Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (Summer 2011)

My name is Melissa Riley, and I currently teach fourth grade Language Arts and Social Studies at Lincoln Charter School in Lincolnton, NC. However, I will most likely be teaching all subject areas in the upcoming school year due to only one fourth grade class scheduled at my school's campus. It is a small community school with very supportive families, and I've enjoyed not only teaching there but being one of the parents of its students. Both of my daughters, Elizabeth and Emily, attend and will be entering the third and second grades in August.

I've been married for nine years this July to my loving husband Jimmy, and we live in Catawba County, where we both blossomed into the adults we are today! Living in a quiet family neighborhood (except for the occasional dirt bikes buzzing from the teenage boys in the back half of our development!), we try to enjoy life with our daughters and "baby" Cinnamon (our one-and-a-half year old Pomeranian!)

As a child, I always enjoyed reading and writing. I never struggled as a reader. When I entered kindergarten, I knew my alphabet and was able to recognize and distinguish letters – both upper and lowercase. By the beginning of first grade, I was reading on grade level and have never stopped since. I have always enjoyed reading, and I can remember reading in the car while swinging around the curves of a mountainside on Saturday morning trips to view mountain scenery with my grandparents. (Doing THAT now is a different story with a feeling of “woozy” somewhere in the middle!)

In regards to writing, I used to think that quantity defined you as a good writer, but as I’ve matured, I now prefer quality over redundancy that is often found in quantity. I can remember writing my “first independent book” the summer before my third grade year when one of my younger brothers was born. Back then, it was a means of proving to my parents that I could be a responsible older sister by not letting jealousy ruin my efforts at also being a good daughter. Now, I realize that I was a child coping with change and writing was the best method and attempt at reflecting on this pivotal moment. Since then, I’ve also enjoyed writing though not nearly as much as reading since I’ve associated writing more with research papers and other assignments casted about by our educational system. I have to admit that I’d rather indulge myself in a captivating book instead of creating a reality of escape for someone else to enjoy. Perhaps I’m a bit selfish! Whatever it means, I can honestly say that I see how reading and writing are linked, especially since I’m approaching the end of ASU’s Reading Education Program (Hallelujah!!! There’s only this and two other courses standing between me and graduation! :0) )

Overall, I’ve enjoyed learning the process of learning to read and write. As an educator, it makes me more aware of the struggles and frustrations that some of my students face. Instead of aspiring to be a good teacher, I want to be a GREAT one! Therefore, I challenged myself to obtain my master’s in an area that affects my students the most…an area of personal understanding and knowledge that I felt a need to explore and polish. This is why I chose to pursue Reading Education. To me reading and writing affect so many things inside and outside of school. If a student feels confident and success in these two areas, it will spill over into the other content areas and aspects of a student’s life. I’m here to try to understand the differences between my students and how these differences affect their ability to read.

Melissa Riley

My name is Carrie Brown and I am currently a K-2 Instructional Coach for Cook Elementary in Winston Salem Forsyth County Schools. I moved here from Chicago 3 years ago where I had taught 2nd grade for 7 years. I miss being in the classroom and have been re-inspired by all that I have learned in this graduate program. As I don't have a classroom of my own, I spend time in a lot of different classrooms showing teachers how to implement all the new strategies and techniques that I have learned.
I am looking forward to taking this class because I have been teaching in an inner city environment for 9 of my 10 years in education. I am a strong advocate for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and am passionate about the fair and equal treatment of all students. I also believe that although my varied experiences have taught me how to work with a diverse population, I am always looking forward to learning more about how to best understand and support my students and their families.
Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. For as long as I can remember, my mom and I would curl up on the couch together with a book. We still do in the rare occasions I get to see her! Although now that I am much bigger, we share the couch but our heads are at opposite ends, reading silently our own choices, yet in fact, reading together. When I was young, I always had my nose in a book. I recall one time my brother saved up to buy me a Sweet Valley High book for my birthday. I stayed in bed and polished it off in 2 ½ hours and he was furious that it didn’t last longer!
My love of reading just scored me a Kindle for Mother’s Day, which I am truly enjoying but I still don’t think I’ll ever totally give up the love of turning the pages of a good book. I tend to like mysteries, yet my book club has been picking some interesting novels lately that I have enjoyed. I have to admit, I’ll give a book 50 pages and if I’m not into it, I put it down. That’s why I am adamant about giving students choices on what they would like to read. I want them to LIKE what they are reading, otherwise the likelihood that they will learn something goes downhill.
My daughter who is only 11 months old, already chooses books over any other toys. I was floored when I walked into her room the other day and saw her sitting on the floor turning the pages of her favorite book (don’t worry…I got it on video)! As I am already doing with my daughter, I am determined to motivate and promote a love of reading with the students in my school both first hand, and through instructing their teachers. Once a child is literate, their chances of success increase greatly. The students that I work with tend to have more obstacles to learning before they even enter the classroom. Understanding where they are coming from and what their needs are is my job as an educator. Reading is the greatest gift that I could give to an individual and it is a goal of mine to give it to as many students as possible, regardless of where they come from.
Writing is not something that comes as naturally. In fact, I have never enjoyed writing at all. Therefore, I hated teaching it. That is, until my charter school in Chicago made writing our priority for professional development for the entire school year. We implemented the Writer’s Workshop program and I realized how writing could be fun. That year, writing became my students’ favorite subject. I would have to set a timer for us to stop, otherwise, we would forget to go to lunch! Now, I find myself modeling how to teach writing to a number of my teachers because it IS a very hard subject to teach. Everyone is at a different place, and has different needs. Yet, I learned a very important lesson: when students see you love something, they love it. Therefore, when I model writing, I model how much I enjoy it as well as modeling the skill. I have found that that enthusiasm can be contagious.

I look forward to learning from you all…
Carrie Brown