-
Mark making
Playing with crayons and paper, enjoying the marks left on the paper and copying mum and dad. Mum and I spent a lot of time together drawing and making craft -
Scribbling
By age 2 I was able to draw continuous lines and circles. Although the results were haphazard, I was excited to show the results which indicated that I was beginning to understand that texts have purpose -
Shapes
At age two and a half I am beginning to draw shapes and roughly copy or trace shapes that my parents produced, my markings were beginning to be able to be interpreted by others. -
Stick people
By age three I was producing basic representations of people with a circle for a head, arms and legs protruding from the head (no body) and simple facial features, representing my world. -
Letter formation
At age four I was beginning to form legible letters with scaffolding from my mum, tracing and copying, working towards writing my own name to communicate. -
Writing my own name
Although I could write my first name before I started school in January 1985, this is the first official record I have of it. It appears that this was a celebrated event for the children in our classroom, and as you can see in the image I have written my full name in relatively small neat writing. Being quite a long and difficult surname, I would expect that I was also able to write other words, communicating to an audience through language and text. -
Card to mum
'To mum, life wold not be life with out you, Love from Amy.' It looks like I was very philosophical at seven years old! My card to my mum looks like something I would have produced at home, and I am communicating independently. -
Easter card
An Easter card I sent to the Easter Bunny. I wonder why my mum has it...?! As I looked through the collection of texts my parents saved, I noticed that most of my cards have a 'barcode' on the back, where I have recorded the date, which has been handy in creating this timeline. This indicates to me that I felt I was publishing quite polished works, and this was how I finished them off. -
Year 3 school report, student comments
In my year three school report I was given the opportunity to comment. I wrote 'My favourite subject in story writing because I like writing stories.' My comments may be obvious, but I have always liked writing, and even now I would prefer a written assignment over oral any day. I think this is because I like to take the time to really consider what I am saying, and when I am put on the spot there is no eraser or back button, there is a lot of pressure to get it right straight up. -
Best mother in the world certificate
I am refining my text production by starting to write smaller and neater letters, and experiment with my own style. -
Year 7 Yearbook
Our year 7 yearbooks were written in the third person, we were asked to record our achievements and aspirations. I was a little surprised to find that 25 years ago I thought I might become a teacher! It took me a while, but here I am. As you can see the typing was fairly basic, we had a computer at home and in the classroom, but this was used for games rather than producing texts. -
Christmas card
A card I made for my family, It appears that I am trying out a new style of hand writing and attempting humour, as well as using tools like speech bubbles. -
Images of Australia CD cover
This example is from year 8 SOS. My writing has become cursive and in a short time since leaving Primary school I am articulating myself in a more mature way as would be expected in High School. -
Belair field trip report
This is the only information report I came across in researching my text timeline. I have used photos and simple sketch diagrams to reinforce my writing, and am demonstrating a good understanding of writing for the audience. -
Descriptive writing task 'The Storm'
Year 12 English was my favourite subject. The thing that struck me when I first pulled this out was that it is hand written. In my family there were 6 of us vying for computer time, and while I do have some copies of typed assignments, most of my year 12 work was handwritten. In this piece I have written about domestic violence and alcoholism, and it is apparent that I am writing in an unfamiliar context. I now understand the importance of drawing on your own experience to make meaning. -
Journal page - sketch
This was a page from my journal that I took overseas with me in my 'gap year'. I was in venice and found it indescribably beautiful, I decided to sketch it. Looking back I remember so much more from this sketch than I do other written entries. -
SMS Pregnancy announcement
This is a short series of text messages where my best friend tells me she is expecting a baby in a way that only I would have understood. This represents how we use sms to communicate important information quite freely now, and develop ways of communicating specific to different people in our lives. -
Paper cut birth announcement
I created this as a gift for a friend of a friend. I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment, but when I do I like to create paper art as a way of expressing myself, and incorporating meaning. Louis' father is a keen fisherman, who particularly love diving for crayfish. -
Specification documents
We have recently extended our house, and as my partner and I both have several years experience working in the building industry we created our own specifications and electrical layouts. The need for accuracy and the ability to communicate across multiple modes consistently is vital to the success of a project like this, and we managed to get through it with only a few minor issues to resolve. -
Academic writing - Growth mindset
This essay was written in my first semester at university after not having studied at university level for 15 years. I was concerned about my ability to keep up and learn new things. The essay is about the growth mindset, which is a theory that I really believe in. I worked really hard on my essay, and the combination of the subject and the process helped me to realise that we are continually learning and growing throughout our lives. I received a HD, which was such a proud moment for me. -
Book Making Lesson Plan
In my first placement as a pre-service teacher (PST), I was placed in a reception / year one composite classroom with another PST. The children had been enjoying book making, and to work in with this, we had the opportunity to plan and teach four lessons on 'adding detail', including speech bubbles, bold words and expressions. We made scaffolds including word sheets, blank speech bubbles, and our own books to share. The finished books were amazing, and I learnt so much about emergent writers. -
Facebook post
This is a post that shared an important day of our lives, my daughter starting school. I don't post a lot on Facebook but I do record moments that are really important to our family, which demonstrates communicating with purpose and for an audience.
