The Lowell Hoeft Years  1987-2004

Teaching

Described by Hoeft in his own words

What I Had to Have

For many years, the third weekend in the month of November found me attending a professional language conference in one of the metropolitan areas of the United States. On occasion I was on the program to make a presentation, but in most cases I was there to glean ideas from others about current trends in methodology and to reconnect with colleagues with whom I shared the love of teaching. 

In the fall of 1986, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held its annual meeting in Dallas, Texas. Less often the case today, but at that period of time, textbook companies would host receptions, or even a dinner, in order to encourage instructors to buy their materials to use in their classrooms. A friend and colleague of mine from Minnesota and I received an invitation to a dinner and to hear a presentation about a textbook series. We were seated at a long table with other teachers, and to my left was a professor from the University of Northern Iowa. He told me that he taught French at the Laboratory School on campus. He explained that this school served students in pre-school through the 12th grade and provided opportunities for university students preparing to enter the teaching profession. These future educators observed master teachers, presented their own lessons, and some might even do their final student teaching assignment in this building. In addition, as the name implied, the Laboratory School served as a testing ground for pedagogical research.

After exchanging some ideas on language teaching and sharing stories about foreign travel, the professor informed me that there would be a full-time position available in his department for the following school year. He asked me if I might be interested in applying and, based on our conversation, felt that I would be a good fit for this job. I told him that I was happy with the employment I had had for 19 years and had no interest in leaving it. He said that an applicant would have to send a copy of a vita, three letters of recommendation, and make an official request of application. I reinforced an earlier refusal but thanked him for expressing an interest in me and for thinking that I would be a viable candidate.

Once back at school and busy with my students, I had forgotten about the conversation that took place three weeks earlier until my phone rang one evening. Yes, it was the gentleman with whom I had eaten dinner at the Dallas conference calling to say that he had not yet received anything from me for the French teaching position. I explained that that was because nothing had ever been sent.  He informed me that he had visited with another professor who knew me and who had observed me teaching several years before and who felt that I would be an excellent candidate. Once again, I thanked him for expressing faith in my abilities, but said that I really wasn’t interested. I ended the call by wishing this determined individual a Merry Christmas.

Not long after the first of the year 1987, a second phone call came from this insistent man who was still looking for my application. He was sure that I would really enjoy teaching in a laboratory school setting. He was confident that if I were one of those chosen to be interviewed, and had a chance to visit the campus and talk to his colleagues, I would see great opportunities for my career. It was obvious that the only way to get this man off my back was to complete the necessary forms. I quickly acquired some letters of recommendation and typed up a resume, albeit not in a very professional style. I wasn’t too concerned about the appearance of my application papers; after all, I had no interest in moving to Iowa and leaving a job where I loved my students, was able to give them international travel experiences, and who made me very proud each year when they achieved success in state and national language competitions.  

As expected, I was one of three candidates asked to interview for the teaching position I was trying to avoid. I found out that I, a 40-year-old white male, was competing with two females and one was a minority. So, I figured that I wouldn’t have much of a chance anyway once our names were forwarded to the Affirmative Action committee. That should eliminate any chance of my being given serious consideration.

I arrived the evening of April 6, the day prior to my scheduled interview date. As part of the process, I was told that I would have to teach a lesson to a group of beginning French students. Even though I didn’t care about this job, I was unable to sleep the entire night. Why should I be nervous? I didn’t need this job; I was a veteran of the profession for 19 years and was familiar with the material I was to teach. I arrived at the school the next morning looking totally fatigued. Fortunately, teaching the lesson was the first thing on the agenda, so once that was over, I could just relax the rest of the day by answering and asking questions and enjoy being treated to a meal.

Throughout the day, I was made to feel very welcome by all the teachers, administrators, and the Dean of the College of Education. I could see that teachers at this Laboratory School were definitely masters of their craft. They were also involved in professional service and scholarly research. It was stimulating being back on a university campus, surrounded by energetic college age students and knowledgeable professionals with a variety of backgrounds. And, on this one day, I could dine in a casual manner instead of gulping down a sandwich while trying to get ready for afternoon classes, run to the bathroom, and answer students’ questions before the next bell rings! I felt like, for one day, I was on a mini-vacation. Prior to my departure from campus, salary was discussed, but I don’t remember the details. It was the professional aspects of the day that lingered on my mind. 

