By the time I was in first grade I had already learned my alphabet, I could count, I could even read a couple of short words. But it was in first grade that I went about learning to read and to write. My teacher Ms. Wiggins would have us write in our notebooks for what felt like forever every single day. I remember trying to write from right to left in that notebook (because I’m left handed) and spelling the word “like” as “lik”. My handwriting was, as to be expected, illegible. When we weren’t writing until I felt like my hand was going to fall off the whole grade would get together for a reading workshop in which we were separated based on our reading ability. It was there that we would read books that were to our specialized reading level …show more content…
I had been interested in gymnastics since kindergarten. However, my mom thought it was dangerous and refused to allow me to take classes. Instead she threw me into swimming hoping that I’d be happy with that and I was for a while. But my true passion had always been gymnastics. I had, over the years, taught myself cartwheels, round offs, and back-walk-overs. My schools playground had a set of bars in which were probably meant for pushups and pull ups. But many of the girls in my school used it to practice their uneven-bar routines and skills. This is where I learned my basic skills and I built on them. As an 8 year old my motor skills were becoming skilled and like many 8 year old I was beginning to display a level of athleticism that had previously been missing. I was determined to explore this new found athleticism and everything that my body was capable of. When it became clear that I was going to practice my gymnastics whether I had professional training or not my mother finally relented and put me into my gymnastics …show more content…
This was not surprising to me as it seemed that at this age that this was something that all the girls had been talking about and anticipating for a year or so prior. By the time I was eleven I was often mistaken for a sixteen year old girl, something that both flattered and confused me as it made me the object of attention that an eleven year old would otherwise have never received. Though I had known that puberty was imminent I had been unprepared for how it would change my world. Gymnastics was harder and flexibility was no longer as natural. I had to relearn many of the basic skills because my body just wasn’t the same and it affected how I moved. In school, platonic friendships that I had with boys were changed as well. Trailing behind my peers socially I was uninterested in engaging in the turbulent arena of “boyfriend and girlfriend”, and preferred to simply sit the whole thing out. The temporary nature of such relationships held no interest to me, and as I could readily see, these relationships only served to cause discontent and distraction in the lives of my peers. It was here that I began to spin my own personal fable, so certain that my experiences were unique and that there wasn’t a single person in the world who could possibly
In fourth grade I took gymnastics. I really like it, and had a lot of
I had a strange childhood most people would think. I had always been very serious about gymnastics so I had been homeschooled sense the age of 8 to help give me more time in the gym, this meant I spent monday through sunday 8am to 5pm in the gym. It took over my whole
When I was about four or five years old, I was introduced to Ballet. I adored being a little ballerina and would read the same dance booklet everyday, practicing the five positions and gracefully positioning my tiny arms and fingers to match the little girl in the illustrations. Because I loved dance so much, my mother enrolled me in Donna Hammond-Phelps
When I was eleven years old I made a decision that changed my life forever. Ever since I was three years old I did gymnastics and I loved it. My dream was to become really good and win the olympics and become a world medalist. But this dream quickly was changed. After my eleventh birthday, I was starting to realize I didn 't want to do gymnastics anymore. I told my mom and she was heartbroken but let me do what I wanted, so I quit. Once I quit I decided I wanted to try something else, cheerleading. My mom was thrilled and found a allstar gym in sumner called React.. She emailed the coach but I already missed tryouts. The coach said I could come to practice and see if they needed me and if I would like it. I instantly fell in love and wanted to join. The coach liked me and loved that I could tumble. I made the team that night and my life hasn 't been the same since.
Watch the classical film Grease and one will understand how relationships function in western Society. The film tells a story of a boy (Danny) and a girl (Sandy) who falls in love. Through a series of misunderstandings they break up, but still care enough about each other that they still try revive their relationship. Through ballads such as Summer Night’s that are still popular today, the film shows how differently males and females view relationships. Danny, for example, describes his relationship in more physical terms while Sandy describes her relationship in much more emotional terms –such as what they did that night. Films like Grease are like a mirror, reflecting societal values and how it socializes its members. It makes clear that in relationships, males –like Danny—are socialized to view relationships as mostly a physical, sexual endeavor, while females –like Sandy— view it as an emotional bond, that is has resulted from a deeper connection between the two individuals within a relationship.
