The AATF Houston Chapter is part of the AATF National association devoted exclusively to the needs of French teachers at all levels.

HATFL is a professional organization that supports the teaching and use of world languages in the Houston area at the secondary level.

Administrative•Monitor the department budget to ensure that the department’s work is done and those allocations are not overspent.•Help departments manage time efficiently to facilitate the fulfillment of district, campus and student requirements and deadlines.•Assist in desegregating and interpreting data for departments•Chair all department meetings and submit minutes •Distribute, keep records, and verify working order of district resources (textbooks, calculators etc.). Interpersonal•Be accessible, establish relationships, and be willing to listen to concerns. •Motivate and inspire department, staff, and students to greater levels of excellence.•Act as a mediator, and use negotiation and problem solving skills to work with difficult people and attempt to resolve conflicts with department, staff, students, parents, and administrators.•Create a positive department culture that encourages creativity, autonomy, team work, productivity, and collaboration with staff.Leadership•A transformational leader capable of creating a climate for innovative thinking and generating consensus among the department. Placing the department at the cutting edge. •Communicates and advocates for the department.•Builds, establish and maintain relationships with district personnel and community.•Lead the department in curriculum/lesson development.•Model best practices for teaching and lead your department by example with professionalism. Represent department and campus in positive light at district meetings.Resource •Locate, recommend and assist with interviews of exceptional new team members that will enhance the campus.•Find and provide resources for the success of the department; remove obstacles from the path of team members so that they and the department can reach their full potential. •Assist new hires and veteran teachers to stay focused on campus goals

-Design comprehensive lesson planning to ensure students’ long-term content retention (spiraling program)-Demonstrate excellent classroom management & leadership skills -Manage heterogeneous class groups (different levels of proficiency) simultaneously -Deliver lessons integrating different students’ modalities of learning-Design age-appropriate activities to maximize the language learning experience-Implement activities to promote cooperative learning in the classroom-Apply current second language acquisition approaches, stressing the 4 major language skills: speaking, writing, listening, and speaking-Emphasize student-centered activities and strategies to promote communication in the target language-Assess students's (formally and informally) constantly to measure their linguistic competence and performance

-Developed foreign language vertical and horizontal curriculum alignment in both elementary and middle school-Oversee curriculum implementation in both the elementary and middle school foreign language program-Practice a team-teaching approach (observation, discussion, and evaluation) with fellow foreign language teachers to improve and strengthen current foreign language program-Provide training and support to fellow foreign language teachers-Participate in interviews and selection process of potential foreign language teachers

-Developed a semi-intensive SSL curriculum for staff based on organization's needs and goals-Apply current second language acquisition approaches stressing the 4 major language skills: speaking, writing, listening, and speaking-Emphasize student-centered activities and strategies to promote communication in the target language-Assess participant's progress constantly to measure their linguistic competence and performance