Hello to everyone. A/S/L Ha Ha! Just kidding. It has been awhile since I have done this so I thought I would just check out my blogging lingo! Well, my name is Whitney Gilbert and I am a second grade teacher in Morganton. I grew up in Cary, NC in a working class family. My mother ran a staffing agency and my father was a US Postmaster. I have always loved reading. My first memory of really trying to read is of my father and I walking through the grocery store as he pointed out different words and had me try to read them. My family made learning seem fun and interesting, like a game, and we were always exposed to higher tiered vocabulary. This, of course, fostered my love of reading and writing. I especially liked poetry and have been published in several anthologies. I also really liked writing short stories.
I was able to go to great schools with other students of similar backgrounds and never went to school hungry or scared. Education was regarded as highly important by everyone in our community and almost everyone went to college.
When I decided to move to Morganton, it was because I wanted to help children who did not have all of the advantages people in Cary were priviliged to. I was not prepared for what I encountered at our little school in Burke County. I quickly found out, my first year teaching kindergarten, that most of these children worry about what they are going to eat or where they are going to sleep and I realized that education took a back seat to everyday life. That is when I decided to pursue my Masters in reading. I became privy to the concept of having a mere six hours a day in which I could instruct a child in the skills necessary to become literate and I wanted to do the best job I could in that little time. I have learned some great things in this program and have really began affecting change on these little lives. I look forward to this semester and learning more about how my students' every day struggles impact their learning.
Whitney Gilbert