Camilla Stoodley
I was born in Burin on
the Burin Peninsula and I lived in the small communities of St.
Lawrence and Lawn until I was eight years old. My cousins from
Saint-Pierre-et- Miquelon used to visit my family regularly and I
always told my grandmother that I wanted to talk like my
francophone cousins. When I was eight years old my family moved to
Dunville, Placentia Bay, which is where I began my formal study of
French in Grade 6 in 1964 at St. Anne's Elementary School. My first
French book was called "Totor et Tristan", which I still have in my
book collection. I still remember our teacher pronouncing the words
just as I know they are pronounced (today). I attended Junior High
School in Placentia, where, in Grade 8, I had a francophone teacher
for French, M. François Derrible from
Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. I found Grade 8 to be a very interesting
year and I truly believe that it was in Grade 8 that I decided that
I wanted to be a French teacher. I continued my study of French
throughout High School and University. I studied at Memorial
University of Newfoundland and I spent time studying French in
Saint-Pierre-et -Miquelon and at Laval University in Quebec. I
graduated with my BA and B.Ed. and later completed my Masters in
teaching at Memorial University.
I began my teaching career at Xavier High School in Long Harbour in
1972. My teaching duties included French from grade 7 - 11 and
later in 1983, French 3201 was added to my course load when the
high school program was reorganized. I taught in that school for 17
years and enjoyed every day of my time there. During my years at
Xavier I traveled with students to Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon,
Québec and France. I was a member of several working groups
with the Department of Education: French 3201 Development
Committee, French 3201 Public Exam Committee, Marking Board for
three years, 1983- 1985 and the National Core French Study
Provincial Committee. In 1990, I accepted a position with the St.
John's Roman Catholic School Board at an all boys school, St.
Bonaventure's. I was the French teacher in this school and my
teaching duties included French from Grade 4 - 8 and some homeroom
duties at the grade 8 level.
In 1991 I was contracted by the Department of Education to write
student handbooks for French 2100 for Distance Education delivery.
I was then, in 1992, seconded by the Department of Education to
deliver French 2100 and French 2101 via Distance Education to
several small schools in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
During that year, I developed French 3200 for Distance Education
and taught it the following year.
Previous to and during my time teaching via distance I realized the impact that technology was having and would continue to have in the domain of Education, so I decided to hone my skills in technology and it became, like French, a passion of mine.
In 1996-1997 I developed French 3201 for delivery via Distance
Education, but I did not teach this course via distance. It was in
1997 that Distance Education was decentralized and I returned to my
school, St. Bonaventure's, where I taught French in grades 6-8 and
I had grade 6 homeroom duties. I introduced my Grade 6 class to
technology across the curriculum and the response that I received
from the students was very positive. It was during that year 1997 -
1998 that St. Bonaventure's school was slated to close, so I began
my search for something else. I was reassigned to a position within
the Avalon East School Board, however, I was successful in my
application for the position of French Implementation Specialist
with Avalon West School District and thus requested a leave of
absence from Avalon East.
I spent 3 years working at Avalon West School District which I
enjoyed tremendously. My position was 75% French Program Specialist
and for the other 25% of my time I was seconded to the Department
of Education as Provincial Department Head for Distance Education
French. I was indeed thrilled to be involved again with Distance
Education. My interest in technology continued to grow and I
assisted teachers and classes of students in using technology in
theme projects. You can see one of these projects by visiting the
website of Akerman Elementary School.
During my third year at Avalon West, the French Program Specialist
funding reduced the position to 50%, I retained the Department Head
duties and I was assigned Distance Education teaching duties. I
delivered French 3200 via Distance Education to three small schools
in the Avalon West School District. I assisted a new school in its
Late French Immersion start-up and I helped deliver a summer school
session to students entering this French Immersion Program. I found
this to be a very rewarding experience, however, the duties of all
three major parts of the position were very demanding.
In April, 2001, I was seconded to the Department of Education to
develop French 2200 for a web-based pilot. During the time that I
was working on the development of this web-based course I presented
myself as a candidate for the position of French Development
Specialist with the Language Programs Section of the Program
Development Division of the Department of Education. I was
successful in my application and I began my new position on
September 4, 2001.
In this position I worked with Core French teachers all around the province. I was responsible for delivering professional development for new programs and for establishing committees for program development and various other projects. During my last year at the Department I applied for a new position with the Division of Evaluation and was again successful and I became a test consultant. In this position I established two working groups whose mandates were to develop a CRT for Grade 9 English and a CRT for Grade 9 Core French. This was my last project at he Department of Education. I officially retired in June, 2003 and I can honestly say that my career was varied and thoroughly interesting and enjoyable.
During my career I planned and facilitated several professional
development sessions for teachers in every position that I held.
While working with the Placentia St. Mary's Roman Catholic School
Board, in the absence of a French Program Specialist, I attended
Provincial meetings and delivered sessions to French teachers in
the School Board. While at St. Bonaventure's School, during the
1997-1998 school year, I facilitated a Technology session for the
teaching staff. During my three years at Avalon West School
District, I facilitated several PD sessions on French Second
Language Pedagogy and Technology Integration in the French
Curriculum.
Another option that I availed of with my teaching experience and my
French second language Education was accepting to be a per-course
instructor at the Department of French and Spanish at Memorial
University. I began to do per-course lecturing in 1989, when I was
on a semester of Educational leave and studying at MUN (Masters
Program) and I continue to do so today. More recently I have
prepared the two first-year French courses for distance delivery
and I teach these two courses in the Fall and the Winter semesters.
Since 2003 I have also taught the French methods courses in the
Faculty of Education. Currently I am the French Education Liaison
Officer at the Faculty of Education.
My career as a French Second Language Educator has been very varied
and rewarding and I credit this to having studied French and
Education and having taken a real interest in technology. I have
welcomed change because I consider change to be such an important
component of growing professionally. If you are considering a
career in Education, I highly recommend that you study French.
French teachers are in demand! We need you!
