My name is Christy Findley. I have been teaching for 15 years. I have always taught K-2 with the bulk being in first grade. I was trained in Early Steps when I began to teach first grade and have always used its tenets as the basis for teaching reading in my classroom. I attended L-R as an undergrad and am happy that I was able to attend ASU for graduate school since Early Steps came from Dr. Morris. This is my last class to finish graduate school!
As a child I don't remember being read to. But the books I remember are the Golden Books like The Pokey Puppy and The Saggy Baggy Elephant. I was in one of the first groups of kindergartners at my elementary school and in first grade we learned to read in a series of basal readers called Little Pig. I fell in love with Little Pig. I have a few copies of these in my classroom now, and my children enjoy learning to read from them when they learn that I did. I didn't really learn to enjoy reading until I got to high school and could begin to read the adult books that I saw my mom read. She mostly read Stephen King and John Saul which became my choices also. This genre of book is still my choice for fun reading.
I despised writing, particulary in high school. However, when I got to college as an undergrad, I found I wasn’t awful at it and actually learned to enjoy it. I try to help my students overcome their “fear” of writing. I try to make it fun and casual and I use a variety of styles so that everyone can find something they enjoy.
Comments (1)
Christy,
You sound so much like me. I too do not remember being read to, but the first books I did read, I read over and over again. Reading did not become something I enjoyed doing until I was an adult. Now I love to read. I put Stephen King away years ago, though. He got a little too weird for me in a few of his books. Sharing that love of reading with kids is what encourages them to want to learn and find that passion for reading.
Posted by Susan Hines | June 5, 2010 8:51 AM
Posted on June 5, 2010 08:51