My Personal Literacy History: A Collection of Memories That Have Shaped the Literate Person I Am Today
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Communicating in Sports
I have played sports since I was three years old. Sports is a great way to encourage collaboration and communicative skills as you are constantly talking to your teammates, working on plays, etc. Team sports allows individuals to practice their communicative skills in a really engaging and authentic way, and I am sure my communicative skills have been greatly impacted due to my participation in this. -
Communicating in Sports - Course Connection
This experience has influenced me in a great way. It has made me aware of how important communicating and collaborating with others is, which is evidently needed in EDUC 8P30. In this course, there are many assignments we've had to work collaboratively on, (e.g. The literacy strategy presentation), and my experience participating in teamwork activities have allowed me to do so cooperatively. These are skills I, and my peers, continuously build on through experience and in this course. -
Communicating in Sports - Teaching Practice Connection
In the classroom, communication and collaboration is just as important. In my most recent placement, I found that my students worked best in small groups. This allowed them to build on their teamwork and collaboration skills, communication skills, and their ability to see that everyone learns differently. I think it is important to ensure students have the opportunity to work collaboratively, as that is how our society works. -
Reading To My Brother
Since I can remember, I always loved picture books. My brother is three years younger than I am, and I always loved reading to him while growing up. I was reading picture books to him before I could actually read fluently. I would interpret the pictures and make up the words myself to tell him the story. This is my earliest memory of Learning how to read. I was so proud of myself when I could read an entire picture book fleuntly, and sharing that with my brother made that so special. -
Reading to my Brother - Course and Teaching Practice Connection
In EDUC 8P30, we have discussed how important it is for children to begin to read at a very early age. This allows them to be exposed to reading comprehension, vocabulary, etc. at an early age. My parents always read to my brother and I since we were infants, and when I learned to read, I began reading to my brother as well. As a future educator, I want to encourage my students' parents to be involved in their lives, and assist in educating their children in this regard. -
Reading and Technology
In grade three, I remember playing online reading games such as Reader Rabbit. My classmates and I loved playing these online activities, which was great because it involved a lot of literacy. It was a great way to work on reading and writing competencies while playing an engaging, interactive game online. Another reading game I remember playing was a Leap Frog activity board that would assist in reading words I had trouble reading myself. -
Reading and Technology - Course and Teaching Practice Connection
In EDUC 8P30, I have been introduced to a variety of technology and online applications that I would greatly be interested in bringing into my future classroom. For example, I think the app Toontastic is a great way to introduce elements of stories to your students. It allows them to have an understanding of the elements of a story, while giving them the opportunity to be creative. Implementing technology into my teaching practice is something that I want to work towards in my next placement. -
Books as a Reward
Growing up, I found that a lot of my friends would receive a weekly allowance. Instead of receiving money, my parents allowed me to choose a book from the bookstore to add to my collection. I would typically choose Mary-Kate and Ashley books as my reward. I think this is such an innovative way to instill a love for reading in your children/students. It also represents the importance of reading, which is proven to have great benefits for children academically. -
Books as a Reward - Course and Teaching Practice Connection
At my placement school, every month they participated in the "Birthday Book Program". This involved students receiving a book of their choice for their birthdays, which they could take home and read, and once they finished they donated the book to the school library. Not only did this promote literacy within the school but also promoted and instilled a love for reading which is something I am very passionate about. This importance is embedded in EDUC 8P30. -
My Love For Reading
I remember realizing that I enjoy reading when I was in grade five. I had a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Driver, that really instilled a love for learning within all of her students. Each day, we would try to read at least one book together as a class. Whether it was a picture book or part of a chapter book, we read many different genres and this teacher really helped us see our preferences in regards to what we really enjoyed reading recreationally. -
My Love For Reading - Course and Teaching Practice Reflection
This teacher is a teacher that I aspire to be like. She has been one of my greatest influences in regards to becoming a teacher. I want to be the teacher who instills a love for learning and reading within my students. In my teaching practice, I want to continue giving students free reading time. I think it is so important to ensure students have an opportunity to read what they are interested in, and allowing them to have this time makes sure of that. -
Student Song Writing Club
In grade seven, I joined a student song writing club at my elementary school. There was about 15-20 students in grades seven and eight in this club. With assistance of the music teacher and guest speakers/songwriters, we would develop and create our own songs and perform them at school assemblies and our yearly music night. This club really helped me get ideas out in a poetic way, keeping music attributes in mind. This club was a great way to get students writing in a way that was very engaging. -
