AIM Presenters

Master Language Teacher and Program Creator

Wendy Maxwell (M.A.) has 20 years of teaching experience, as both a Core French and immersion teacher. She is the author of Histoires en action !, Jeunesse en action !, Stories in Action! and seven volumes of plays. She has also co-written dozens of songs with her husband, Matt. She has developed a major breakthrough in second language instruction, and is the recipient of a 1999 Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the 2004 H.H. Stern Award. She has made appearances on Radio-Canada (CBC), CityTV (Vancouver), the Vicky Gabereau Show and the Europe-wide TV5. Wendy has given workshops in North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.

Facilitators

Dan Bart (B.A., B.Ed.) has been teaching French since 1990 and has used been an AIM teacher since 2003. Now in his twelfth year at Island Public School on Toronto Island, Dan was one of the first Toronto District School Board teachers to implement AIM in the public system. Many current AIM teachers have visited Dan in his classroom to get their first taste of AIM in action. Since 2005, Dan has presented workshops in Ontario and New Brunswick.

Shannon Bourbonnais (M.Ed.) is the AIM Curriculum Services Consultant for Western Canada, and is a French language consultant at York House School and teaches after-school AIM programs.

Shannon has been featured in AIM videos. She has facilitated workshops across North America and has appeared on TV and on the radio, demonstrating how the AIM works.

Ann Chiasson (B.A., M.A.) has been teaching in French immersion settings for 14 years. For the past four years, Ann has had great success using AIM with her Kindergarten students. Ann has presented AIM workshops across North America.

She also has opened her classroom doors to many visiting teachers wishing to see the AIM in action.

Tim Dittrick is a Middle Years Basic French Teacher at Henry G. Izatt School in Winnipeg. He has been using AIM’s Histoires en action! for the last two years. While implementing this revolutionary new methodology, students not only began to enjoy, understand and use French, they also started to take French out of the classrooms to their own homes. So exciting was this process that consultants from the Department of Education of Manitoba recently came to observe this new, exciting approach to teaching Basic French. Currently Tim does all he can to inspire and support Basic French teachers using AIM.

Sylvia Duckworth teaches elementary core French at Crescent School in Toronto, and has been using AIM since 2000. She teaches at a boys-only school and never ceases to be amazed by the levels of fluency her students attain with AIM. Sylvia has trained AIM teachers across Canada, in the U.S., and in Holland. She also specializes in how IT can be incorporated into the AIM program. She and her students love to receive visitors who want to see AIM in action. She can be reached at sduckworth@crescentschool.org

Magali Forte graduated as a teacher in the South of France. Part French and part Spanish, Magali has always been passionate about languages. After getting her Bachelor in Spanish Literature and Civilizations and her Masters in English Literature, Linguistics and Civilization, she started teaching English as a Second Language in secondary schools in France. It was only natural that she switched to teaching French as a Second Language when she decided to come to Vancouver, BC. Now teaching French with the AIM at York House School, she is convinced that this is the best method to get her students to talk in a proficient way very quickly and is amazed, on a daily basis, at the progress they are making. It is a pleasure to share her love for the AIM and her teaching/learning experiences!

Ellen Keiser (B.HK., B.Ed.) Ellen has been teaching French since 2001 and has taught across a broad spectrum ranging from Grades K – 8. She was first introduced to the AIM program in 2002 at Collingwood School in West Vancouver. In 2006, she was recruited to spend a year in Melbourne, Australia training French teachers to implement the AIM program effectively. Ellen has had many visitors from all over the globe come to watch her AIM classes in action and has presented AIM workshops in Western Canada.

Mardi Michels (M.A.) has over 15 years teaching experience from kindergarten to university level in France, England, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong. Mardi teaches French to 7 - 11 year olds at Royal St George's College in Toronto, which has adopted the AIM at those levels. From 2001 – 2005, Mardi worked at Taddle Creek Montessori School, where she created and taught the French programme for students from pre-kindergarten to age 10, implementing the AIM with great success. She has presented teacher-training workshops and academic conference papers across Canada, the United States, England and Europe.

