My Journey: Learner and Teacher Stephannie Herran I was born and raised for the first eleven years of my life in Cali, Colombia. Colombia is.
Download ReportTranscript My Journey: Learner and Teacher Stephannie Herran I was born and raised for the first eleven years of my life in Cali, Colombia. Colombia is.
Slide 1
My Journey:
Learner and Teacher
Stephannie Herran
Slide 2
I was born and raised for the
first eleven years of my life in
Cali, Colombia.
Colombia is a country with
different racial groups.
Slide 3
As a young child, I was exposed to racial
diversity because the friends I had in my
neighborhood and at school had different skin
colors ranging anywhere from white to lightskinned to olive-skinned to black.
Slide 4
Later as I moved to the United States, the diversity
I experienced became more complex because it
not only involved race, but also language and
ethnicity.
Slide 5
It was upon my arrival to the U.S. that I started to
notice discrimination due to people’s skin color,
race, and language.
In America, I realized that I was a minority.
Slide 6
However, this wasn’t my only reality for too
long because growing up among the very
diverse population of Dover, NJ, gave me
the opportunity to live and interact with
not just other Latinos, but also with blacks,
whites and Asians.
Throughout my years in the Dover Public School system, I
formed great long-lasting friendships with people who
spoke different languages and who belonged to different
races, ethnicities, religions, and socioeconomic statuses.
Slide 7
This continued…
I decided to go to
New York University
for two main
reasons: its
diversity and its
education program.
Slide 8
At NYU, I’ve become friends with inspiring people who
come from different parts of the WORLD and who
believe EDUCATION is POWERFUL.
Slide 9
I’ve always had a
PASSION for LEARNING
and TEACHING. This
can be seen through my
experiences as I
developed as a teacher
at NYU and in New York
City. Some of these
learning experiences are
my student teaching
endeavors, which have
exposed me to an even
greater diversity.
Slide 10
During my junior year, I was a student teacher
at P.S. 42 in Chinatown.
This was the first time in a long time where I felt and it
was clearly visible that I was a minority: a Latina and the
majority were my students: Asian students. Despite
the fact that I was a minority, this time was different
because it involved another group of people than that
which is always thought to be the majority. I took this
experience as an opportunity to learn about my Chinese
and Chinese American students and their own struggles
with immigrating to or being born in America, where
another language different from their unique and still
important home language, is spoken.
Slide 11
Strong sense of collaboration
between parents and teachers
My experience at P.S. 41 was completely different than
that at P.S. 42 because even though there was a lot of
diversity in the third grade classroom where I was
placed in terms of students’ races, ethnicities, religions,
learning styles, learning needs, etc, the school’s student
population is predominantly white and from more
affluent families.
Professional development helps
me to keep on growing and
developing as a teacher. This is
true of my experience at P.S. 41
because I had the opportunity
of participating in Teachers
College’s training with the third
grade teachers and TC staff
developers who helped create
and model instruction for our
literacy units using the TC
Writer’s and Reader’s
Workshop.
Slide 12
At the beginning of my senior year, I taught whole-class lessons in
English and Spanish in a second grade dual language classroom at
P.S. 178, an elementary school in the Upper West Side of Manhattan:
Washington Heights This experience enabled me to establish a strong
sense of community with my students as well as with their families,
especially with those who felt more comfortable communicating with
me in Spanish.
Strong sense of community
Slide 13
Respect their own uniqueness as well as the uniqueness of others
EXPLORE
Even though I am a Latina and the student
population is primarily made up of Latinos, COLLABORATIVE
LEARNING
I was able to learn about different cultures
because my students were born in or their
heritage is from the Dominican Republic, Mexico
and Puerto Rico. Aside from my classroom, the
school is incredibly diverse too because of its
families, school staff, and the types of education
models it offers such as general education
classrooms, dual language education
classrooms, special education CTT classrooms
with ASD NEST programs.
CREATIVITY
Slide 14
My experience at P.S. 75 is similar to
that of P.S. 178 because I continue to
student teach in an English-Spanish
dual language classroom, except that
this is a fourth grade CTT classroom
where students with special
disabilities also learn. Additionally,
the classroom’s diversity in
population represents that of the
school: a combination of middle
class families as well as working class
families of lower income including
immigrants from Mexico and other
parts of Latin America.
Slide 15
Diversity of
cultures
Diversity of talents
Diversity of teachers
Diversity of needs
Diversity of
languages
Diversity of learners
The diversity in education that this school has is also due to the contributions from
its very active PTA that organizes family events, fundraisers and programs in music,
science, art, ballroom dancing, chess, fencing, etc.
