-
Day I Was Born
Even though I was unable to talk at this time, as soon as any baby is delivered they begin to have experiences that will eventually develop into literacy skills. -
Starting Kindergarten
I was put into Kindergarten a year early because of my progressing skills in academics. It is here I begin my journey of learning to read and write. Even though we learn to associate pictures with words or learn how to pronounce easy words, it forms a major foundations for the rest of schooling. -
Starting Middle School
During middle school, I was a part of the yearbook comitte. This gave me a different set of literacy skills because I had to create a memory book of experiences through pictures and the lens of others -
Starting High School
This is a new chapter of my academic career. More intense and harder works are read and examined during courses. -
Junior Year Interviews and Job Skills
During your junior year, you take classes on professional job skills. During this class, you learn how to write an appropriate resume and how to interview with employers. This is another type of literacy skill to acquire because there are certain workplace terms and phrases used. -
Studying and Taking the SAT
Junior year is full of academic and literary experiences. As a junior, you must take the SAT in order to prepare for college. While studying for the SAT, you learn tips and tricks on how to identify definitions of complex words and how to correctly phrase sentences or paragraphs. You also have to write an essay a certain and professional way so you get a higher score. This really challenges your literacy ability. -
Senior Year Intern Mentor Program
During my senior year, I took a class that allowed me to shadow an Athletic Trainer. During this class, I had to develop a research question and review journal articles related to my topic. This was my first real experience with reading journal articles. I am so happy I had this experience before I went to college. -
Hired as an Assistant Teacher
When you are an Assistant Teacher, you need to understand the material you are teaching in order to teach it to your students. This requires an immense amount of reading about the topic as well as combing background knowledge you have on the topic. -
Graduate School
Graduate school is extremely reading and writing intense. You need to be able to not only understand textbooks and journal articles, but elaborate and present on the information you read. You also have to be able to understand what other classmates are presenting to you and process the information given by the professor. -
Becoming a Teacher
I have found that teaching is not only a skill but its an art. You have to find a happy medium between teaching the material, but also not making it too easy or "dumbed down" for the students- especially in special education. It is your responsibility to research techniques and evidence-based practice that will work best in your classroom for your students.
