Baby tried to read
Growing up, I was always insecure about my academic performances because I was about a year younger than most of my classmates. My reading was underdeveloped, and my teachers were concerned about my ability to read more mature literature. To aid my reading disabilities I was placed in an intermediate class. However, the class did not push me into the level I was expected to be. In other words, they "babied" me and have me read at the "level" I was capable of. So like any other American school, they just push you along to the next grade. It wasn't until I started the fourth grade, and I was shown the power of reading independently. I used my struggles to read, as my motivation to excel in reading.
The first day of fourth
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grade was what sparked my ignition to drive myself to my reading goal. I remember that day so vividly; even to the smell of the school. The smell of newness created a thousand butterflies in my stomach. I nervously walked through the hallways searching for my classes. My anxiety was building up and it showed. An eternity nearly passed by when my friends arrived to school. Suddenly, I hear a familiar, high, voice. "Jaleah! Hey Jaleah look at my new backpack I got!" I gasped and smiled at the same time. "Nila! What took you so long?" "You know I have to drop my sister off at school right?" She sulked, "Aw..don't make me feel bad." Nila's demeanor was always filled with sympathy and comfort. Her eyes scanned the hallways. She turned to me and asked, "Jaleah who do you have for homeroom this year?" I scrambled for my schedule, "Oh! I have Mrs.Wright." "That's such a relief, so do I!" We skipped into Mrs. Wright's room, and shortly after, class had started. Mrs. Wright swiftly entered the room, and stood firm in front of the class. "I want to introduce myself. I am "Mrs.Wright. I have taught here for about 30 years, and I love teaching! It is the most coolest thing to watch my students excel and grow up, and come back with great knowledge. I am so excited for everyone! I believe you all have potential to be the best!" I noticed that something about this woman was different from any other teacher I've had before. Her words touched my heart, but it was a gentle touch. I felt motivation zip through every bone, every tissue, every cell, in my body. I felt in my heart that I could accomplish anything. I walked home with motivation in my heart.
I was anxious to start my journey as an improved reader. My sister and I walked home together from school. I kicked some pine cones and started to ponder on Mrs. Wright's words. Unexpectedly, I felt discouraged. I knew I wanted to improve, but I didn’t know how. At that time, my parents worked so much so I wouldn't see them very often after school. Rushing up to my room, I began to cry. Frustration had taken over my soul and it wouldn't let up. My tears blurred my vision and warmed my small face. The more I thought about it, the more I cried. I had broke down because I felt helpless and trapped. In the midst of my despair, I felt something tell me "You have my love and you can overcome any obstacle." I believe it was God who reminded me that He has not abandon me, even through that tough time, He was faithful to me. These words built up my courage and faith. No longer would I feel helpless and trapped. I got out my notebook and wrote what was my objective for the next day. In my notebook I slowly and carefully wrote " Get help." I knew I couldn’t do this alone, so I seeked for someone to point me to the right direction. That next day, I got up an hour early just so I can accomplish my first goal. My mother was up and said, " You are kind of early today aren't you?" I answered, " Yes, I am. I need some help with school so I decided to go early." She smiled and gave me a kiss on my forehead. Her kisses always made my days better. I
raced to school as the cool crisp on my face. It felt like I was a 400m dash runner. I was running fast but not too fast that I would be too tired to make it to the finish line. When I entered the school, the lights were still dimmed and the custodians were out. I didn’t know we had that many custodians in one, small, school. The only light turned on took me to Mrs. Wright's room. In my mind, I knew that she wouldn't be there yet, so I prepared myself to wait. When I arrived at her door, I noticed the door was open with the lights on. I walked in her room with hopes of her being there. "Mrs.Wright?" I asked her. "Yes, I am here." My heart stopped. "I want to talk to you." "Yes! of course dear." "I am struggling with my reading skills, and I want to become better. I really need your help. " She chuckled, " Well for starters, how often do you read? I paused. "mmm.....not very often. I do read on the cereal boxes and cans sometimes. " "Do you think that is enough? You must read more to understand more. I promise it will become easier." I left her class to go the library. I read novels, sequels, and wrote little essays about what I read. Reading then became almost natural to me. I felt freed from the things that held me back the most. Self motivation is important in improvement, but the complementary component in improvement is positive reinforcement. A lot of schools and teachers go through the motion of teaching and never take the time to open themselves up to students. They just pass the student along being completely oblivious to the skills that some lack. Although, my ambition to become better initiated the process, it was because of the words and encouragement of my teacher to drive and push me to improve. She did not trying to put me in a more "suitable" level class. No, she pushed me and I adjusted.
