Donna Seferian

DSef Consulting, Inc.

Who is Donna?

In her 20+ years as an educator, Donna Seferian has studied the art of teaching. Her passion for teaching is rooted in the belief that all learners can achieve and that the role of the teacher is to find ways to support each child in ways that make their on-going success possible. As a math teacher, Donna believes in the power of play and is interested in finding ways to challenge students by engaging them in rigorous problem solving.
To realize her goals as a teacher, Donna has spent years studying ways to improve her craft. Towards this end, she participated in a wide range of professional development which included workshops and on-site coaching in her classroom. Whether in literacy (Teachers’ College Reading and Writing Project) or in math (Math in the City, Metamorphosis Teaching Learning Communities and ReimaginED Teaching), Donna has had ample learning experiences. Each of these has helped her hone her content and pedagogical content knowledge in ways that helped her students achieve to the highest levels.

For 20 years, Donna has been mentored by Toni Cameron. As part of this on-going collaboration, Donna has participated in workshops and teaching learning communities on a variety of topics (e.g., proof in the math classroom; the role of games in supporting mathematical reasoning; how to use problem solving to foster mathematical thinking and communication). Because of her passionate interest in developing her own understanding of math and her willingness to share her practice with others, Donna was also selected as a host classroom for teachers around NYC. In this role, Donna opened her practice up to scrutiny, shared her insights about teaching and learning, and was publicly willing to name her goals for improving her practice. This openness often helped other teachers reveal their frustrations and fears as part of this collaboration.

Donna has also been a mentor teacher to newer teachers at her school and has participated in many leadership initiatives. As a coach for reimaginED Teaching, Donna hopes to continue to help teachers improve their practice by sharing her insights into how to craft deep learning experiences that meet the needs of all learners.