Noyce Scholar Profile
Julissa Soriano
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Math
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Integrated Algebra, grades 8-9
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Fifth year or post-baccalaureate Noyce scholar
Name of Noyce institution:
Lehman College
Current academic or teaching status:
11th year teaching
School and school district:
Frederick Douglas Academy III
Background:
I worked as a 6th grade teacher for the Archdiocese of New York for 10 years. This is my first year teaching 8th grade at a New York City public school. I am a second-year graduate student and also a first-year participant in the Mathematics Teachers Transformation Institute at Lehman College. I’m also a proud mother of a 9-year-old boy.
Why do you want to teach:
I want to teach because it is the only career, thus far, that has kept me wanting to learn more.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
The most memorable teaching experiences for me have been very subtle and quiet. One that stands out is when a student told me that she didn’t like or understood math, but that she couldn’t be absent from my class because she was afraid she was going to miss out on whatever exciting activity I had planned for the class that day. She said that my math was contagious. This satisfied me a great deal because even if that student didn’t learn anything new that year, at least she walked away with exciting and positive interactions with math.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has meant having a team of professional teachers ready, not only to advance my content knowledge and teaching practices, but also to support me along the way in whatever I needed.
