"Every Dark Cloud Has a Silver Lining"

My dance with literacy was not one of distaste but utmost boredom. Then along came Isac.

As a very young girl, my times with books were usually spent around my record player. That’s right; no books on tape back then, just my trusty ol’ record player that would spin my 45’s around to project some of my much loved stories: Peanuts, Alfred Hitchcock, and Disney were just a few on my favorites list. This was not the only exposure I had to books. I had a few favorites that I liked to read, that is after I learned the treacherous task of learning to read with “Dick and Jane.”

It was after learning to read and the continuation of my literacy instruction that truly turned me off to reading and writing. In elementary school I was incredibly bored. We would read from a box that was filled with leveled readers (color-coded) then take tests at the end of each. These tests would determine whether or not we could move on to the next color or if we had to read another in the same colored category. I do not recall read-alouds nor do I recall ever being able to pick a book of my choice to read. The stories we would write were also dictated with prompts regarding the day’s topic of study. I think most of my writing was 100 sentences, “I will not talk when the teacher is talking.” And my favorite writings were the notes I passed back and forth in class because it was truly the only thing that I wrote of my choosing.

Things shifted quite a bit when I was pregnant with my son. I picked up the Winnie-the-Pooh series and began reading them aloud to my belly. My husband began to do the same thing. I would even put headphones on my bulbous abdomen to make sure my “Peanut” was entertained. Reading became something I truly enjoyed when I felt that I was providing something for another (this held true for me in my 1^st and 2^nd grade classrooms I worked in as well). However, Isac got older and his book choices got longer and I began to feel again a lot like I did when I was younger, bored. Unfortunately for him, I quit reading to him at bedtime when he was in the second grade. He had gotten to a place where he truly loved reading independently and I quite honestly was grateful to not have to read Captain Underpants. So, I quit.

I let 2 years go by before I began the ritual of reading to my son again. Luckily for us both, I had a Children’s Literature class to take at UNC. My instructor enlightened me on how children love to be read to even at Isac’s age and that I should try to pick it back up. Needless to say, we have been reading to each other since. It is a pleasure like no other. I not only love reading to him, but equally enjoy his reading to me. My child and some of my college professors are who have driven in me a fondness for literature. Watching what we (my husband and I) as parents did for Isac from womb (minus 2 years) and his teachers (man, have we been blessed) with reading to and exposing him to so many different types of literature, he has developed a true love of reading. His love for reading is very contagious and it keeps me reading. I also believe it is his fondness for reading that aids in his creativeness when it comes to writing.

All of these experiences, both old and new are what has aided me in my choice of coming back to school to be a teacher. I want to help children develop a LOVE for LEARNING in a fun and interactive classroom where they have a say and are heard.