literacy autobiography

When I first moved out of my parent’s house to go to college, my parents did what most do in their situation, they turned my room into an office. When I came home for my first real break from school, all of my childhood memories were packed away in boxes and put into a closet. I was horrified. When I was married, my husband and I had the opportunity to take a long honeymoon. My parents watched out house and animals for us while we were gone. When we returned from our trip, all of my boxes from the closet where sitting in my living room. I was told that since I now had a home of my own, then I could be the one to store all of my keepsakes. I have since had the chance to go through those boxes and to really look at all of my school memorabilia. I was especially interested in what type of student I was, since I was then teaching in an elementary school. My memories where for the most part accurate.

In Pre-School we did a year book at the end of the school year. There is one page where we were asked to draw what our house looked like. In my drawing, I am laying in my bed and my mom is sitting in a chair next to me with a book in her hand. This really sums up what type of household I was raised in. Both of my parents were learners. My dad is a Veterinarian and he was always reading medical journals and books. He had a desk in our front room that was covered with these materials. My mom was more of a recreational reader. She would start one or two books at once and read when she had time.

As I young child, I really struggled with reading. I was enrolled in our local public school and we were very crowded. I remember it being very noisy in the classroom. At the end of the year, my teacher told my parents that I was not grasping the concept of reading and that she feared that I would need to repeat the first grade. She told my parents that if they would work with me over the summer, and if she saw improvement, then she would let me continue on to second grade. That was a very important summer in my life. We a reading workbook that we did every day that summer. I just remember ideas and concepts finally clicking in my head. By the end of the summer I was hooked on the idea of reading. From that point on, I always had a book in my hand. My parents were very supportive of my reading addiction. My mom took us to the local library and got our family our first library card. Every Wednesday we would go and check out a new book. By the time I was in fourth grade I was allowed to check out two or three books at a time. I was never really interested in picture books. I loved a good story. My very favorite series as a child was Little House on the Prairie. I have probably read those books a dozen times. As I got older, Ann of Green Gables and Judy Blume were some my favorites.

One of my favorite assignments was when our fourth grade teacher taught a thematic unit on theater. We read all sorts of plays and skits and then she assigned our class to put on a play for the entire school. I was a very shy student, but for some reason I was very excited about this play. We practiced for weeks and weeks. I can still remember that feeling of excitement and anticipation right before the play began. For the rest of the school year my group of friends and I would put on plays during recess and then show them off to our class.
I have never been much of a writer. I never kept journals or diaries when I was young. In sixth grade, our teacher had our class keep a Writer’s Workshop Journal in our desks. Each day we had to write in our journal. She would sometimes give up topics, but for the most part, it was a free write. I remember that the only thing that got me motivated was that my teacher would read our journals each night and leave us a note. I just loved those notes!

In high school we were required to a variety of novels, both fiction and nonfiction. There were a few books that stand out as favorites, My Antonia, Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby….
I have never been motivated to read these books again, but I am glad that I did read them once upon a time.

As a teacher, I have really enjoyed incorporating the lessons and units that I remember from my childhood into my classroom. I hope that my students will one day look back upon their childhood school memories, think about some of the lessons that we did, and smile.