am excited to be teaching French 1 and 2 this year!

Things I love…I love spending time with my family: my husband, my THREE kids. We love taking in the sites around town. On any given weekend you can find us at the zoo, the Transportation Museum, the Science Center, or just playing at the park.

My favorite movies are few because I don’t really like to sit still long enough to watch a movie, but a few that I would sit down to watch would be: “You’ve Got Mail”, Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo and Juliet”, and Night at the Museum.

I love to read, and would love to spend afternoons just sitting with a book. I have several favorites, but my top few are To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and Prejudice, and The Poisonwood Bible.

I feel like I am incredibly busy; always going somewhere or doing something. I really must say that teaching is truly my passion. I love being in the classroom. I love my job!!

How I teach…

My teaching method is a little different than what most students are used to experiencing. Starting second semester of the 2011-2012 school year, I have moved to a “flipped” classroom.

My goal for my students is to learn to use the French language so that they can be equipped to speak, read, write and understand French in logical, real-world situations. In order to maximize our class time, and give students the opportunity to use French in those situations, I present new information to my students through videos. My students are still learning from me, but instead of listening to me lecture in class, and going home to complete homework assignments without my assistance, they are watching me present the information outside of class, and doing practice exercises in class, where I am available to help.

While this concept is a bit unorthodox, there have been many proven benefits for this type of class structure. Students can stop, rewind, re-watch the videos as often as necessary until they fully understand the information. Level 2 students can even go back and re-watch level 1 concepts in order to review things that were taught last year. Because students are learning the information from me as “homework”, the time that we have together can be spent doing more practical activities, that allow my students to speak, read, write and hear the language more often. The best part is that I have more time to walk around the room and talk to each student in order to answer their questions.