Comfortably seated on the airplane on the way back to Wisconsin, and as the plane taxied down the runway, I remembered what I was told three months earlier. Once on campus, I would realize the numerous opportunities for professional advancement. As the plane lifted off, I knew that I had to have that job, or I would be very unhappy having to return for a 20th year in Seymour. 

Teaching Style

Prior to the start of my first teaching assignment as a high school French teacher, I had limited opportunities to observe a variety of teaching styles. I attended a one-room grade school, and had the same teacher for eight years. I adored her. I attended a small high school so I often had the same teacher for math and science classes or the same teacher for social studies courses. In general, they were nice and were knowledgeable about their subject matter, but did not show any creativity in their teaching methods. 

I am one of very few people who never studied a foreign language in high school, and yet became a teacher of one. I had only one hour of observation in a high school French class before starting my student teaching in a junior high school. I had been a student in a college language classroom, not a secondary one, so did not know how one learns a language at that level. One semester of a language course in college is the equivalent of one year at the secondary level. At the end of my first day of observing my cooperating teacher, she informed me that the following day, I would be in charge. I had never been in front of a group of students until that moment. My cooperating teacher was helpful by giving me ideas, but I never saw them demonstrated.  

The emphasis on studying a foreign language in the 1960’s was definitely not speaking it, but rather on the reading and writing skills which involved a lot of translating. One of my college professors of French only used English in the classroom and we translated literary works from French to English. Another one, a native of Russia, used some French but the class was taught primarily in English. The majority of the class of a third professor who spoke with a German accent, was taught mainly in French. However, she did not realize that most of us had heard very little spoken French or been taught how to communicate in the language, so most of what she said was not understood. 

In April of my senior year in college, I signed a contract to teach four levels of high school French: three sections of French I, two sections of French II, and one section of a combined French III and IV.  It was a little overwhelming to think that I had not studied French much longer than some of the advanced students I would be teaching. I graduated with a degree to teach French, but I really did not know how to speak the language. Yes, I could put some sentences together, but couldn’t imagine actually having a conversation with a fluent speaker. 

I had never considered what kind of teaching style I would use in my classroom, except that I had decided from day one that I would use as much French as possible in order to learn how to speak it myself. I guess you could say my style was developed from a selfish desire to use the language.  I was put to the test when I walked into my first hour class. It was the combination III and IV group. The level IV students were actually quite good. Many years later, I learned about the difficulties of teaching a combination class. It was never discussed in my college classes, and I never thought about the challenges that it might present. I just dealt with the challenges by coming up with my own approaches. 

With Latin being phased out during my first year of teaching at my school, and no other foreign languages being taught, I was on my own. I had no other colleagues to whom I could ask questions about teaching a language. I was never concerned by that fact. I just went ahead with my own ideas. By the end of my first year of teaching, I realized that my oral skills had improved and I felt more confident using the language.  We all know that one learns a lot by teaching. 

I taught for four years before setting foot on French soil where I would finally be immersed in the language for the first time. This was my chance to test my skills since starting with the language eight years earlier. Not only did I take classes through the University of Northern Iowa’s graduate program in France, I was fully immersed by living with a family. Even though the monsieur and madame were not native French people, they of course spoke the language fluently. They were from Tunisia, a French-speaking country.

Once back in my classroom, I realized that I was able to give my students a more authentic picture of French life. The information I gave them didn’t come solely from a textbook. Three summers of living with a family in France and traveling around the country made my classroom come alive. 

Two summers, 1974 and 1976, of my M.A. studies were held on campus at UNI. It was there where I was enrolled in excellent methods courses. A variety of ideas involving the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills were presented by French teachers from several parts of the country who were there for graduate credit. I had developed some activities for teaching these skills, but they were not as creative as what I learned during those two sessions.  It was the first time where I really knew what it meant to share and collaborate. 

It was also at UNI, in 1974, where I learned about professional organizations, conferences, and language competitions. Not only did I become a member of the Wisconsin Association of Foreign Language Teachers, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, and The American Association of Teachers of French, I attended my state conference in Madison and a national one in Denver a few months later. And, in the spring of 1975, I made my very first presentation which was at the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held in Columbus, Ohio. 