When I joined school, I was four years old and had no clue of how to read or write letters. Some students were ahead of me because they learned how to do some of these things even before coming to
Gymnastics is the foundation of who I am. My experience has shaped me, challenged me, and inspired me.
Handwriting is a means of expressing language, just like speech. However, handwriting is not taught in school as much as in previous years. In the past, handwriting was taught as a precursor to reading and spelling. Today, students of all ages are rigorously tested on their writing skills, yet they are not allowed the time it takes to develop this skill. I remember writing in a Big Chief notebook, holding a chubby pencil, trying my best to make the curves and lines of the letters just right. When I attended elementary school, the teacher devoted at least forty-five minutes to handwriting each day. Handwriting should still be taught in school because it is an essential first step to reading and expressing one’s thoughts and feelings and because of its impact on higher education.
After a while I was now beginning to understand the things that my teacher was teaching and understanding the language that the children in the classroom were speaking. It didn't sound like a whole bunch of "blah blah" anymore. I remember the first story that I wrote in my second grade class. It was about a family of baby cats and it wasn't even that long but to me it took forever to write. I was very...
Arnett (2000) explains the nature of romantic relationships in adolescence as tentative and transient where dating has more of a social component rather than romantic. He also describes dating in adolescence as often taking place in groups, where “adolescents share recreation such as parties, dances, and hanging out” (p. 473). It is evident that romantic relationships in adolescence are unstable, short-lived, and lack the mature component seen across adult romantic relationships. Arnett conveys that exploration in love becomes more serious and intimate during emerging adulthood. As opposed to adolescent romantic relationships, dating in emerging adulthood “is more likely to take place in couples, and the focus is less on recreation and more on exploring the potential for emotional and physical intimacy” (473). For instance, an adolescent in high school may seek a romantic partner to gain some sort of social status or experience in the process of romantic exploration whereas a senior in college may seek a long-term and mature partner to build a life with in adulthood. Exploration in the area of love during emerging adulthood “tends to involve a deeper level of intimacy, and the implicit question
They reported that the foremost reasons for leaving the sport were psychological fatigue, general health, and difficult loads (Barynina & Vaitsekhovskii, 1992). Rhythmic gymnasts, those who specialized earlier and spent more hours training from age 4 to 16 years, rated their health lower and experienced less fun (Law et al., 2007). Despite early specialization being beneficial to attain elite-level skill in a sport, intense training in a single sport and the exclusion of others should be delayed until adolescence to optimize success, while minimizing the potential for
Going through the alphabet day after day, practicing each letter of the alphabet, is probably what made me dislike writing so much. The summer after third grade, my parents, made me work in reading and writing books to help me improve, but I hated doing them so my skills never really improved. Ever since then, my ability to comprehend what I read has been very difficult.
Are relationships in high school truly worth the potential heartache? Answers to this question vary, ranging from the enthusiastic “yes!” to the skeptical view of which cutting off one’s own third toe makes more sense to indifference. Yet, how can the value of a relationship be determined when the tumult of everyday teenage life may result in the potential loss or gain of a new relationship every week? One view may be relationships teenagers enter into are valuable practice for later in life, teaching those which engage in them how to interact with members of the opposite sex in a way which leads to marriage or family. Others, however, state the truism being a significantly low percentage of high school romances result in marriage. Although some may say the benefits outweigh the risks, relationships in high school are not feasible for many and may not be worth the effort put into them.
Two days a week in the morning, the children participate in a reading and writing block called “literacy and writing workshop.” The classroom is organized into five different levels with one group having one extra person; the levels are based on scoring of reading assessments. The groups are rotated so that each may spend 15 minutes cycles with either the teacher or Para-educator. The groups not with an instructor were to work on the “Daily-5” (explanation later) until their scheduled lesson. After the students finish their lesson, they are to fill the remainder of the workshop time working on “Daily-5.” This workshop is part of a regular routine. The students understand that after a reading a story with the teacher, they are verbally given a writing assignment. The assignment is usually to write a five sentence paragraph and color a picture related to the reading.
I continue gymnastics for a year after but it becomes miserable for me. I no longer have a passion for spending hours with my team doing flips. I come up with every excuse I can possibly think of to get out of going to gymnastics. During this year I have not yet admitted to myself that I am scared. After a year of tears, fear and exhaustion I approach my mom and explain my feelings to her. I decide to leave with all the amazing memories I have and leave a winner rather than being resentful and hating the thing I love the most.