Season 1, Episode 8
Teaching takes trust, starring Luz Selenia Muñoz
Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres walks alongside Luz Selenia Muñoz as she retraces the path that led her from planning to become a psychologist in Puerto Rico to living in Chicago as a veteran bilingual teacher with 20 years under her belt. Luz shares how finding her happy place in second grade took time, describing how she quickly learned that teaching upper elementary was not for her. She also gives into how moving from Puerto Rico to the United States taught her how to persevere through the struggles of a new environment, and how she learned to balance her independence with reliance on and trust in her fellow educators for support. Luz stresses some of the most important lessons she has learned along the way, including teaching a culture rather than just a language, staying focused on your target language, making connections with students, trying something different instead of giving up, and understanding that tomorrow will get better.
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Meet our guest, Luz Selenia Muñoz.
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Luz S. Muñoz is a Grade 2 dual language teacher who has been teaching for almost 20 years. Her primary responsibilities include planning lessons in Spanish, developing in-classroom strategies, meeting parents, getting to know her students, and connecting with them every day. Luz has a master’s degree in curriculum education.
During time off from teaching, she is walking outdoors, reading, and having fun with her family. Luz is always seeking inspiration to make her class more enjoyable and fun for her students, and sharing her ideas with other teachers.
Meet our host, Ana Torres.
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Ana has been an educator for 30 years, working in both the K–8 and higher education sectors. She served as an administrator and instructor at various public and private colleges and universities and as a bilingual and dual language teacher, dual language math and reading interventionist, dual language instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in K–8 schools. Ana is currently the bilingual and multilingual specialist on Amplify’s product specialist team, and delivers literacy and biliteracy presentations across the nation. Ana’s passion and advocacy for biliteracy and multiculturalism has led her to educate leaders, teachers, and parents about the positive impact of bilingualism and biliteracy in our world.
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Meet our Classroom Insider, Eric Cross.
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Eric Cross is a middle school science teacher who hopes to someday be a lifelong educator, like the guests on Beyond My Years! In each episode, Eric connects with host Ana Torres to discuss her guests’ best insights gleaned from their long and rewarding careers in the classroom. Then, Eric talks about bringing some of their wisdom into his current classroom and busy life.
Transcripts and additional resources
Quotes
- “Sometimes people say, ‘Oh, teaching is not for me. I tried for one year and it didn’t work.’ Maybe you were in the wrong place. Maybe that’s not the grade level for you. Just try something different before quitting. Try something different.” —Luz S. Muñoz
- “You need a lot of love for your students. Doesn’t matter where you are. You need love for your students and understanding that tomorrow is going to get better.” —Luz S. Muñoz
- “When you transition, especially from one country to another country, you don’t have any family. Every day you are going to wake up and you need to solve everything by yourself. It’s tough, but you grow up as a person. You become more independent and you make more friends. You get deeper connections with everyone around you, because those are the people that you count on.” —Luz S. Muñoz
- “I’m here to teach this language. And it’s not just the language—it’s the culture that comes with the language.” —Luz S. Muñoz
