Sharing my Literate Life with Adolescent Students

By reflecting on my literary experiences there are a number of positive and negative occurrences that will affect how I teach my students:

1. Reading in front of the class was more than a simple task. It was a high anxiety event that had an effect on how one's peers valued the selected victim. One could not, would not been seen as a lesser being due to mispronounced words or shuddering. When the time arose for me to read in front of the class I had already practiced the selected paragraph three to four times as to avoid the judgmental glares of my fellow students. To combat this stressful practice I will have a system similar to the reading simulation practiced in class. A handful of strong readers will read aloud small sections of a novel or textbook while the rest of the class reads along. I will also have scribes who record key points and analysts who will summarize and question the text. Through this system there should be less stress and more opportunities to practice critical reading. 

2. In high school I was a much slower reader than the rest of the students. If we were all expected to read a page or two at the same time I would read as much as I could and stop just as everyone else finished, even if I was no where close to the end, just so the class would not have to wait for me. I can combat this problem by asking students to read a section of a text and analyze what they read. The faster readers will not grow bored from waiting as they can write while the others catch up. In theory this will help all students despite developmental readiness levels.

3. I hated reading books that were selected for me. Books that I was allowed to choose from had a greater impact on me. I can provide my students with options of texts they can read. I can apply this within my history classroom by allowing students to see the books for the semester. I can then allow them to select the three books that they would like to read in the order that they want to read them. Then students can be assigned one book which they can read at their leisure. When the selected book relates to the unit they will be expected to present a group project and inform the class about the book and how it relates to the material.  

Literacy Timeline and Reflection

           Fortunately I was born into a household where education was important. My mother being an educator read many books to me as a child, instilling a love a reading in me at an early age. Because we did not have cable I had to entertain myself through reading or art. No Dr. Seuss or the Bearinstine Bears book was safe from me. I read or attempted to read anything I could get my chubby little hands on.

           One of the major negatives on my timeline is my home school experience. Due the nature of my fathers career we had to move frequently. It is because my mother placed more importance on math and art than on spelling and reading competence that I lacked the skills other children my age were receiving in public schools. 

           My literacy status did not improve much when finally placed in public school. I had several weak and/or mentally unstable English teachers that chose to "do their own thing." This changed by high school. I had one teacher for three years who was consistently improving each students' reading and writing skills. She even went out of her way to strengthen my writing proficiency and to prepare me for college level reading comprehension all during her summer break. I swear if I receive any big award she is going up there with God, my parents, and Lady Gaga on those I want to thank.

            Throughout this Literacy Timeline great adventure or mystery books consistently had a positive impact on my  personal perspective of reading. These books were also never assigned; I was the one who chose them. I was motivated to read them because I knew that investing my time and attention to the story-line and character development would, in the end , be well worth it. On the other hand having books selected for me like The Great Gatsby had a negative impact on my perspective of reading. When I was expected to read a certain book within a certain time frame reading in itself became a chore. 

My Textual Lineage

For the assignment I chose the following texts: Box Car Children (book series), Hardy Boys (book series), Aesop's Fables, Greek Mythology short stories, Harry Potter of course (book series), the Hobbit, Wizard of Oz, Hunger Games (book series), To Kill a Mocking Bird, Diary of Anne Frank, Life of Pie, and Kite Flyer.

What I have noticed is that I tend to seek out books that are either fiction or mystery. In most books the main character is a youth that faces the loss of a parent or two (Harry Potter) and must fight against tremendous odds. I really enjoy it when books have twists and plot changes. I also noticed that in these books there is a unjustified death of one of the main characters which always tends to hurt when I invest so much time into the character. I came to the realization that none of these books, excluding Anne Frank and the Mythologies, have any historical relevance. One thing that I could do for my students and myself is to provide a short first person perspective account of a historical event.