Attendance at conferences was definitely the key that opened so many doors for me when it came to being a better instructor. Sitting in on sessions about celebrating holidays, about teaching writing, about using games as a learning tool and so many other topics was exciting for me. I guess one could say that much of what I added to my teaching style was stolen from these meetings. I often knew which ideas wouldn’t work for me, and even those I thought would work sometimes fell flat. What fun it was to experiment! 

In 1976, I entered students in the National French Contest for the first time and was fortunate to have some students who were successful. I had some winners every year until my last year of teaching French. Having students participate in this contest was a good way of telling me whether or not I was teaching the appropriate skills at each level. Until the mid-1990’s, winners were declared at the state, regional and national levels. After that, only state and national winners were recognized. 

Click here to learn more about Language Competitions & Awards

As I stated earlier, language is taught at a faster pace at the college level than at the secondary one. I know that I used the college pace with my very first class, and every class thereafter. I utilized every single minute in instructing and in getting students involved. No idle time ever.

In summary, since I never had any foreign language role models prior to starting my career, I think that I was born to be an educator. As one of my colleagues once said to me, as I entered my classroom, “It’s showtime. Give another great performance.” I believe that my teaching style was pretty much developed by the time I started my graduate studies, but it definitely improved during the years I spent in France and at UNI. I give much credit to Patricia Westphal, Michael Oates, and Jacques DuBois for their support and encouragement. 

Thoughts on Oral Communication

A teacher has to work at developing oral communication in the students. The only way to have your students involved in using the language is if they are given the tools to do so. I’ve observed classrooms where the teacher is using the language, but the students are not. They have to be taught how as soon as they walk through the door. The use of the language must start on DAY ONE. This must be modeled immediately. Day two is already too late. Some teachers wait until levels two or three to insist on using the language. It most likely will not happen. Students will resist, get discouraged and frustrated.

• Don’t be addicted to the textbook and worksheets! I cover the material in the textbook, but I rarely open it during class. I create activities that utilize the concepts without the students having to stare into the book. After all, oral communication isn’t based on looking at a book or a piece of paper.

• I always start class with an oral review of previously learned material. Students’ books and notebooks are closed. If they are staring into them to look for the answer, to me, it means they haven’t prepared and don’t know the material. They must be ready to draw upon their knowledge in order to answer and ask questions—both with me and with a partner. They learn quickly that, if they want to participate, they better have studied or they will feel embarrassed if they can’t answer any questions.

• When beginning with a new group of students, explain to them that they don’t have to understand every word the teacher says in order to survive in a language class. They should learn to get the gist of what is being said, rather than hanging on every single word. After all, we didn’t understand every word while learning our native language.

• Remind students to be thinking about what their response could be when the teacher is calling on someone else. If the student being called on doesn’t know the answer, then another student will surely be the victim. So, students shouldn’t just sit there when not being called on. If every student is thinking about a response, this cuts down on wait time. And since I have very little patience, this pays off for me, the teacher.

• Insist on student use of the language, especially after they know the vocabulary. Students have to be reminded, and they need to be taught to do this. Example: Student says in English: “I don’t have a pencil.” Don’t belabor the point, just walk them through the comment step by step to make them aware that they DO know the words. Break down the sentence by having the student, or with help of classmates, identify the subject, verb and object in French. Then, have the student put the sentence together. This should be done at a quick pace.

• Greet students EVERY DAY and expect students to greet you when they enter the classroom. You may have to point it out until they get into the habit. Tell them that they shouldn’t wait for the teacher to say something in French. They should initiate the greeting or conversation too.

• When learning and drilling new concepts, don’t accept one- or two-word answers or just yes and no. Push and encourage them to give complete sentences and to create longer sentences. Naturally, this depends on the level and the vocabulary learned.

• Students need to be pushed into using higher levels of vocabulary structures. By nature, students find it easier just to fall back on cognates or the same old tired responses. The teacher needs to make them aware of that from time to time.

• Using the target language as much as possible forces students to become better listeners. In turn, it cuts down on classroom management problems because they need to be attentive if they expect to succeed. 

