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Early Learning
Before school even began, my parents and other influential adults in my life introduced letters, words, and sounds to me. Before even reading or embracing literacy as an individual, I learned to embrace comprehension of text as my parents read stories to me. -
Formal Schooling Begins
Recalling early educational experiences, pulls me to kindergarten. I recall my teacher empowering her students to learn sight words and decode words in new ways. -
Phonics Foundation
I attended a private elementary school which focused on phonics as the foundation for reading. I remember enjoying the way language fits together. Later in life I was a primary teacher in which I could continue to educate students in this same manner. -
Literary Award
In third grade I was challenged to write an informational piece of writing. Doing so won me an award at my school. I remember this being a turning point in my joy of writing and desire to read. -
Reading to Learn
In Middle School we had to read several biographical texts. This transition of learning to read to reading to learn really took shape for me in Middle School. I read the Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Only a few years later, I actually got to visit the place where the words of those pages were founded. -
Novels of High School
During High School, it was hard for me to embrace the literature that we were required to read. I did not want to read King Arthur or The Scarlet Letter. Being told what to read on what measure of time became frustrating. Reading became more of a chore than an enjoyment. -
Undergraduate Course Reading
In my first year of my undergrad program, I enrolled in my first teaching course and fell in love again with readng. The textbooks we were asked to read, were exciting because the content was more important to me than other things. Once again, reading to learn became my focus. -
Paying it Forward
During my junior and senior year of my undergraduate program, I began to help with a charitable organization in which I helped at-risk middle school students in an after school program. One of the major areas of need was literacy understanding, specifically in reading comprehension strategies. I realized that my joy of learning to read was being honed into now teaching students to grasp the text in new ways. -
Early Teaching Career
The first four years of my teaching career were focused on 2nd grade instruction. It became real that my skill as an instructor shaped the way these primary students would understand text, comprehend novels, and embrace the writing process. -
Graduate Study
During my graduate studies, I took online courses. These courses required comprehension strategies that started to be formed in me as a child. I realized that my ability to take in textual information, process that information, and translate it into meaningful material, was not a decision made solely during my graduate career. Early instruction was key to my growth as a student.