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Breanne Emily Bossuyt
On October 23, 1990 a little girl named Breanne Emily Bossuyt was born. I grew up loving to read. This was because I was surrounded by family members that enjoyed reading and writing. My family members especially my mother and grandmothers were great role models and had a large impact upon my learning. This timeline will show the powerful influences that informed my literacy teaching practices. -
Bedtime Stories
When I was younger my mother, father and grandmothers would read to me before bedtime every night. My favourite books were about animals such as "Suppertime for Frieda Fuzzy Paws." I also loved when my father read me Dr. Suess books. I was introduced to books that I loved at a very young age which allowed me to experience reading as interesting and fun. This has influenced me to communicate with parents and explain the importance of having them read to their children as often as possible. -
My Sister
As I grew older I began to read stories to my litle sister before bedtime. I think this shows how I have always taken on the role of a teacher to my little sister. I beleive that taking that one-on-one time or reading a story to the class is a great way to grow a relationship with my students and to find out what books interest them. -
Grandmother
My grandmother used to be a primary school teacher. My two older brothers had reading difficulties when they were younger. My grandmother would constantly use flash cards and read stories to my brothers to help improve their reading skills. I loved to sit along and listen. As a teacher I will help children who have reading difficulties by having one-on-one support and reading them stories that they find interesting to allow them to hear fluency and encourage them to enjoy reading. -
Writing Stories
My grandmother writes in her journal everyday and encourages me to write in my own. Growing up she also encouraged me to write stories. I was exstatic to write stories at school and at home and to show them to my family. This has informed my teaching practice because I think having students write creative stories on any topic that interests them and to have chances for the children to share these stories with their families will spark their interest in writing and increase their confidence. -
We are all Authors
My grandmother wrote and published a short story called "The Beast of Odd Mountain." She dedicated this story to all of her grandchildren and had all of us illustrate the book. As a teacher I think it would be a great project for the class to create a book together where each student will be an "author." This will create a sense of community where students will collaborate their ideas and be proud of their work. -
My Mothers Obsession
My mother cannot go to sleep unless she has read part of a book before bed. She has introduced me to many texts that are now my favourite books such as "The Outlander." In my spare time I value reading these fantasies and discussing these books with my mother. One way that I will build a relationship with my students is by giving them books that they enjoy and discussing these books with them. -
Songwriter
My grandmother is very talented at writing songs. Although I was not very strong at writing essays in high school, I did discover that I could write my own music. I started to write songs 4 years ago when I found out that I developed this talent from my role model, my grandmother. This has had an influence upon how I will instruct literacy because I will encourage students to write not only in their jounrals but to be creative and write poems, songs or even create a magazine or brochure. -
Brock University
Brock University has had a large influence upon my personal literacy. Throughout University reading has been more for learning than for leisure enjoyment. I realize as a teacher that students will need to read informational texts once they have hit the "read to learn" stage. I learned in this course that I can keep students engaged by introducing a topic they are insterested in and having them research the topic through these informational texts. -
Today
By looking back through my personal literacy history I found that my family is my support system and has had a powerful influence upon who I am today and what kind of teacher I want to be. My experiences with my family and Brock University have informed my literacy teaching practices and how I want to create the safe and engaging learning environment that I was surrounded by throughout the years.