• Don’t allow the students to constantly use “comment dit-on” (how do you say) when a word isn’t known. Just because they use that expression, it doesn’t really mean that they are communicating. At the beginning levels, it is acceptable to insert it where the rest of the sentence is in the target language. Example: « Je voudrais acheter, comment dit-on ‘a microwave oven’ pour l’anniversaire de ma mère ». (I would like to buy a microwave oven for my mother’s birthday.) As students advance in their language skills, they shouldn’t even say ‘a microwave oven’ in English. They should make an effort to explain in French what a microwave oven is in order to get the teacher or classmate to supply the word they do not know.

• There will always be unavoidable interruptions in any classroom, but don’t create more of them by allowing students to get up to go to the bathroom or to get a drink of water. Make this clear from the beginning. They usually don’t have to do either. For some of them, it’s just an excuse to get up and move. Interruptions during drills or paired activities disturb the flow of oral communication. Hence, all rhythm and focus get lost. During a paired activity, if one of the partners is out of the room, the student remaining will need to be assigned to work with another group. By the time the other person returns, the class has probably moved onto another activity. But, on the rare occasion when a student does make a request to use the bathroom or to get a drink, you know the student REALLY does have to leave.

• When doing paired work, give a time limit on the activity! Even if you don’t stick to the exact time, try to be as close to it as possible, based on how the activity is going. Always stop the activity as soon as you notice the first group to complete the assigned task. Otherwise, that group will get bored. This creates classroom management problems and it takes longer to get students refocused. Granted, the other students will not have completed all of the activity, but once they learn that the teacher is going to proceed, whether or not they have finished, they get down to business and try to complete the task more quickly. 

• During oral testing sections in a test, tell the students that they will hear the question, statement, or selection twice, and no more than that. This forces them to listen carefully rather than thinking that they can coerce the teacher into repeating things again. If this is made clear the first time that this activity is explained, there will never be any requests to do it differently.

• Students have to be reminded to speak up and not mumble. This is important, not just so the teacher can hear the response, but for their classmates, especially if it is a large class. If you want the class to flow smoothly, all need to hear what has been said during drills and discussions, because conversation will be built on what has been said. In the beginning, some students may have a tendency to be shy about hearing their own voices using a language that sounds strange to them.

• Don’t accept late work, except for an acceptable absence! This hinders oral communication down the road when students aren’t current with their written assignments. Languages are skill-building classes. What you learn one day applies to the next.

• The only way that students will realize the importance of oral communication in the classroom is if the teacher tests the students orally and assigns an oral grade as part of their quarter, trimester, or final grade. If a teacher only uses written work for assessing students, they won’t see any importance in using the language orally. Some teachers hesitate to make their students speak because they say they are concerned about the shy ones. Sorry, our students have come to our class to learn, and part of language learning involves communicating orally. As cruel as it sounds, students have to learn to get past that fear, and if they don’t, their grade will suffer. Do teachers worry as much about students who panic during a written test? Usually not, and those students pay the consequences if they cannot perform.

• When teaching a romance language, gestures and cognates go a long way when students are first learning a language. The teacher may look a little silly being an actor but students enjoy seeing their teacher in this role.

• Try to use a normal rate of speed when speaking in the target language so that students become better listeners. When they eventually hear a native speaker, they will be less surprised by the speed. During oral testing, I suggest slowing down a bit.

• Don’t compliment students for every little answer and comment! They develop a false sense of success. They must learn to realize that when they answer, it’s an expectation and not a “wow” moment after every answer. If the class is fast paced, the teacher won’t have time to be doing this all the time anyway.

• The success of using all of the aforementioned ideas depends, in a large part, on the teacher’s delivery and personality. If a teacher sets the tone for a positive, happy environment, the majority of the students will respond. And on days when the students are not responding the way they should, and the teacher becomes upset, they will realize that they weren’t prepared. 

• The bottom line is that teaching is hard work and creating a classroom where students and teacher are using the language at a maximum is even more difficult. The teacher has to be listening for use of the language at all times (before class, during class, as students leave class). In other words, consistency is a key element in achieving success.

Fulbright Teacher Exchange

Fulbright Teacher Exchange

College Pierre         

Weczerka, Chelles, France

During the 1993-94 school year, I was a Fulbright exchange teacher in Chelles, France, an eastern suburb of Paris. This was not my first teaching experience in the French educational system. In 1981, I taught in a high school of 1,200 students in Auch, a small city in the southwest part of France. This time, my assignment was in a middle school of approximately 750 students. 