Writing essays was never my forte, it just never came easy to me like it would to others. Since other subjects came easy to me and I had to focus more than others on writing, I had a negative attitude toward the process as a whole. During this summer semester, I was able to grow as a writer, and gain a more positive attitude toward how I write and a better feel for writing in college. Writing a paper is a process in which there are many different stages. In high school I would never write outlines or any sort of pre planning work. Other struggles I encountered in my writing were my theses, and framing quotes.
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Throughout my childhood I was never very good at reading. It was something I always struggled with and I grew to not like reading because of this. As a child my mom and dad would read books to me before I went to bed and I always enjoyed looking at the pictures and listening. Then, as I got older my mom would have me begin to read with her out loud. I did not like this because I was not a good reader and I would get so frustrated. During this time I would struggle greatly with reading the pages fluently, I also would mix up some of the letters at times. I also struggled with comprehension, as I got older. My mom would make me read the Junie B. Jones books by myself and then I would have to tell her what happened. Most
Clearly, I’ve had my ups and downs with reading. I still have my own personal obstacles with reading that I plan on improving in my English class. I enjoy reading more now than I have in my school years. I know reading is a great way to escape as well as learning. I see reading in a different light than I have before. Like Dr. Seuss said, “The more you learn, the more places you’ll
When I was in the first grade, every week the students did reading board where they sat in the hall outside the class and the teacher told us to read as many words as possible. This reading board created great anxiety and resentment toward my classmates proper spelling and word usage. When I misspoke, or used a word incorrectly, the teacher placed me in a lower reading level than my peers. I was upset because, my friend kept moving up and I was still stuck in first grade reading level. I learned that I had a learning disability, which would be the greatest challenge in my life.
As we arrived, my stomach started to turn inside out, and I wasn’t sure why, but I knew when that happens I turn into a nervous wreck. They sat me in the hallway as they chattered about me I was assuming. On our bumpy car ride home, my parents stopped through an ice cream shop, knowing that’s a way to cheer their little boy. They sat me down and told me about how the teacher is concerned with my low-level reading and writing skills. It bothered me very much, that the teacher had never said anything to me one on one. My parents told me that I might be held back, and to stay positive and don’t let this bring you down. This caused so much confusion and discouragement for a seven year old boy. I was still in discomfort after the day reading because of how the kids laughed when I read my
this area but I’m going to improve on it. The process of using multiple drafts has
Writing for me has always been a love and hate relationship since I could remember. Depending on the subject matter that I was writing about I would enjoy it because it suited my style or I loathed it because that specific style was uninteresting and boring to me. Learning certain writing formats were absolutely the worst part about writing when I first started learning in high school. As time pushed on and I grew older I began to develop an appreciation for writing that I did not have before; which is what led me to taking Writing 101 as my first full-fledged college course. I began this course with minimal writing experience because of what I failed to retain before, but now I am a stronger writer than I could have imagined with new skill sets that enhance my professional portfolio.
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I remember that, when being taught to read I already knew more words than I had realized. Watching my dad’s finger skim under the words as he read them had helped me subconsciously learn those words. I learned to read and write at a much more accelerated pace than my peers. I felt impatient with those who lagged behind, not realizing that not everyone had been given the same advantages as me. The moment I started to read on my own, my great aunt, a retired kindergarten teacher, would send me a box of books she had used in her classroom every year for my birthday. Throughout elementary school, when I received the box, I would bring it up to my room and practice reading all the books on my own. Being able to read on my own opened the door to a world I hadn’t been able to reach without help
As a teenager I was an avid reader and excelled academically until I was in the ninth grade when I conceded to peer pressure and took a turn for the worse. I became lackadaisical and nonchalant, and little by grades fell. When I took my mid-term examinations in the ninth grade my report card was so poor that my mother had to be called in to collect it and have a parent-teacher session to discuss
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I have almost completed this semester and a few weeks, students of KPMIM will face a war, final exam. We are busying with to fulfill the task or assignment that need to be submitted on the deadline. Yeah, it really kills my life and freedom. However, we have to bear with it because we are student. So, my thoughts about Critical Literacy had change a bit. It is not hard or difficult actually. We just need to know about it, learn and practice it. So it much more easier if you want it too.