The Seed of Literacy
Literacy is the art of learning, reading, and using words to apply it to the real world to advance ourselves and minds to a greater level. Every day we all use literacy in our culture, social life creating and inventing, and in almost everything that we do on a regular basis. In many cultures music and storytelling is an exciting event for them to listen to the words of history pass thought there ears as a fine tone. My roots of literacy were planted during my first days of school. I was one the many bright young students and my teacher fed our seeds by reading books that could be understood at our level of literacy. My parents were the gardeners who fed my seed when I first began speaking my first words.
During my time of growth in my past my parents were working hard so they couldn’t find the time to encourage me to read, but during my time in kindergarten I started to read. At first I wasn’t able to read anything that she gave the class, but like learning the first words in a new language I picked it up. I read my first words in the books and the words on the flashcards she showed the class. I have almost no memory of what books that i was reading during that time, but fortunately I do remember one fairytale my teacher read to us “The Hungry Caterpillar”. It was a short story of a caterpillar who ate till full grown and metamorphosed into a beautiful butterfly. In my particular past the year in kindergarten was my next step into literacy.
When my mind was developing the sophisticated literacy level I'm currently have I have attended many elementary schools during my complicated past, but the only school I have stayed the longest was Loring Flemming Elementary School. The fourth grade was the time I attended the to the school and the school was a new environment for me and I was forced to adapt to the ever so changing atmosphere and the personalities of the students who attended. The work was much harder and in much more quantity than I was expecting much like the writing assignments and books I was forced to read. In my young mind I imagined the books to be boring, but they became more enjoyable to read like, The Taste of Black Berries and many more. I thank my old teachers for opening my mind to new books and new genres of books I have never known before and I now enjoy reading everyday.
After my graduation from the two great years I had in the elementary school I now moved on to a completely new environment in Glen Landing Middle School. My fellow class mates I knew have changed and so have the learning experiences that opened up to me, but that wasn't the only thing that changed me. I to changed in personality, outward appearance, and in my taste for books. My language teachers have introduced me to new more advance books and the authors who wrote them. my favorite authors were Gabrielle Zevin, Betsy Byars, and Emily Roda at the time I loved there books like Elsewhere, Pinballs, and the Dragons of Deltora Series. Well as time progressed and my middle school days were passing by fairytale books with dragons and other mystical creatures became unappealing so during the eighth grade my language teacher introduced us to book about teens and what many of us go through everyday. I became fascinated and awestruck by the words that passed through my ears and the imagery aloud me to create a picture of what was occurring through the story. These types of books became my favorite and language arts was beginning to seem more enjoyable and I dare say almost a favorite amongst my other favorite subjects.
In this current time I wish that my language teacher would throw in a few books such as these and new books that i hope to enjoy in the later future. Today I still read realistic books that other authors wrote and a few interesting adventure books like the 39 Clues series but I am looking forward to adding more to my favorite list and further expand my ability to read. I however am not sure if I am literate in a professional conversation because I don’t have much experience in communicating with real professionals, but in the Medical Arts Academic I will be trained to speak literate and proper in professional conversations in order to have new opportunities and doors open to me. My time in the program has finished I will be prepared for the real world.
Through out my life I have always loved to read and to be introduced to new books and to this very day I still have an expectation from my new Language teachers to do this and to create a new way of seeing the world. Currently I am unable to read any new books because of the fact that I am unable to get a new one. I do hope that I will find a solution to this problem and continue to read. In my opinion literacy is important because being able to speak in a literate tone will open job opportunities and open new conversations with other people. Writing is just as important when you have to fill out a job application of write paper work of what you for example what lessons you taught your students or helping to raise money or create fundraisers for field trips or to building projects. In my life my literacy helped me to be to become apart of the Medical Arts Program. Literacy grows and develops within you from the first time every one's seed was planted. We all water our trees differently with the different books we read and the way we all write which is why our trees have reached to different heights. Everyday it grows as we write, read or have conversations with others, but it’s your language teachers job and pleasure to help grow your tree to reach the height they want everyone to reach. To the teachers reading this; in your minds do you challenge yourself to extend the height of your trees beyond the your own expectations and challenge your students as well?
