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My Silly Lisp
When I was younger I had a lisp. I could not pronounce the /s/ and /sh/ sounds. Since I was not able to properly pronounce these sounds, I was embarrassed and would eventually refuse to read aloud and then I would dislike reading at all. -
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Reading Struggles
While growing up, I had always struggled with reading. Before entering school and especially while in school. Like I mentioned before, my lisp made me embarrassed to read aloud which I think was a contributing factor to my poor communication and presentation skills growing up. While very young, I started to dislike reading and never practiced on my own. I was a slow reader and also embarrassed about that. -
The Teacher that Encrouaged me to Read
I remember in grade 1 we had to read 50 books to fill up this picture of a worm. Once the worm was filled up we would go around to the primary grades and get stickers from the teachers as well as the secretary and principal. I was one of the last students who finished filling up the worm and I remember going around with other students who finished their second worm. Even though this could have been an embarrassing moment for me, I was extremely proud of myself. -
Visiting the Speech Therapist
In grade three I was finally granted, by the school, a speech therapist. While at the meetings each week, I would practice saying the sounds and then reading sentences. I found out that I would stick my tongue out to say those sounds. I remember having to practice saying the letter ‘s’ while keeping my tongue inside my mouth and it was very difficult. -
My Wonderful Grade 4 Teacher
Once I was in grade four, I remember having the most wonderful teacher. She worked really hard with me to encourage me to strive for better. She pushed me to read more aloud in the classroom and at home. She was a huge motivational person for me and made me a smarter student because she had dedicated her time and huge efforts to working with me one-on-one. -
My Wonderful Grade 4 Teacher Continued
I did still have some struggles but she made me want to try harder and perform better. She is the reason I am more outgoing and able to present in front of a classroom more confidently and proudly. -
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Volunteered Working with a Boy that had Autism
In September of 2006, I participated in a co-operative education program within my high school. I have always had a strong passion for teaching and I used this program to figure out if teaching was the career I was meant to follow. I first worked in a JK/SK Kindergarten classroom. I worked with a boy, Matthew that has Autism. -
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Volunteered Working with a Boy that had Autism Continued
I created activities and programs that would have him work with other children and build on his social and communication skills. I also was involved in helping build the children’s literacy by creating a reading club. I loved working in classroom and I continued to volunteer all of my spare time working with these children. -
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Volunteering in a Classroom
In 2007 I completed another co-operative program in a grade four classroom. When that program ended, I continued to volunteer all of my spare time in the classroom. I created visual arts lessons for the grade four, five, seven, and eight classrooms as well as other lessons in different subject areas in the grade four classroom (language, math, physical education, and social studies). -
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Continued Volunteer Work
2008-2010, I volunteered in the grade four classroom as often as I could. When I was not in school, I was there volunteering. I would work with small groups of children or one-on-one with their reading and writing skills. I also helped assist the teacher with literature circles. -
Reading Support Program at Brock University
While at Brock University, I completed a Reading and Literacy Development course. In this course we were required to complete a practicum of literacy tutoring. This practicum was only intended to be 10 hours long. I did my tutoring at the elementary school that I had volunteered at for years. I worked with a boy in the grade four classroom that the teacher and I agreed needed the extra support. -
Reading Support Program at Brock University Continued
I worked with the student on practicing the phonemes he had difficulty reading and pronouncing, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and pace of reading. We were required to keep a log book of the student’s progress for the parents to view weekly and to hand in to our professor. After the 10 hours were completed, the teacher and I thought the student needed more one-to-one assistance and the program should continue. On my spare time, I would continue tutoring the student at the school. -
How This Has All Shaped Who I Am
After I had started from the bottom as a student who had many literacy difficulties, I have overcome those very difficult obstacles and I have now dedicated my time to working hard with those young students who are struggling like I once did and helping them become stronger in the language arts. I believe that my personal struggles with language arts and my ability to overcome those impediments as well as my teaching experiences, have given me a different view of language arts.... -
How This Has All Shaped Who I Am Continued
...and how I would incorporate what I have learned and am learning to my teaching practice. I believe my history will help me to notice and understand when a student is having difficulty and the frustration that they may have. I want to be able to help make a difference in their life, like my grade four teacher had done in mine and I want them to want to work towards overcoming their difficulties that they may have. -
For Future Teachers
My advice for future teachers is to take the time to understand each child's strengths and weaknesses. Never single out a child or make them feel different in anyway. Through my struggles I have realized what kind of teacher I want to be which is a caring, supportive, and nurturing teacher. If these weaknesses of your students are known to you, take your time, show that you care, work with that child, and the class as a whole so they are not singled out, to help strengthen those skills.
