My Literacy Journey

My literacy journey had a very interesting beginning. I am a first generation Mexican American, and as being first generation my first language is Spanish, everyone I interacted with when I was young was family or Hispanic. I picked up on some English from watching kid shows but I never really knew what the words meant. Prior to starting preschool, the school got me and my mother into an ELL summer class to get a head start on the school year. Up until around first grade or so I always had to meet with the ELL teacher to check on my progress and make sure I was doing okay in school. From the point where I no longer needed ELL assistance help me understand what I’m reading to now, I have always enjoyed reading. Reading has always been my favorite
Once my family and I moved to La Grange and lived a lot closer to a library, we went all of the time. It was so close that my mother, my siblings, and I would go walking when the weather was nice. When we would all go to the library, my siblings and I would always go do our thing and look for books that we thought look cool and interesting. Not paying any attention to what our mother was doing, but one day I noticed she was looking at the small section of Spanish books that were available. I noticed her look over the small, but a variety selection of books and pick one. Once the family was more settled in, my mom started talking to the librarian and was requesting more Spanish books but authors she liked which help the library get a wider range of books since the town was getting bigger. The library motivated me to read more during the summers, every
I’m aware that home life may not be the best, or that even though their parents are trying their hardest to give them a good life, they can’t always help with homework because of time or they don’t know how to. Every student has something to bring to the table, they can add a different perspective to the classroom. Students can help each other find out about the realities they face when they go home and how not everyone sees the world the same way because it’s different for everyone. I want my students to be aware that even if they don’t believe they are strong or good students that they are. They might not like reading prior to arriving in my classroom but I want them to give it a second chance when they’re with for the year. I believe that all students should get the chance to actually learn, and find learning interesting, not something they are forced to do. I don’t want my students to just remember facts and be able to recite them back on a test and forget about it a week later. I want them to be aware of their learning and how it connects to their life. I believe that reading and writing are very important. Even though I don’t like writing a lot, I know that I have the skill to write a good story, it just takes time for me to do it. There are people who aren’t strong readers, don’t like reading, or take longer to process the information but