Student Songwriting Club - Course and Teaching Practice Connection
As a future teacher, I want to ensure my students have opportunities such as this one. Clubs like this are not only fun, but they also help students improve on their reading, writing and oral communication skills. As I have learned in EDUC 8P30, it is important for students to have opportunities like this. If it's not an extra-curricular activity, it could be integrated as a cross-curricular lesson that I'm sure students would have a lot of fun with. -
My First Cell Phone
I received my first cell phone in grade nine, and that is when I first began texting. A lot of people my age would use short forms for different words, however I found that I always texted things out properly - and I always have. I have always preferred to type each word correctly when I text, which goes against a lot of what this generation does. However, still to this day I text in proper sentences, including proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. -
"The Probability of Finding Nemo"
In grade eleven, we had to take a prewritten story and add what we had been learning in data management to it. This included different definitions, formulas and data charts. I decided to write mine on the well known movie, Finding Nemo, and change the title to "The Probability of Finding Nemo." I felt very proud of myself when I completed this assignment, and I think this is when I really realized I had the competence to create and write something really creative, yet informational. -
"The Probability of Finding Nemo" - Course and Teaching Practice Connection
This was an assignment I absolutely loved doing. It allowed me to to be creative in a subject that I did not feel was my strongest. As I have learned in EDUC 8P30, it is important to allow students to have creative freedom to create. In whatever subject it is, I believe students should be given more freedom and opportunity to create something that can be very proud of. -
Poetry Cafe
In grade eight, my teacher held a Poetry Cafe to allow the class to share their poems they had written that they had worked very hard on. Similarly to what we talked about in class, I believe days like this are so important to allow students to show off what they have been working on and take pride and ownership for what they had created. I loved sharing my work and being appreciated for something that I felt proud of completing. -
My Children's Book
In grade 12, I wrote a children's book that I received a lot of praise for and I still have it to this day. I wrote this book for a school assignment, however found myself continuing to edit and add things to it once it was completed, marked and handed back. I was even asked to read it to a few classes in my elementary school which was a great experience. I read the book to a grade one, two and three class and they all loved it - which made me feel very accomplished as a writer. -
Reflections
Throughout my undergrad degree and the Teacher's Education Program at Brock University, I have always been encouraged to reflect on my experiences - especially those in the classroom and practicum experiences. As I have learned, it is so important to ensure you reflect on your experiences in order to learn from them. Whether it is a positive or negative experience, you can always learn something! -
Read Alouds
In the summer of 2015, I worked as an ECE teaching assistant. Everyday after lunch, I would have the students (who were four and five years old at the time) sit on the carpet and we would read one or two books together. This was one of their favourite times of the day, as well as theirs. By the end of the summer, we were even reading short chapter books and the children loved being able to visualize what was happening for themselves, rather than seeing pictures. -
"The Grade Threes and Their Missing Crayons"
In my first placement class, I taught my grade threes how to write friendly letters. One of our projects used the book, "The Day The Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt as a mentor text. In this book, the crayons quit for various reasons. So for our class project, each student chose one of the crayons letters to respond to, and tried to convince the crayon to come back. Once everyone was done their letters, I compiled them all and created our own class book - which they were thrilled about! -
The Incredible Book Eating Boy
I have always loved picture books. I have shelves upon shelves in my basement full of them, which will be great for when I'm a teacher! Over the holidays, I received a book that instantly became one of my favourites. This book is called, "The Incredible Book Eating Book Eating Boy" by Oliver Jeffers. Briefly, it's about a boy that loves books so much, he "eats" them. This book encourages a love for reading in such a creative and quirky way, which is why I love it! -
The Incredible Book Eating Boy - Course and Teaching Practice Connection
As I've stated above, installing a love for reading and learning is of upmost importance. In my own teaching practice, I would use books like this one to get my students interested in reading, and wanting to be lifelong learners. In EDUC 8P30, we often use mentor books in our mock-lessons for our peers. This would be one of the first books I go to when trying to engage my students in a love for reading. -
Reflecting On My Personal Literacy History
Reflecting on my personal literacy history, I realize that I have had various opportunities and experiences that have shaped me as the student and future teacher I am today. These positive memories in my life have had a major influence on the way I read, write and orally communicate. I look forward to creating more experiences in the future that will continue to shape my literacy abilities. -
Reflecting on the Course
Reflecting on this course, I have realized what I've learned is very valuable in the classroom. It is of upmost importance to create engaging and interactive lessons that are cross-curricular, and integrate technology into lessons in order to do so. As an educator, I look forward to the experiences that are to come where I will be able to do this, and continue my practice as a teacher.
