My name is Caroline Browne. I am currently a 7th and 8th grade Social Studies teacher at Woodlands Middle School, located in the Greenburgh Central School District. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Adolescence Education (7-12) with a teaching concentration in Social Studies from the State University of New York at Oneonta. I earned my master’s degree in Social Studies Education at the State University of New York at the University at Albany. I am an upbeat, energetic, young woman with a passion for teaching and learning.
Prior to beginning my teaching career I worked in a daycare and worked in a variety of childcare classrooms from birth to school age. I student taught in middle school and high school classrooms in two small districts in upstate New York. I also have 7 years of experience in an urban school setting. I taught for 7 years in the Bronx. The first three years of my teaching career I taught at International Community High School. This school is a public school in New York City that specifically caters to recent immigrants to the United States. These students were all ENL (English as a New Language Learners) and also had to overcome a variety of obstacles that would make most people give up. To describe my first teaching job as baptism by fire would be an understatement but it was a baptism that I would choose again because of what I learned from my students. I then spent the next four years teaching at the New School for Leadership and the Arts, a middle school near Lehman College. I quickly learned that middle school students came with different hardships but it was here that I found my niche. For as long as I could remember I had envisioned myself teaching high school but it was my time spent in middle school that opened my eyes to the benefits and joys of teaching middle school age students. Over the years I have discovered my true love for teaching and working with children, particularly middle school students.
It is hard for me to believe that I am fulfilling my dream of teaching in my own classroom. I have not always known that I wanted to be a teacher but I always had big dreams. In my childhood, I struggled with learning to read and especially with math. I never allowed those struggles to interfere with my dreams of doing something important. I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted to do but I always knew I wanted to be in service to others. It was in high school when my path to becoming an educator began. I was taking Advanced Placement U.S. History with one of the toughest teachers I had ever had, Ms. Evans. Ms. Evans had a reputation in my school as being unpleasant and demanding. I was very nervous when I walked into her classroom. One of the things I heard about Ms. Evans was true, she was demanding but not in an unreasonable way. She quickly wiggled her way into all of our hearts as a teacher we loved and adored. She was tough but she was tough because she had high expectations for all of us. During my junior year, I was blessed to have Ms. Evans approach me and ask me what I wanted to do in college. I didn’t really have an answer; all I could tell her was that I was always good at social studies. I remember telling her that I didn’t think that would help me much, since who could take their favorite subject in high school and make a career out of it. Ms. Evans looked at me and said “Why not? I did.” And that was the beginning. She helped guide me over the course of many discussions afterschool as to what I wanted to achieve and accomplish. It was then I began realize that I wanted to be like Ms. Evans, as teacher who inspired her students and pushed them to be the best versions of themselves. My experiences with Ms. Evans changed my life forever. Since then, I have set out on a life-long goal to make a difference and to “be the change” I wished to see in the world.
I wake up each morning with the intention to live each day to its fullest. In my free time, I enjoy working out, reading a good book series, spending time with my beautiful son Sawyer. I am also a huge Syracuse Orange basketball fan, as it is my home town. I have been to several countries around the world; I am a bit of a travel junkie. I lived in South Korea for a year after I graduated college and taught English at a private educational tutoring business. In addition to South Korea I have been to Ireland, England, France, Italy, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Dominican Republic, the People’s Republic of China, and Grand Cayman. I am willing to try anything, within reason, and hope that this love for life will continue influence my teaching as I grow in my career.
