Miki Tomaru
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Residency Program '22
I loved that my residency was so much more than a student teaching experience. I was there almost full time for the entire school year. I was one of the staff at the school, everyone knew me, and I got to experience everything the teachers did.
In 2020, Miki Tomaru heard about Bank Street’s TESOL Residency Program and started to do some soul-searching. She had already earned a BA in Psychology from SUNY Purchase and an MS in School Psychology from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, yet she had not pursued her dream of working in education—and she knew it was time to make a change.
Miki enrolled at Bank Street, joining a cohort of teacher residents who each received a substantial scholarship that reduced tuition by over 50 percent and also provided a $20,000 stipend. As a teacher resident, Miki paired her coursework in educational theory with hands-on experience, learning to work with parents and gaining a hands-on understanding of what it means to be a teacher.
However, during the first year, the COVID-19 pandemic began and while she had started by working side by side with an experienced English as a New Language (ENL) mentor teacher and a literacy specialist at Brookside Elementary School in Ossining, New York, everything—her residency and her Bank Street coursework—moved online. She faced the challenges, completed the program, and is currently working as an ENL middle school teacher at PS 191 Riverside School for Makers and Artists, a pre-K through eighth grade school located near Lincoln Center in Manhattan.
Here’s what she had to say about her graduate school experience.
Why did you choose this degree program at Bank Street?
I grew up in a family who had immigrated from Japan when I was one-and-a-half years old. My parents did not speak English at home, so neither did I. As a former ESL student, I remember always feeling torn about my language and cultural identity. I always felt like I had to choose one, and I knew that it didn’t feel right. When I learned about the TESOL Residency Program at Bank Street, I knew I would become part of an incredibly important movement to change the approach of teaching emergent bilingual students. I believed in how Bank Street would train me to teach and I wanted to help shape the experiences of emergent bilingual students in the New York City education system.
What was the teacher residency like?
As a resident, I was fully immersed in teaching while also having the security of having a faculty advisor to guide me through everything. I also had a mentor at the school, and I was comforted knowing that I could go to my supervisors with any questions or concerns that I had. I loved that my residency was so much more than a student teaching experience. I was there almost full time for the entire school year. I was one of the staff at the school, everyone knew me, and I got to experience everything the teachers did.
Along with the residency, you attend a weekly conference group. Can you describe that experience?
I absolutely loved the people in my conference group! I am still in touch with all of them. Since our cohort was the first to teach during and navigate this new world of COVID-19, I think we trauma-bonded. We were all under so much stress, and our conference group was a safe space to freely discuss everything we were experiencing—on the job and personally. I will never forget how deep the conversations were. So many of us cried and shared stories that we necessarily wouldn’t have been able to share at work. We were able to talk about how our own emotional and mental well-being was affecting how we were as teachers. Throughout my time at Bank Street, it was always stressed that we must take care of ourselves. We cannot give from an empty vessel! To this day, my cohort remains in touch and we are still able to help each other.
What is one of the most meaningful things you have learned at Bank Street?
I need to get to know each student and build a relationship. I need to remember not to create a story about a student based on any kind of assumptions that I have from my own experiences.
Can you describe a situation where applying what you learned at Bank Street helped you with the challenge?
Always! When I get upset at a child because of how they are speaking or disrupting a class, I always remember that this child is bringing all of their past experiences from home, from school, etc., and it is my responsibility to know that, have some empathy, put aside my own agenda for a while and see this child as a whole human being. I’m also responsible for how I show up, for seeing what I’m bringing into the classroom and into my teaching practices. This is a huge part of teaching for me—to be self-reflective.
What three words best describe your experience at Bank Street?
Intimate.
Exhilarating.
Life-changing.
Click here to learn more about Bank Street’s Teacher Residency Programs.