Pauline Galea (B.A.,B.Ed.) is currently a Grade one French Immersion Teacher at St. Leo Catholic School in Durham Catholic DSB in Ontario. She has studied numerous languages, including Latin, German, French and English. She received her B.A. In Psychology, Sociology and Social Work from the University of Waterloo in 1986 and then attended Trent University to obtain her B.Ed. in 2004. At that time, she was uncertain if she wanted to continue as a French teacher as there were relatively few methodologies or programs available to aid in the pedagogy of oral language. Then there was AIM! Armed with this revolutionary and innovative tool and a burning desire to advocate for French language teachers, her path was set.

Catherine AR Gillion (M.Ed.) Catherine has been involved in Education for over 30 years as a teacher in the Public, Independent and Montessori School Systems. She has taught Core French from Pre-school through to Grade 8 (Middle School). In 2004, she joined her enthusiastic colleagues in piloting the AIM program in Middle School. Inspired by the response of her students, she took up the challenge of implementing and teaching the AIM program for Grades 6, 7 and 8 in an independent Middle School upon moving to Langley, British Columbia. Catherine hopes to continue to introduce, assist and encourage Core French teachers in the use of AIM.

Karen Oraas (M.Ed.) began using the AIM in 2001 and has since used it with students in the public and private sectors from kindergarten to grade eight. Currently, Karen teaches core French in grades six to eight at St. Michaels University School in Victoria, BC. Most recently, Karen has collaborated with Wendy Maxwell in the writing of Jeunesse en action!, the new program for junior high students. She enjoys giving workshops to inspire teachers and to show them all that students are capable of achieving in a core French class.

Edite Sammons (B.Ed.) has taught core French since 1980 in both the public and independent school systems.In 1999, Edite was the first teacher to pilot the AIM in her grade one core French classes at Havergal College, Toronto and was subsequently awarded the Havergal Chair for Teaching Innovation in 2001. For several years now, Edite has been an AIM presenter, giving workshops across North America and Holland. Currently, Edite teaches French full time using the AIM at The Country Day School in King City, Ontario.

Robert Slabodnik (M.I.T & NBCT) has been teaching high school French for 16 years in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Robert has used the AIM since 2004 and has been a conference presenter and workshop facilitator for AIM in the Pacific Northwest. He has been recognized as a "Top Teacher of Puget Sound" by Seattle's KOMO TV, and recently taught English in France on a Fulbright Academic Exchange. The National Endowment for the Humanities selected him to be a "visiting scholar" for their 2008 seminar on French culture. Robert just received his National Board Teacher Certification in 2011. He welcomes all interested teachers to come observe his students in the classroom learning with the AIM..

Richard Smith, a graduate from the Univeristy of Ottawa, has been teaching Core French for the Ottawa-Carleton District School board since 1999. He established himself as an energetic teacher prepared to employ innovative methods of instructions which he did in 2004. He discovered the Accelerative Integrated Method and has never looked back. From kindergarten to Grade 8, success was immediate with his students. Motivating, challenging and inspiring young minds at Hawthorne Public School became a fun and engaging experience for all. Since 2005, Richard has been giving AIM workshops across Canada, Yukon and in Europe (France). In June 2008, he was hired by his board as a half-time AIM Instructional Coach. Drawing on many years of experience with AIM, Richard’s passion pushes him to continue advising and coaching teachers on ways to achieve the same success.

Emma Tilbury (B.A., M.Ed.). Emma loves teaching a variety of ages and abilities. It’s like being on stage with a captive - at least most times - audience. In her third year at Crestwood School she was made Head of the French Department and is now responsible for hiring new teachers, planning and implementation of the curriculum, and mentoring. She enjoys having teachers from other schools spending time in her room watching the AIM in action.

Renée L. Villeneuve (B.A., B.Ed.) is the Chief Curriculum Services Consultant for AIM Language Learning. She graduated from the University of Ottawa with a B.A. specializing in the French language as well as a B.Ed. (Cum Laude). She has taught French as a Second Language using the Accelerative Integrated Methodology (AIM) since 2003 at the primary, junior, and intermediate levels. Renée has also facilitated AIM workshops across North America and in Europe. Along with her professional development responsibilities, she provides consultancy services for superintendents, second language consultants and teachers across Canada, the United States and beyond.

