On September 20, my class and I were given a piece by George Ella Lyon called “Where I’m From”. It talked about his past and little things he remembers. In my daybook, I took it as my roots and where my ancestors came from. I talked about my mom’s side of the family because they’re more interesting. My mom’s grandfather came to America on a boat from Romania and her grandmother was from Ireland. I love that my family is so diverse.

Literacy Dig

 



                What is a Literacy Dig? On Tuesday when Lacy gave us the assignment, I was asking the same question. I had to find five items around my room and write their meaning.

                My planner is something that I couldn’t live without. I am not an organized person and this is the only way I will remember to do anything. Since it is a weekly and a monthly planner, it helps a lot. I keep track of my events on the monthly section and I write my assignments on the weekly part. This thing is a life saver.

                My alarm clock/radio is another life saver of mine. It is the only reason I am in class every morning. I also plug my phone into it to use it as speakers so I can listen to music when I am getting ready or just hanging out.

                I have a collage of pictures on my wall and one of them is a picture of all the graduating seniors, this past year, from my dance studio. We had the largest group of 16 graduating girls. We all grew up together in the studio and it was so hard saying goodbye when we left for school. This picture really means a lot to me.

                Sitting on my desk is a jewelry box that my mom gave to me. It’s glass and has a gold plate on the top with my grandparents names engraved on it with wedding bells. It was a wedding gift to them and has been passed down to me. I keep my most valuable jewelry in it.

                Lastly, my dry erase board. I had this dry erase board hanging up in my room for about 4 years and every time someone came over they would write on it. So now it’s filled up with little sayings and old memories.

Writing Timeline

On Tuesday’s class, Lacy asked us to go home and create a writing timeline. She told us to think back over our lives and try to pinpoint some times where writing played a big role. These events could be school assignment to little things you remember that were not school related. She wanted us to display them, in order, on a timeline.

                As I was thinking back over my life of writing, little memories popped up that I decided to put on my timeline

                The first thing that came to mind was learning how to write the alphabet. Just about every kid remembers those days in kindergarten, writing on those strange papers with the lines that looked like roads. You had to write so big because the lines were so far apart.

                The next thing that popped into my head was writing letters. I distinctly remember writing letters to a pen pal and letters to Santa every Christmas. My pen pal in third grade was from Virginia and we would write to each other about every month. The one letter I remember most was a valentine I got from her. It was folded in half and looked like a mouse on the outside but when you opened it, it was a heart. I can’t believe I still remember that.

                I am a people person, I love listening to what people have to say and listening to their stories. On the first day of English 1101, Lacy (my English teacher) told us to go home, and in our daybook, introduce ourselves and just share something about us. Since I like sharing my story and am an open person, I had an easy time doing this.

                Here is my daybook entry. I started off by introducing myself and where I was from. I talked about my childhood and hat I had been interested in. I then started to explain what I wanted to do in the future and what inspired me.

I would like to elaborate more on my job at the YMCA. I always tell people how much I love working there, but I sometimes feel that they don’t quite get it. I was introduced to the job by a friend. She talked about how it was easy money and a good job to have while we were still in school. I had no clue how much it would change me. I’ve worked there for a year now and it has been a great experience. Like I explained in my daybook, the kids look up to me as a role model and I love being there for them.  Since I love helping kids, I decided I would make a good teacher. Hopefully my plans work out and I’ll be teaching in front of a classroom full of first graders one day!