My Journey:

1. Learner and Teacher My Journey: StephannieHerran

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.

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 light-skinned to olive-skinned to black.

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.

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. Diversity In America, I realized that I was a minority.

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.

7. This continued… I decided to go to New York University for two main reasons: its diversity and its education program.

8. At NYU, I’ve become friends with inspiring people who come from different parts of the WORLD and who believe EDUCATION is POWERFUL.

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 greaterdiversity.

10. P.S. 42 The Benjamin Altman School 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.

11. P.S. 41 The Greenwich Village School Strong sense of collaboration between parents and teachers 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. 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.

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. P.S. 178 Juan Bosch Public School Strong sense of community

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, 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. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING CREATIVITY

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. P.S. 75 Emily Dickinson School

15. Diversity of cultures Diversity of talents Diversity of needs Diversity of languages Diversity of teachers 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.

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 and the differences that make us unique to appreciate each other I want my students to be responsible and active citizens because they are the future. Making learning relevant to students’ lives in and out of school Reflective teachers and reflective students 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 Celebrating diversity Commitment to not only TEACHING my students, but also to LEARNING from them Develop critical-thinkers and problem-solvers that can perform well in the classroom and also in the outside world ALL students have the POTENTIAL to learn

17. Learning about different cultures and customs of those cultures in order to respect others and set an example for our students. 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 Language Taking students’ interests into consideration Taking a stand Encourage questions and different points of view Opportunities to explore I wish to inspire students to be passionate about learning and to have a strong appreciation for other people. Home language Respect all students Native language Diversity in races, ethnicities, languages, religions, families, individuals, etc. Collaboration between teachers, students, parents and the community

18. Every individual matters. Everyindivual has a role toplay. Every individual makes a difference. ~Jane Goodall