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I have been told that I could speak from a very young age. My first word was 'dada'. My first word sparked a love for speaking and I became known as the 'talker' in my family.
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Official Website of Berenstain Bears While in kindergarten I was able to read simple sentences and my love for the Berenstain Bears began. I remember my mother reading me a new Berenstain Bears book every night until I was able to read them myself.
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During Elementary School I always volunteered to read when the teacher asked if someone would like to read. I became a story teller and loved to express myself through stories when speaking with my friends and family. I was very confident in my reading, writing, and speaking abilities and I read with a very animated tone. I remember being chosen to be the speaker for events such as concerts, fundraisers, and masses that the school participated in.
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In Grade 6, I met my friend Victoria who was deaf. My love for language was expanding from animated story teller to animated signer. I became fluent in Sign Language through much practice and use gestures often when I am speaking with another. Victoria has had a significant impact on my life as this experience led me to recognize my Linguistic talents.
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For my graduation, my sister gave me the book 'The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom. This book, along with his countless other books, became a therapy for me. These books changed my idea of reading, as I never experienced the feeling of a book causing an emotional response like this one did for me.
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In grade 9, I had to present my English essay through a monologue. I chose to present through playing an outsider to the story and demonstrating the positives (through an angel) and negatives (through a devil) to depict the moral dilemma in the text. I still remember that moment in my literacy history, as I was the first to present and I recieved a 98 on my essay and presentation. It was a very proud moment in my personal literacy history.
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I began to be the 'go-to' person for peer editing my friends' essays. I happily assisted my friends with creating written pieces free of grammar and spelling mistakes. I soon realized that language was my passion and I needed to persue linguistics in University.
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I graduated from McMaster University with an Honours Arts degree, where I majored in Linguistics. I recognized early on that my Linguistic Competence was definitely a skill I had been given from God and I wanted to foster this talent and passion by studying language and its use and development in University.
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I knew throughout University that I wanted to be a teacher in order for students to feel the way I did about reading and writing. I understand that children will have many strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their literacy skills and I wanted to attend Teacher's College in order to learn the best methods and strategies for creating a classroom revolving around discussion and communication that assists all learners.
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Berenstain Bears Photo: http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111102122647/logopedia/images/8/80/Berenstain_Bears_logo.jpg Sign Language:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deafedge.com%2Fwho-invented-sign-language.html&h=0&w=0&sz=1&tbnid=22PnkvpAxMkDeM&tbnh=149&tbnw=200&prev=%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dsign%2Blanguage%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=sign%20language&docid=kiNOQobXff8mSM&ei=RRQVU7zdEIj52QWU1ID4BA&ved=0CAgQsCUoAg -
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Today I see myself as a teacher who believes in the significance of communication in the classroom. I aspire to have my own classroom where learners can discuss, explore, engage, and write notes between one another to develop and foster their literacy skills. I believe that communication, including non-verbal, mathematical, linguistic, and aesthetic communication and language are very important in life and my positive experiences have shaped my current beliefs on literacy.
