Hi, my name is Sarah McMillan and I teach 7th grade social studies at East Forsyth Middle School in Kernersville. I am happy to be completing my third year of teaching. My certification area is LA/SS, and I teach my social studies class as a secondary language arts class. I have found that my students who are struggling at this level are suffering from a lack of basic reading skills. This, in addition to my desire to continue to be an advocate for adolescent students led me pursue the graduate program in reading at Appalachain State.
I remember very little about learning to read and write, but I have always absolutely loved reading. There is little I would rather do besides read a good book.I was and still am a bookworm. My mother is a teacher, so the emphasis on school was always very present in our home. At the same time, I always had help with my schoolwork whenever I needed it. I do remember when I was young my mother or father would read to me before bed at night. I also spent a lot of time wiht my grandmother and great grandmother and they also read to me all the time. My father can still recite the book, "I'll teach my dog 100 tricks", he read it to me so much. My family frequented the library, and I would always check out books. It was always kind of a goal of mine to see how many I could read.I loved going to bookstores, and often my gifts at birthdays and holidays would be a book or gift certificates to the bookstores. To this day, a book store is one of my favorite places on earth.
Since I do not remember a lot from the learning to read phase of my life, I asked my mother what she remembers me doing as a reader. She reminded me my day care center had older women volunteers come in to help us with reading. They would have us dictate stories and they would write them down and have us read them back to them. In elementary school, I used the program "writing to read" on the computer where we learned to spell phonetically. I remember being in the computer lab with the large headsets on, listening to a voice read aloud words.
Growing up, I would read a lot on famliy vacations. I can remember really loving to read historical fiction books. I also remember the rush of wanting to finish a book, to see want happened, then the disappointment that I would have when I realized it was over. I guess I would my compare myself reading a book like some of my students watch tv...I am totally "in the zone" when I read. Reading and writing was by far my strength in school. Interestingly enough, I remember that my kindegarten teacher told my mother I would always struggle in school and never be succesful because I had such poor handwriting. This is my first memory of writing as a form of literacy. I am proud to say today I have pretty neat handwriting. I also remember wanting to write my own stories and books. I never minded writing, and I thought I wanted to be an author when I grew up.
As far as other modes of literacy, I am very comfortable speaking in front of groups. I spoke at my high school graduation, in front of my church congregation, it was really where I felt in my element. I felt confident and proud. I sang in the choir at church growing up, where in that case I was more comortable in a group. My most dreaded class in college was a class where I had to perform and act out poems. It was absolutely, my worst nightmare. I don't mind speaking in front of a group, but if I have to perform, I hate it.
I love to read. I still read a lot on my own, outside of graduate work. I also go to the public libary or the bookstore about once a week.It is hard for me to resist the urge to buy a book. I think they are absolutely beautiful. I cannot imagine what it must be like to struggle to read, or to not be able to comprehend what is put in front of you. I only wish students could find at least some type of reading they enjoy.
Sarah McMillan