For the 2018–2019 academic year, The New Century School has two classrooms of 2nd- and 3rd-graders, one of which is now taught by Taryn Biancaniello.

Meet Taryn Biancaniello

Ms. Biancaniello comes to TNCS by a rather circuitous route. Her extended family is originally from Reading, Pennsylvania, but her immediate family never stayed put for long owing to her father’s job in the government. “I grew up moving around,” she explains. “I was born in Germany and lived there until I was 5 years old. Then we moved to Glen Rock, PA and next to Glen Burnie, MD, where we lived until I was 10 years old.” From there, she lived in Australia until the age of 16, then returned to Pennsylvania for a couple of years. She also experienced several different kinds of schooling, from being home-schooled to attending a Waldorf School and a parochial school. Her family eventually wound up in Hawaii, where she attended the University of Hawaii. for about 5 years. “My dad would tell us what government positions were coming up and apply for them in places that seemed cool, so we kind of had a say as a family,” she said. In what might be a lifetime record stay, she has now been in Baltimore for almost 7 years now!

In college, Ms. Biancaniello studied music, so, again, her line to the classroom zigzagged a bit.

I’ve always loved music and performing. I went to school for piano performance but realized that I did not want to be a concert pianist. Instead, I discovered that I really enjoy teaching while I was still in school, so I started teaching piano. I still teach a couple days a week outside of school. So, I had been teaching piano for years and doing a little bit with voice, when, a few years ago, I decided that I wanted to take the next step—I want to do this full time. I began substitute teaching at Friends School and at Calvert School. After a few years, I felt ready to look for a full-time position, and that is how I arrived at TNCS.

In the Classroom

Ms. Biancaniello shares the 2nd- and 3rd-grade cohort with Barbara Sanchez, each having 13 homeroom students. Ms. Biancaniello teaches English Language Arts (ELA), Science, and Global Studies. Sra. Sanchez also teaches Global Studies, but in Spanish, as well as Math and Spanish Language Arts. Li Laoshi handles Mandarin Chinese in daily lessons lasting 45 minutes each.

Ms. Biancaniello feels very much at home at TNCS, even as a first-year teacher. Working with multilevel age groups and acclimating to the differentiated learning classroom can be challenging, but she has found this challenge to be, above all, fun. “I really love teaching, and I feel this is a job that you have to be passionate about. It takes time to adjust to the learning curve, and I find myself getting caught up in planning and losing track of time that way, too. Yet, the more I do, the more I know this is the job for me. It doesn’t seem like work.”

She also dearly loves working with her students and appreciates TNCS’s approach to education. She attributes this good-fit feeling partly to her varied background: “It’s just so much fun, and, especially coming from a background where I really enjoy being creative, I think this is an awesome school, and I love the inquisitive learning.”

The inquisitive learning she alludes to is exemplified in science class, where students work with STEMscopes, a science curriculum. “It introduces an idea and gets the students thinking about that idea and drawing from information they know,” explained Ms. Biancaniello. “Then they do related exercises and experiments, as I give them more information to draw from.” From this hands-on experience and testing, they learn more deeply and certainly retain more than they would in a lecture format. On this basis, this year’s third quarter Science Fair should be better than ever!

In ELA, her main curricular foci are reading, writing, and spelling. “Because everyone is at different levels, we do the Daily 4 or 5 rotations,” she said. “We’re doing novel studies, leveled reading, different spelling and vocabulary work, and working in Successmaker.” At this level, when students are able to articulate ever more complex ideas, writing becomes particularly important. Thus, they are also working on cursive skills, journaling, and creative writing as well as participating in a whole-group writing workshop.

In Perfect Harmony

Reflecting on her experience at TNCS so far, Ms. Biancaniello credits much of her success to her fellow faculty.

For first-time teachers, it can be a bit overwhelming at times, but they say the successful ones have support. That has been such a huge thing for me because I feel like I’ve had such a good team of people, and I do feel very supported. Sra. Sanchez has been a blessing—she has been with me every step of the way—and Adriana DuPrau has been a fantastic mentor. I feel getting to know this group of people has been really amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better staff to jump in with.

Circling back to an earlier theme, she reiterates the importance of being passionate about work.

I have had so much fun doing this and really do love so much what I’m doing. That’s really important because that’s what makes it fun for the students. The teachers who were most influential to me and had a big impact were the ones who really seemed to care about what they were doing. Those were the classes I was invested in. I particularly love working with these kids, and I hope that’s coming across so that the kids are feeling excited and being inspired to learn. Because, if the drive isn’t there, it doesn’t matter what subject you’re learning. I feel very strongly about bringing the challenge but keeping it really fun, too.

Well said, Ms. Biancaniello! Welcome to TNCS, and keep hitting those high notes!