Slide 16
I hope to engage families in their
children’s education.
Differences in learning styles=different needs
and strengths=differentiated instruction
Embrace the similarities that are shared
I want my students to be responsible and
active citizens because they are the future. and the differences that make us unique to
appreciate each other
Making learning relevant to students’ lives
Reflective teachers and reflective students
in and out of school
My teaching career is geared to providing
elementary school children with meaningful
experiences that will enable them to learn,
while also becoming active and responsible
citizens in a diverse community. I have been
very fortunate to teach a diversity of
students, including students with learning
disabilities and English Language Learners
(ELLs).
I have been surrounded by DIVERSITY all my
LIFE. Teaching in NYC will give me the
opportunity to continue to have more
DIVERSITY in my life and to LEARN more
about it.
I don’t have all the right answers or know
exactly what to do every time, but I try to
do what’s best for my students
Differences seen as an asset and as an opportunity
Create a SAFE ENVIRONMENT
where students feel free to make
mistakes because it’s ok to make
them and it’s also how we learn
Ignite their LOVE for LEARNING
Develop critical-thinkers and problemsolvers that can perform well in the
classroom and also in the outside world
Celebrating diversity
Commitment to not only TEACHING my
students, but also to LEARNING from them
ALL students have the POTENTIAL to learn
Slide 17
Learning about different cultures
and customs of those cultures in
order to respect others and set
an example for our students.
Learning
Listening
Recognizing and having an awareness of
the knowledge that each student and each
family brings into a child’s education.
Teachers and students=Life-long learners
Determination
Equitable
Education
Language
Patience
Language
Taking students’ interests into consideration
Commitment
Motivation
Citizenship
Creative
High
Expectations
Inspire
Encourage questions and different points of view
Dedicated
Questions
Flexible
Risk-taker
Reflective
Responsible
Engage
Students
Respect
Culture
Opportunities to explore
Caring
Active Citizen
I wish to inspire students to be passionate about learning and to have a strong appreciation for other people.
Opportunity
Life-long
learners
Community
Never Give Up
Respect
Classroom
management
Individual
Needs
Strengths
Families
Studentcentered
Home language
Multicultural
Respect all students
Diversity in races, ethnicities, languages,
religions, families, individuals, etc.
T
a
k
i
n
g
a
s
t
a
n
d
Native language
Collaboration between teachers, students,
parents and the community
Slide 18
My Journey:
Learner and Teacher
Stephannie Herran
Slide 2
I was born and raised for the
first eleven years of my life in
Cali, Colombia.
Colombia is a country with
different racial groups.
Slide 3
As a young child, I was exposed to racial
diversity because the friends I had in my
neighborhood and at school had different skin
colors ranging anywhere from white to lightskinned to olive-skinned to black.
Slide 4
Later as I moved to the United States, the diversity
I experienced became more complex because it
not only involved race, but also language and
ethnicity.
Slide 5
It was upon my arrival to the U.S. that I started to
notice discrimination due to people’s skin color,
race, and language.
In America, I realized that I was a minority.
Slide 6
However, this wasn’t my only reality for too
long because growing up among the very
diverse population of Dover, NJ, gave me
the opportunity to live and interact with
not just other Latinos, but also with blacks,
whites and Asians.
Throughout my years in the Dover Public School system, I
formed great long-lasting friendships with people who
spoke different languages and who belonged to different
races, ethnicities, religions, and socioeconomic statuses.
Slide 7
This continued…
I decided to go to
New York University
for two main
reasons: its
diversity and its
education program.
Slide 8
At NYU, I’ve become friends with inspiring people who
come from different parts of the WORLD and who
believe EDUCATION is POWERFUL.
Slide 9
I’ve always had a
PASSION for LEARNING
and TEACHING. This
can be seen through my
experiences as I
developed as a teacher
at NYU and in New York
City. Some of these
learning experiences are
my student teaching
endeavors, which have
exposed me to an even
greater diversity.
Slide 10
During my junior year, I was a student teacher
at P.S. 42 in Chinatown.
This was the first time in a long time where I felt and it
was clearly visible that I was a minority: a Latina and the
majority were my students: Asian students. Despite
the fact that I was a minority, this time was different
because it involved another group of people than that
which is always thought to be the majority. I took this
experience as an opportunity to learn about my Chinese
and Chinese American students and their own struggles
with immigrating to or being born in America, where
another language different from their unique and still
important home language, is spoken.
