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Emergent Literacy 1
My earliest memories are related to listening to sounds. I remember listening to my grandmother saying prayers and having me repeat them. I also have memory of listening to bible stories, whether told by my grandmother or on cassette tapes. -
Emergent Literacy 2
Rhymes, rhymes, rhymes! My grandmother spent countless hours outdoors daily. There was a perfect size bush that we would hold hands and skip around singing the nursery rhyme Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. This began my love of nursery rhymes and first memory of print. I began collecting books of Nursery Rhymes and reading them to anyone who would listen. I definitely fit into the Prealphabetic Phase as evidence of my recitation and not actual reading. -
Emergent Literacy 3
My grandmother used to tape my cousins and myself whenever we spent our days with her. We would have no idea when she was doing it. I remember her playing those tapes back to us and we would have discussions about what was happening, how we were behaving, and how we felt about it after we heard them. This is a great example of oral language skills being integrated into my daily life from a young age. -
Emergent Reflection
My early years definitely showcased the importance of family and the literacy environment they provided for me. Schwanenflugel and Knapp stated, "the sociocultural perspective emphasizes the natural literacy contexts and activities in which young children participate prior to entering school or formal literacy instruction" (2016, p. 35). My family supported my learning through daily activities such as nursery rhymes, prayers, bible stories, and lots of quality conversations. -
Beginning Literacy 1
I have clear memories of seeing different texts in the hands of those around me. My most vivid recollection is of my stepfather. He always had a newspaper in his hand. Whether we went to a restaurant, to pick up a sibling from daycare, or at a sporting event, he had it. Any spare moment, he was reading. I carry around a book with me everywhere. I read in between innings at my kids sports, while waiting in the car, at doctors offices, any spare moment I have. -
Transitional Literacy 1
As I go through this timeline, I am definitely understanding how much my family influenced my literacy background without me realizing it until now. Grandparents, stepfather, aunts, and other family are creeping into my mind. Ironically, I don't have memories of my parents reading with me or independently on their own. -
Transitional Literacy 2
This moment in time is made up of memories of my grandfather on my mothers side of the family. He enjoyed completing crosswords in his free time. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents on both sides of my family, and I definitely have followed in their footsteps. I'm estimating around 8 years old, I was regularly completing crossword puzzles. I was a quick learner when it came to reading and I am now seeing how many different texts I was exposed to. -
Transitional Literacy 3
Around mid-elementary age, my grandmother progressed from playing tape recordings to leaving her typewriter out for me to explore. This is when I began to type stories. These stories were embellished and fun for me to write and later read on repeat. -
Adolescent Literacy 1
During my adolescent years I exhibited confidence in my reading and writing abilities. I may be the only person I know who enjoyed being assigned book reports. I loved reading to learn something new. I'm a very empathetic person and book reports allowed me to live/feel/think as the characters did. I have memories of laying on my stomach in the living room reading and then writing my reports. I would then type up the report for fun even though a written copy was turned in for a grade. -
Adolescent Literacy 2
During my tween years, I earned the ability to walk to the local library. This helped to develop my independence and responsibility as a person and reader. I had many more resources available to me. I could read books in a series from book 1 all the way to the end. My memories include The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High Series. I still enjoy reading books in a series (Hunger Games) or reading books where the author will bring past characters back from time to time (Elin Hildebrand). -
Adolescent Literacy 3
As I grew as a reader, I was ready to tackle much longer and more thought provoking novels. My grandmother and aunt had every Stephen King book published and bought the new ones as they came out. My Stephen King addiction started with Misery and continued on after reading The Shining. Both of these novels had also been made into movies which was an added bonus. I quickly learned a book is better than a movie but I loved seeing how the characters were brought to life. -
Adolescent Literacy 4
Funny fact; I remember walking the halls of my high school thinking I could never be a teacher and come here day after day. During my junior and senior year, reading in school was no longer interesting to me. I didn't value the novels we read in English class and I read textbooks just to gain information to pass a class. However, I was still an avid reader in my free time. -
Reflection-Beginning/Transitional/Adolescent Literacy
Schwanenflugel and Knapp stated, " what parents emphasize, in turn, strongly impacts the knowledge and feelings about reading that children then bring to their formal reading instruction in school" (2016, p.17). This quote resonates with me based on my childhood/ adolescent literacy habits. The only difference is my influences mainly come from my stepfather, grandparents, and aunt. Reading was seen as a positive and engaging activity that was discussed/shared throughout the family. -
Mature Literacy 1
This stage of my literacy journey was very enjoyable. I was a freshman in college and able to read both for learning and enjoyment. I was interested in Marketing and enjoyed reading all I could about the principles behind it. College classes had Professors who showed passion for the material they taught and it definitely carried down to me. -
Mature Literacy 2
During this stage of my literacy journey, I was exploring topics that interested and motivated me. I was interested in the world around me. I took a comparative religion course in college that motivated me to make some changes in my life. I had never been baptized as a child due to differences in family beliefs. This course started a process of researching and learning that directly affected my future life. -
Mature Literacy 3
During this time of my literacy journey, I have been reading with my children for many years. This is about the time I feel it come full circle. Some of my children are now old enough that we are reading book series together and then watching the movies (Captain Underpants, Harry Potter). -
Educator Literacy 1
This time of my life included a drastic career change. I had been home with my kids for many years and had been supplementing our income with an in-home daycare business. Spending the day with preschool aged children helped me to appreciate and want to share my love of reading and learning. First I spread my wings by teaching Sunday School, then CCD, Preschool, and finally got my Early Childhood certification. I loved being a part of my "kiddos" learning. -
Educator Literacy 2
As a first grade teacher, I love reading to my students. In my reading class, I read a chapter of a loved chapter book to them every day. We have read Pippi Longstocking, Charlotte's Web, The Doll People, and Geronimo Stilton. For my homeroom class, I started a bulletin board and titled it #BookADay. After reading a blog post, I was motivated to read with no standards attached, Everyday we read 1 book for enjoyment. It's a great opportunity to share quality read alouds with my students. -
Reflection #1 on Teaching
Biggest aha moment from this project- my admin has praised my dedication to creating lessons that focus on speaking and listening skills/standards. I put a great value on my students being able to have conversations with each other based on content they are learning. Now I can link this back to my grandmother! All the conversations, tape recordings, and reflecting was highly influential in my career. -
Reflection #2 on Teaching
As I go forward in my teaching career, I am dedicated to giving my students some of the experiences I had as a child but they may not. For example, many types of texts to experience: magazines, crosswords, rhymes, stories on tape, and free writing opportunities. I am now even more dedicated to continuing with #bookaday and reading chapter books to my students.
