Hi everyone,

My name is Lisa and I am almost done at Bank Street. I will be completing my degree at the end of July and I am extremely excited about that! My teaching experience has been pretty diverse over the last 2 years. My first year student teaching, I taught in a public school in East Harlem with emotionally disturbed 5th graders. It was a very eye-opening and truly rewarding experience. I built wonderful relationships with my students and I was also able to develop lesson planning skills and deepen my ability to self reflect.

Second semester I student taught at a "choice" school in midtown in a general education setting for second graders. I worked with one teacher and her 27 students, each with very large personalities and different needs academically. During that semester, I developed a social studies curriculum that revolved around the birds of central park. I planned several lessons and the students successfully completed their bird studies using different mediums to research their particular bird. The presentations at the conclusion of the project were wonderful!

Now, switching gears, I work full time at a private school for children with autism. I am currently a teacher's assistant and my students are between the ages of 6-8. Out of the 7 children, 4 are almost completely non-verbal, one of which I work with on a one-to-one basis everyday. This year has proven to be the most challenging yet while working with my students full time and going to school full time, but has by far been the most rewarding and educational year of my life. I hope to continue to my work with children who have autism and look forward to seeing how I can adapt my lesson plans and curriculum to suit their needs.

Looking forward to meeting all of you!

Lisa