Laurie Faber has been involved as a teacher and mentor in French as a Second Language programs for Edmonton Public Schools for over 20 years. She has taught using the audio-lingual, communicative and thematic approaches. Laurie learned about the Accelerated Integrated Method while working on her Master's of Education degree and studying Multiple Intelligence theory. The AIM has revolutionized the way she teaches FSL; she has found that this methodology is theoretically sound and dramatically improves student L2 development in all language domains. Laurie is a certified AIM facilitator

Shirley Cameron (B.A., B.Ed., M.A.) grew up in Saskatchewan and received her B.A. and B.Ed. from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. She later completed her M.A. in Linguistics & Applied Language Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. Shirley has a passion for education and spent over 30 years teaching second language throughout Canada, including British Columbia, Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Throughout her career, Shirley found that most FSL programs lacked one or more critical components to the acquisition of a second language. When she discovered AIM in 2005, Shirley was thrilled to find that AIM strongly provided students with all the components needed to experience success from day one! Since then, Shirley has actively taught AIM to Primary-Junior levels in the Ottawa area. She recently joined the AIM team of facilitators for ESL and FSL workshops and conferences.

Iegte de Jong (M.Sc., B.Ed.) teaches French in The Netherlands. After graduating in Science and teaching ICT skills to university students and consultants, she found out that teaching was her real passion and she decided to switch careers and become a French teacher. Soon after graduating in 2006, she discovered AIM and she immediately felt that this new way of teaching would work for her as well as for her 12-15 year old students. Since then she has worked with both AIM and 'conventional' methods and she is convinced of the results and enthusiasm that she achieves through AIM. As AIM is becoming increasingly popular in The Netherlands, Iegte has been appointed AIM Curriculum Advisor for this area. She is also the moderator of the mailing list for the active group of Dutch AIM teachers.

Monique Terrillon (B.A., B.Ed.) has taught French using the Accelerative Integrated Method (AIM) since 2000 at both the primary and intermediate level. She also has a great love for the AIM ESL program, of which she is an instructor. She believes that the AIM program is the start of a new beginning for second language learning. She loves to see the connections students make to the language and she is inspired and encouraged by their immediate successes. Monique looks forward to helping others experience all of the values of teaching using AIM.

Rhonda Murphy (B.Ed.), an AIM facilitator and mentor teacher, has taught FSL to junior high students for a decade with Edmonton Public School Board.  After attending her first AIM session in 2004, she began to practice this methodology and incorporated gestures, drama and song into her teaching.  For several years, she has used AIM in her classes with Histoires en action !, Histoires en action ! Add- on Kit and, most recently, Jeunesse en action !  Encouraged by her students ability to communicate spontaneously and seulement en français, she strives to make each passing year more AIM friendly.

Lisa Shurtz (B.A.),  has worked for over 15 years in Bilingual Education; instructing students in grades 1-12 in their native Spanish tongue, teaching English Language Development and teaching in Two-Way Spanish Immersion programs. She currently teaches FSL and SSL at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California using the AIM method.  This past year, she piloted the new AIM Spanish kit in her classrooms with great success. She is excited to share her AIM experiences with other educators

Kathy Kurbis (B.A., B.Ed.), Kathy has spent the past decade teaching SSL and FSL in both elementary school and adult education settings. She currently teaches grades one to six core French at Oakenwald School in Winnipeg. Since observing the incredible language production of a colleague's AIM classes in 2009, she has committed to implementing the AIM program and learning all she can about this unique method of language instruction. She continues to be amazed by the fluency levels attained by her students and welcomes all visitors who want to see AIM in action.

Joëlle Rudick (B.C.L., LL.B., B.Ed.), is a teacher with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and has used AIM in junior kindergarten to grade 8 Core French classes as well as in dedicated special education classes. At the school board level, Joëlle has been invited to address and mentor new Core French teachers, collaborate on technology initiatives, co-draft new curriculum expectations for junior kindergarten to grade 3, and select French materials to complement AIM. She has also presented twice at the Ontario Ministry of Education's Building Futures conference, worked as a writer for e-Learning Ontario, and selected materials for AIM's new online training initiative. Joëlle loves to sing and dance and is always happy to share with and learn from other teachers and students of AIM