Stephanie Tello
My name is Stephanie Tello and I am an 8th grade Science teacher. I love teaching about Earth and Space sciences. I focus on creating engaging lessons to captivate young learners with the curiosities that surround our planet. The difficulties in navigating the various natural events which encapsulate our day to day life is the foundation that I seek to strengthen in my graduate program. Inevitably, my drive is to help students understand phenomena,my passion that I have sought to fulfill through my graduate program at Michigan State University.
Disclaimer: All media on this portfolio are my own, unless indicated otherwise. Active links will be highlighted in bright blue to indicate that it will redirect to another website.
Throughout the Years
I was raised within a one mile radius from the Los Angeles International Airport. My parents instilled a drive for education early on in my life and that was the catalyst for my journey. I graduated from Hawthorne High School and then began community college in the early 2000's. I attended Santa Monica College and applied to transfer to California State Polytechnic University Pomona in which I earned a bachelor's degree in Sociology. I returned to school to earn a teaching credential from California State University Dominguez Hills three years after my bachelor's to earn my teaching credential in Foundational Science.
The next series of pictures represent various important moments and people in my life.
Cal Poly Pomona (left).
Pictured Self pointing to the drawing I created for a class at Santa Monica College (right).
Los Angeles Comic Expo (bottom left)
Lisa Simpson,a childhood idol, from The Simpson's TV show (bottom right).
I have an older sister who graduated from St. John's University in Queens, New York pictured (top left).
I have a son who is pictured throughout the collage when he was younger, now age 12.
My sister, my son, my husband and I traveled to Nova Scotia Canada pictured (bottom left).
Pictured in the middle is the small rural town in Zacatecas Mexico where my dad was born and we spent a lot of our childhood and subsequent adulthood.
My sister and I (bottom right) at the zoo as girls. I am on the left (shorter/younger) and my sister in on the right (taller/older).
My passions include spending time with my family exploring the beauty of nature. My family has always entertained my conversations on discussing the geologic history of our planet or my love for animals. I am mesmerized of butterflies th represented by the image (top left) which I photographed at The Los Angeles Natural History Museum in their Butterfly Pavilion Exhibit. Our family trip to The Grand Canyon, a dream of my mom (bottom left; in the middle) truly solidified my awe at the magnificent natural landscapes at our disposal. The love I have for my family is pictured throughout the collage above and the adventures depicted throughout something that humbles me as I have the privilege to experience something unique to my community. I really have enjoyed teaching with passionate people who encompass different perspectives which I am immersed in conversation (top right). I am grateful for the opportunities to live a life that serves others. Guiding those around me to engage in their innate curiosity of making meaning about our experiences to understand the mechanics of novel concepts.
The left picture I took of The Watts California Towers an art piece in the middle of the city. The city of Watts, CA. holds a special place in my heart as it was the city where first teaching job was.
In the right, I visited the Statue of Liberty and I find the magnitude of their importance interesting and intriguing which I've chosen to picture side by side.
My first classroom was green. I remained there for four years (right).
Playing with goggles (left).
I've enjoyed designing the classroom that I would want to be in. The journey has taught me a lot of life lessons.
The collage to the left includes moments where I really felt I was in a place I should be. A feeling of homeostasis includes continuing education like the Professional Development opportunity I attended at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Data Wise Institute. Visiting Harvard Universities' Library ten years before (middle). I wanted to represent my exploration of hobbies like traveling, art, photography, and being a lifelong learner.
As an educator one of the most difficult decisions has been to move or leave your current school. It stirs up feelings of abandonment and I have tried to reduce this throughout my tenure. I have always compiled a large collection of manipulatives to engage my students which makes packing and moving difficult. My love for teaching science really comes from my own fascination and obsession with discussing phenomenon which consequently are the foundation of good science teaching which describes my current career. I hope that my love for science radiates to my students and provides a logical anchor to our observations/experiences as Earthlings. Through this graduate program my passion has expanded to research based best practices and utilizing existing research to guide my own inquiry to better serve the needs of the families I serve.