Seekonk's David Flaxman: teacher and student

It was a hot, sunny Friday afternoon in French 1. Conversation was a mix of French and English. The sixth and seventh graders struggled to stay on-topic as the weekend approached, but one student was all business. What made him more mature than the others? For starters, David Flaxman is 40-something. What was this guy doing in French 1?

Spanish teacher David Flaxman is head of Moses Brown School’s upper school World Languages department—and he learned French this year. He explains: “Studying French, I put myself in the shoes of a level 1 language student. By feeling viscerally what it’s like to be a novice language student again, I gained a new appreciation for the challenges my students face in the classroom.” David joined Karim Sow’s French 1 class and studied independently with textbooks. “I did take the final in June,” he said with a smile.

“I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve been talking about ‘picking up’ another language for at least two decades,” David reflects. “Moses Brown’s faculty cohort program gives educators a small push forward to accomplish a long-delayed goal – mission accomplished!” he laughs. “What better professional development could there be for me? What better example could I set for my students?”

Without a doubt, this experience benefited David’s Spanish students. “Gaining a novice student’s perspective prompted so much reflection,” he says, “on my teaching methods, my pace and demeanor in my classroom.” In the big picture, students’ enthusiasm builds on their teachers’ enthusiasm. ”Students respond to teachers who keep pushing themselves to learn, stoking that passion for their disciplines that led them to teach in the first place. A teacher who taps into his inner student is a teacher who’ll thrive in the classroom.”

Did he feel like an old dog, learning new tricks? “Learning a foreign language is HARD!” David says. “I recall my struggles to master Spanish, to hear the words, to speak with some semblance of flow and fluidity… it was stunningly frustrating. When I achieved a decent level of fluency in the real world, it felt like summiting Mt. Everest after years of missteps and failed attempts. I know I can get to the mountaintop!” He tested his new skills on a family trip to Paris. “In Paris, I studied French each morning for two hours, then went out to try to put what I was learning into action,” he says. “I walked for miles through the streets, visiting museums, eating crepes and croissants, and taking tons of photos. It was an amazing experience to discover the wealth of cultural sights and art in Paris, but also humbling to realize how challenging understanding and speaking French can be