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The Beginning
I am the youngest of my family, with three older siblings. My early encounters with literacy were from my family members simply talking or reading out loud to me. Anytime I was in the car with my mom she would talk to me about anything and everything- where we were going, what she saw, etc. -
The Early Life
When I was around 22 months old I would always go with my mom to drop my sister off at preschool. While there, I would hear them sing the Welcome Song and the Color Song. Since I heard the Color Song every day I learned the words. This is how I learned to spell the colors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt2DqTxwB0 -
First Grade
I was placed in a reading recovery class where we would read the same books over and over again until you could read them by yourself. After time they believed I had mastered the books but in actuality I had just memorized the books. I wanted to be able to read just like the other students in my class. -
Third Grade
My school had a bathtub in the library that was filled with a bunch of pillows. It was so comfy to read in that I started to ask the teacher what I could do to earn time to read in the bathtub. I would pass out papers, run attendance down, and keep the library clean. As long as I did my "job" I would get to go read in the bathtub for fifteen minutes two times a week. -
Matzo Ball Soup
In seventh grade my mom finally shared with me the recipe for my favorite holiday mean, Matzo Ball Soup. Learning how to cook this soup taught me how to follow a set of directions and also reiterated the importance of measuring ingredients properly. I enjoyed doing this activity with my moms’ guidance and it opened the doors to exploring the use of cookbooks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3IO-lwaHU0 -
Freshman Year of High School
Shortly before entering my freshman year of high school I was officially diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, and anxiety. This is something that did not come as a shock to my family and I. In elementary school they let me fall through the cracks and said that I was “on the bubble”. After diagnosis, I was better able to process information correctly which made a dramatic change in my academic achievement. This moment changed the way I thought of myself and the way I thought of my future. -
Gymnastics Judge
Senior year of high school I was asked to judge a gymnastics meet for my very first time. I was very familiar with gymnastics since coached and participated in the past. Judging required me to judge the execution of a skill and subtract deductions when I saw them. It required tremendous focus and basic math skills to determine gymnasts scores. After this experience, I was better able to see where scores came from and why. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji6D48JmL1k -
Choreographing for Special Olympics Dance Team
One of the jobs of a dance teacher is to create a dance that your students would be able to perform. When choreographing there are many things to take into account; your students capabilities and the beat/counts of the music Every song has a meaning behind it and it is my job to create a story of the message through body movements and facial expressions. This is something that takes a lot of time and thought but can create a beautiful show.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zt0GGtbXt0] -
Communication with Parents
As the assistant director of a non-profit organization it is part of my job to communicate with parents. The first parent meeting I ran was in regard to dance competitions for this season. The meeting was very scary for me as it was my first time standing up in front of all these parents and discussing the plan for the dance team.This event was my first real experience with public speaking and it taught me how to pace myself while speaking and how to properly communicate my expectations.
