RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2009)

Hi, my name is Melissa Lange. I have only one semester of grad school under my belt, so I am still new. I am originally from Indiana and did my undergrad at Indiana State University (for any basketball fans that is where Larry Bird went to college.) I am from a small farm town/county where when you drive down the interstate all you see is corn fields. My father suddenly died when I was in third grade, so I was raised by a single mom who did her best to support my sister and me. She made sure that our education came first. My sister and I are both teachers and both moved to North Carolina to get a job. My mom and the rest of my family are still in Indiana. I love to watch sports: racing, hockey, football, baseball, and so on. I have a one year old nephew who is the love of my life. He was born with heart problems. He had heart surgery at two weeks of age and finally got to come home from Duke Hospital when he was five weeks old. He is a healthy and happy little man now even though he is a bully at daycare, but we still love him.

I have a minor in Reading Education from ISU. I wanted to get this minor while in undergrad because during my elementary school career I had reading problems and went to “Reading Lab.” I wanted to help all the readers in my class. I loved going to Reading Lab. The teachers were great and all the other students had reading problems like me. I was not afraid to read aloud, ask questions, or share what I had read. My passion to help struggling readers has made me want to continue with my education and get my masters.

I am finishing up my fourth year of teaching. I teach 3rd grade in Winston-Salem. This year my grade level had decided to team teach, so I get to teach reading all day. It has been great and I love it. We have a large Hispanic population at our school, so a lot of my students come to me reading below grade level. I have some of the best students and love them to pieces.