My exchange partner’s husband lived in an apartment in Paris during the year while I lived in their four-bedroom, two-story house with two and one-half baths. This was much different from the two-bedroom apartment with one bathroom I rented in Cedar Falls. I am thankful that he was a contact for me if I had any questions. One of the first things he did was to show me the route to my school from Croissy-Beaubourg, the small residential suburb where I resided, to the suburb of Chelles where I taught.

The half-day of teacher in-service on Monday, September 6, was much different than the two or three days normally required of teachers in U.S. schools. The two-hour general meeting, during which the assistant principal handed out the schedule for each teacher, ended with everyone heading to the cafeteria for champagne and appetizers. 

Middle and high school teachers in France have schedules similar to those taught by college professors in the states, so I noticed on my schedule that I did not have any classes on Tuesday, which meant I had another day to wait before meeting my first class.

The French middle school includes children who are between eleven and fifteen years of age and in the equivalent grades of sixth through ninth in America. I taught five classes of eighth graders and two of ninth. Six of my classes met three times per week and one class, twice a week. Most would think that having the students only three times in one week would not be enough instruction time. However, in France every class meets for 55 minutes, and there were no interruptions due to pep rallies, class pictures, assemblies, and meetings for candy sales. I rarely had any student absences for illness, and never for family vacations. There are staggered breaks scheduled throughout the year which allow for travel, if so desired.

From my previous teaching experience in France, I knew that the students would be noisy and talkative, so I was pleasantly surprised when the four classes I met on my first day were quiet and attentive. However, when I met other classes the following day, I realized that ‘bavardage’ (chatting) was alive and well. As the weeks progressed, all of the students became more and more talkative, never boisterous, just too much chitchat. But the biggest problem I had to deal with was cheating. Test days were a nightmare! Students would openly talk to each other and would try to open their notebooks or textbooks to copy an answer. It took me the first trimester to get a handle on these situations.

I was fortunate to have had my own classroom, equipped with ample white board space, a bulletin board, a slide projector and a tape player. Other equipment was available on a limited basis, but it was too much of a hassle to arrange its use, so I did not bother to incorporate it into my teaching. With 143 students, I did find that 1,000 paper copies to be used on the xerox machine for the entire year did not go far. I soon became adept at using the whiteboards for homework and tests and would dictate some assignments. Doing so took up class time, but at the same time, the students were learning the language through listening and writing.

Based on my previous time teaching English in France, I had a fairly good handle on how to teach my native tongue to those learning it as a foreign language. Students in another country, of course, learn by means of different methodologies. Even though I have always had my students take copious notes while I’m teaching, notebooks kept by American students never equal the quality, the neatness, and the amount of information kept by their French counterparts. Some were absolutely works of art. Each student has a pencil case containing a ruler, erasers, colored pencils, pens, and even mini staplers. Students were always telling me that I did not give them enough time to get everything down on paper, to be able to underline certain words or expressions and with the correct color of pen or pencil. As for paired work, something I use often in the states, I knew from the past that it wouldn’t work in France. It is impossible for students to stay in English when working with a partner. It is always too tempting to speak in their native language.

Like most young French people, the students were very interested in America. After all, French television broadcasts American sitcoms, and their cinemas are filled with every American film. They are sometimes misinformed based on what they see, so I would tell them that not every American is rich, living in a mansion, or eating hamburgers for every meal. My students were the envy of many of their classmates who did not have me for a teacher, because I was teaching them with an American accent whereas my colleagues had learned British English. As with Quebecois French having some different vocabulary from that in France, so does British English differ occasionally from American English. All in all, the majority of the students were delightful and I enjoyed their enthusiasm very much. 

School is definitely not the center of a French teacher’s life. There are no activities before or after school nor is the faculty expected to be in the building when they are not teaching. A normal teaching load is 18 hours per week. In the middle school where I taught, each English teacher was required to teach two additional hours, for which we received extra compensation. I attended two open houses which gave me the opportunity to meet the parents who were very supportive of my work and seemed delighted that their child was being taught English by an American. The only other after school activity in which I was required to participate was at the end of each grading period when the principal and the teachers would meet by class and levels to discuss student progress.

Teachers in France are not expected to be superhuman beings. However, it was my impression that they do their job, and they do it well. One of my students was surprised when I told him that I gave up my lunch period, which was always an hour and a half, to make a presentation at a nearby high school. Teachers are not expected to give up eating in order to work with a student or to correct papers. Doing so, in America, makes you a dedicated teacher. 