Slide 11
Strong sense of collaboration
between parents and teachers
My experience at P.S. 41 was completely different than
that at P.S. 42 because even though there was a lot of
diversity in the third grade classroom where I was
placed in terms of students’ races, ethnicities, religions,
learning styles, learning needs, etc, the school’s student
population is predominantly white and from more
affluent families.
Professional development helps
me to keep on growing and
developing as a teacher. This is
true of my experience at P.S. 41
because I had the opportunity
of participating in Teachers
College’s training with the third
grade teachers and TC staff
developers who helped create
and model instruction for our
literacy units using the TC
Writer’s and Reader’s
Workshop.
Slide 12
At the beginning of my senior year, I taught whole-class lessons in
English and Spanish in a second grade dual language classroom at
P.S. 178, an elementary school in the Upper West Side of Manhattan:
Washington Heights This experience enabled me to establish a strong
sense of community with my students as well as with their families,
especially with those who felt more comfortable communicating with
me in Spanish.
Strong sense of community
Slide 13
Respect their own uniqueness as well as the uniqueness of others
EXPLORE
Even though I am a Latina and the student
population is primarily made up of Latinos, COLLABORATIVE
LEARNING
I was able to learn about different cultures
because my students were born in or their
heritage is from the Dominican Republic, Mexico
and Puerto Rico. Aside from my classroom, the
school is incredibly diverse too because of its
families, school staff, and the types of education
models it offers such as general education
classrooms, dual language education
classrooms, special education CTT classrooms
with ASD NEST programs.
CREATIVITY
Slide 14
My experience at P.S. 75 is similar to
that of P.S. 178 because I continue to
student teach in an English-Spanish
dual language classroom, except that
this is a fourth grade CTT classroom
where students with special
disabilities also learn. Additionally,
the classroom’s diversity in
population represents that of the
school: a combination of middle
class families as well as working class
families of lower income including
immigrants from Mexico and other
parts of Latin America.
Slide 15
Diversity of
cultures
Diversity of talents
Diversity of teachers
Diversity of needs
Diversity of
languages
Diversity of learners
The diversity in education that this school has is also due to the contributions from
its very active PTA that organizes family events, fundraisers and programs in music,
science, art, ballroom dancing, chess, fencing, etc.
Slide 16
I hope to engage families in their
children’s education.
Differences in learning styles=different needs
and strengths=differentiated instruction
Embrace the similarities that are shared
I want my students to be responsible and
active citizens because they are the future. and the differences that make us unique to
appreciate each other
Making learning relevant to students’ lives
Reflective teachers and reflective students
in and out of school
My teaching career is geared to providing
elementary school children with meaningful
experiences that will enable them to learn,
while also becoming active and responsible
citizens in a diverse community. I have been
very fortunate to teach a diversity of
students, including students with learning
disabilities and English Language Learners
(ELLs).
I have been surrounded by DIVERSITY all my
LIFE. Teaching in NYC will give me the
opportunity to continue to have more
DIVERSITY in my life and to LEARN more
about it.
I don’t have all the right answers or know
exactly what to do every time, but I try to
do what’s best for my students
Differences seen as an asset and as an opportunity
Create a SAFE ENVIRONMENT
where students feel free to make
mistakes because it’s ok to make
them and it’s also how we learn
Ignite their LOVE for LEARNING
Develop critical-thinkers and problemsolvers that can perform well in the
classroom and also in the outside world
Celebrating diversity
Commitment to not only TEACHING my
students, but also to LEARNING from them
ALL students have the POTENTIAL to learn
Slide 17
Learning about different cultures
and customs of those cultures in
order to respect others and set
an example for our students.
Learning
Listening
Recognizing and having an awareness of
the knowledge that each student and each
family brings into a child’s education.
Teachers and students=Life-long learners
Determination
Equitable
Education
Language
Patience
Language
Taking students’ interests into consideration
Commitment
Motivation
Citizenship
Creative
High
Expectations
Inspire
Encourage questions and different points of view
Dedicated
Questions
Flexible
Risk-taker
Reflective
Responsible
Engage
Students
Respect
Culture
Opportunities to explore
Caring
Active Citizen
I wish to inspire students to be passionate about learning and to have a strong appreciation for other people.
Opportunity
Life-long
learners
Community
Never Give Up
Respect
Classroom
management
Individual
Needs
Strengths
Families
Studentcentered
Home language
Multicultural
Respect all students
Diversity in races, ethnicities, languages,
religions, families, individuals, etc.
T
a
k
i
n
g
a
s
t
a
n
d
Native language
Collaboration between teachers, students,
parents and the community
Slide 18