Literacy Autobiography

Growing up my relationship with reading served to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Before starting school I used to love reading. My parents used to read to me every night before I went to bed and would always give me books as gift for my birthday and Christmas. I especially loved the stories of Babar the Elephant and Curious George. My home life was set up in a manner very conducive to literature however, my school life was not.

When I began first grade I was placed in a class with forty-five other first grade students with a teacher, from what I can remember, that had little control over the class. Because I was quite and well behaved I did not command my teacher’s attention. She focused her effort on the “trouble makers” that would disrupt class and the low preforming students that were on the edge of passing the state test. I did not learn to read that year, nor do much of anything else for that matter, except get really good at doodling stars. I started1st grade academically on track and began 2^nd grade a full year behind.

When I began 2^nd grade I loathed reading and writing. I would throw tantrums every time my parents tried to get me to do either. My mom used to refer to the Mondays I brought home my new spelling words as my “Monday Night Meltdown” which would begin promptly at 7:00 pm every Monday after dinner when my dad would make me get out my spelling words. Luckily, (for them and for me) it began to get easier. My 2^nd grade teacher began pulling the group of us who were all in the same 1^st grade class the year before and teaching us phonics skills. We learned how to decode words, breaking the words down and sounding them out. She taught us the different rules of spelling, the different sounds words made. Once I began to understand these rules everything came together. It was as if one day something magically clicked in my head and I could read.

Once I learned how to read I could not stop. At home I read constantly. As an only child of busy parents I was often left to play by myself, but reading could entertain me for hours. I loved reading the Broadway Ballplayers Series, a series about girls who lived in a city and loved to play sports. On my ninth birthday my parents and I struck a deal; I could use my allowance money for whatever I wanted as long as I could afford it, however if I wanted to use my allowance to buy a book, my parents would pay for half of every book I bought. Being the money savvy nine year old that I was I began to spend all my money on books and began to build up quite the collection.

This habit has continued on into my adult life. I love going to the used bookstore and picking out arm-fulls of books to read. My fiancé and I turned our spare bedroom into an office, which is filled with books. When our friends come over they often leave with one or two barrowed books. Before I went back to school I was reading a book a week, anything from Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea to the Hunger Games Series. Unfortunately since I started graduate school I have little time to read for pleasure, instead I spend most of my “free time” coding research articles and organizing information for a literature review I am currently working on. I know that when I am done with school my reading for pleasure will pick back up again. I am confident that reading is a hobby that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

When I graduate I hope to work with transition age students with Emotional and Behavior Disorders. My professional reading goals for my students will be to close the gap of reading achievement between my students and their peers. Realistically I would be happy with my students being able to read well enough to maintain a job and function independently when they become adults.