It was difficult for me to do much socializing with my colleagues, since I didn’t live in the city where the school was located and where most of them resided. However, I was invited by some of them from time to time for an evening meal on weekends. It allowed me to get into other homes and to observe different family dynamics. 

It was a very emotional day leaving the school on Monday, July 4, my last day of classes. I am so fortunate to have had this occasion to learn more about the French educational system, the people, the food, and the culture, allowing me to share this new knowledge with my students of French in the United States.  

Service

Teaching Assignments In Addition to the Daily Schedule at PLS 1995-2004

After returning from a year of supervising UNI student teachers in U.S. military base schools on the island of Okinawa (1995-1996) I was asked by Linda Fernandez, director of the Lab School, to supervise the student teachers assigned there, beginning in the fall of 1996. That was in addition to my duties which were split between teaching one half of the day in the Modern Language Department at the university and teaching the other half day at Price Lab. That schedule lasted for only one year. In the fall of 1997, I was, once again, a full-time instructor at the Laboratory School, including the student teaching supervision. I continued in that role through the spring semester of 2003. 

During the same years that I supervised Price Lab student teachers, I also did some student teacher supervision for Jim Kelly, in the Office of Student Field Experiences. He asked me to make observations of Spanish and French student teachers assigned to him. He felt that, as a language teacher, I would be able to give the student teachers better advice and feedback on their teaching than he could. 

Even though I was no longer an official member of the Modern Language Department at UNI, I was asked by Michael Oates to teach the methods class for French teaching majors and minors. That class met only once per week, and I taught it in my classroom at the Lab School after my teaching day where I had access to my teaching materials to be used for the class. 

I also taught French classes in the Price Laboratory School Talented and Motivated Program for middle school students in the summers of 1989, 1990, and 1991.  Through the Department of Continuing Education at UNI in 1992, I offered a class titled “French for Travel'' to adults interested in visiting a French-speaking country. 

Since some John Deere employees in Waterloo worked for periods of time in France, I was hired to teach some evening French classes on site in 1998. The Waterloo Public Schools offered an after-school program for middle school students called ECHOES. It allowed students the opportunity to study subjects not offered in their daily curriculum. I taught an introductory French class at Hoover Middle School in 2002.

Outreach

Professional Involvement

Being a member of the Iowa chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French, I served for 15 years, 1989-2004, as its administrator for the Grand Concours, the national French contest. The exam took place during the month of March, but as administrator, my work started in December. The Grand Concours is a multiple-choice test which includes questions based on listening and reading comprehension passages, as well as grammatical and cultural questions to answer.

Click here to learn more about Language Competitions & Awards

Prior to my involvement with the National French Contest, I served one academic year, 1988-89, as secretary-treasurer for the American Association of Teachers of French – Iowa chapter.

I was fortunate that I taught in a school where I was allowed to attend every Iowa World Language Association conference each October where I made one or two presentations, usually on teaching methods. Sometimes, I would present individually and other times I would present with a colleague from my department at Price Lab School. I made yearly presentations from 1989-2009.

For four years (1998, 1999, 2003, and 2004), I served as co-program chair for the Iowa World Language Association conferences.  My responsibilities included sending a letter to each foreign language teacher in the state, stating the dates of the conference and asking for their participation by making a presentation to their fellow teachers. Pre-conference workshops were sometimes held, so requests were made for them in the same mailing.

While waiting for the responses, I would contact and visit the conference site to note room sizes and names attached to those rooms. With this information, a program could be prepared with times and room locations for general assemblies and presentations as well as for lunch, break times, and social hours. Once I had the program typed up, the Audio-Visual department at Price Lab School would print and staple it. The programs were then included in the packet of registration materials for the annual conference. This Guide enabled conference participants easily to make choices for sessions they wanted to attend, locate the rooms, and make the most of their time at the conference. 

Awards 1993-2006

• Fulbright Teacher Exchange Award to France 1993-1994 

• UNI College of Education Outstanding Teaching Award 1995

• KWWL Gold Star Teacher Award 1999

• Iowa Foreign Language Association Outstanding Educator Award  1999

• Iowa World Language Association Service Award 2006