This month's Faculty #ASpotlight is on Camilla Iturralde, seventh-grade advisor and integral member of Allen-Stevenson's outstanding Spanish Department. Read on to learn more about Camilla, her teaching philosophy, and her journey to joining the Allen-Stevenson community.
Can you share a little about your background and how you feel that influences your teaching?
My background is really a huge part of my identity in terms of how I've pieced myself together. I consider myself a mixture of all my experiences, the places I’ve been, and the people I've met along the way. Some of my formative years growing up in Mexico had a big influence.
I have a huge connection with the Spanish language, not only because of growing up in Mexico, but also because my father is from Ecuador. A really cool thing about learning a language is I believe we do have multiple identities. I have my identity speaking English, and I have almost a whole different identity when I speak Spanish because of what comes out when you speak a different language. I would love my students to feel that and to be able to learn about themselves in a new way through learning a new language and discovering all the wonderful things that accompany knowing any language.
What was your path coming here to Allen-Stevenson?
Before Allen-Stevenson, I went to Rutgers University in New Jersey, where I did a five-year master's program for language education.
When I finished my program, I decided to save money by moving to live with my parents in Delaware – they had moved there while I was in school. I worked in a high school there where I taught Spanish to 9th, 10th, and 11th graders. It was an awesome experience. Though my first year teaching was kind of scary, it was exciting and challenging, and it started me off in my career. It was a really strong way to start!
I knew [the job] was temporary, and I'd always wanted to live in New York. Honestly, I feel like Allen-Stevenson was meant to be. I didn't know much about independent schools beforehand, but I stumbled across [the job] online. I remember submitting my application right away and getting a call. I just felt very excited from the start. And when I did my research and found out it was an all boys’ school, I already felt this connection with the school because I grew up with three brothers, two of whom went to all boys’ schools. The first time I came to Allen-Stevenson, I drove up for the day, and I had my demo lesson with a third-grade class and an eighth-grade class. I remember immediately falling in love with this community and the boys themselves.
I hadn't taught younger kids for a long time, so I was given some feedback, which was very helpful. Then I came back a couple of weeks later and did another lesson for third grade and that was it! I was incredibly excited the whole time, and I knew I saw my future at this school – and here I am!
How did you find your passion for teaching language?
For me, being able to have two languages has always been a gift. It's allowed me to travel to new places and communicate with lots of new people. It's allowed me to discover myself in new ways. I learned English as a second language. I know what it's like to struggle a little bit with learning a language or just integrating into a new school because I moved here in the middle of Fifth Grade. There were definitely some challenges that I had to overcome. I had teachers that really helped me along the way. I remember my fifth-grade teacher – my first teacher here in the U.S.– she saw me. She wanted to help me be successful and put me on the path to find that success rather than allowing me to feel defeated. I'm really grateful for that.
I come from a family of teachers. My grandmother was a teacher, my aunt is a teacher, and my mom was even a teacher for some time. I always knew I wanted to do something with people and help people in a certain way. And I love kids! So put helping people and kids together, and here I am!
Why do you love working at Allen-Stevenson?
I think what's so special about Allen-Stevenson is that the School believes in its teachers and supports them. We have opportunities to grow and learn; to make mistakes and grow from them.
The other factor is the community and the boys. The last couple of years have been difficult, and, like everybody, I’ve had some tough, emotional moments. I've always found a place here where I could share whatever it was I was feeling, and somebody would meet me there or make me laugh or do something to help me along that journey. I like to think I did that for some people along the way too.
The boys give me the energy, the laughter, the craziness, the joy, and the heartfelt moments, which I think is extremely valuable and important. They drive me so much.
What is the value of making the learning not just about the language but also about understanding cultures of the Spanish-speaking world?
Learning is about sparking curiosity with our boys. Once you do that, you get investment. I think it’s really valuable to be able to expose our boys to something that's different, but not in a way that frames it as strange. It's not strange. It's interesting and different. It's a new perspective, which is really quite powerful.
What are some of the tools you use to keep students engaged in your class?
I think switching up activities a lot is very helpful. Also, reading the room and seeing what's going on with the boys and adjusting based on what they're feeding off of or what they're projecting. So, always have a plan A, B, C, and D in your back pocket!
What are some of your interests outside of teaching? How do you incorporate that into your classroom time?
I do love to share with the boys about my life with little stories here and there because I want them to know me. I want them to see that I'm a human being just like they are. I think sharing bits of ourselves is important because that's how you get that relational learning piece. You never know who is going to connect with something you said.
I love to cook. I love to eat. I love food a lot! I also share [in class] about my love for the outdoors. That's my happy place.
What is the most rewarding part of teaching students a second language?
I think one would be sharing the gift of being able to communicate with more people and connecting with somebody that maybe otherwise you wouldn't have been able to.
Another piece is that, as part of the Spanish Department, we value that we are able to create our curriculum based on the interests and the needs of the boys. It's really rewarding to be able to create something for a specific group of boys based on what they are interested in and what they need at that moment, or what's going on in the world. It’s really cool that we can do that. Being able to make real-world connections is so important.
What does collaboration in the Spanish Department look like?
We believe in each other so much. We all get really passionate about certain things and we'll come up with an idea, and sometimes that idea just keeps growing and growing and growing – like planting a seed and watering it – eventually, you have five months of a unit planned! Everybody likes to contribute and collaborate, and that's really special because more ideas can be generated.
At Allen-Stevenson we say there are many ways to be a boy. What does that mean to you?
We can't define being a boy because it’s impossible. There are endless possibilities of what someone can do or what someone can be.
Allen-Stevenson is a place where a boy can explore, try whatever he wants to try, and cultivate his identity along the way based on what works for him.
