Catherine Ousselin is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a M.A. in French Language and Literatures. A high school teacher since 2001, she currently teaches French I-AP at Mount Vernon High in Washington State. Catherine is a frequent workshop facilitator on curriculum development and technology integration and is widely recognized for her dedication to the teaching and learning of languages.
Her numerous awards include the 2014 ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of French) award for Excellence in Foreign Language Instruction Using Technology with IALLT (K-12). She was a finalist for the 2018 ACTFL Teacher of the Year and is a Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes académiques.
As a recognized advocate for French teachers and learners, she maintains a high profile among teachers through her volunteer efforts to support them in their curriculum development, classroom activities, and technological skills. She designed a collaborative website for teachers to share their lessons and activities and then connected with the Institut Français to became one of the first animatrices of the IFProfs USA site.
As the Director of Social Media and Content Curation for the American Association of Teachers of French, Catherine has curated a veritable goldmine of authentic and essential materials for teachers in the AATF’s Pinterest, YouTube, and Wakelet collections. In the early days of the pandemic, she was active in providing additional support as teachers struggled to turn their classroom into virtual classrooms.
Catherine is the current president of PNCFL (Pacific Northwest Council for Languages). She was a contributing author on Thèmes, AP French textbook, and T’es branché 4 textbook. Her additional publications include five curricular material reviews in The French Review and multiple technology articles in The National Bulletin of the AATF.
Catherine’s travels have taken her around the francophone world where she has gained a broad knowledge and appreciation for the value of the French language and francophone culture
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