RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

I have always had a love for reading. The act of being able to travel, take part in impossible experiences, and evoke emotions through the use of words is completely magical. I always try to make sure I have something to read at all times.
I have always been surrounded by books. When I was young I remember going into bookstores and purchasing picture books to add to my collection. Whenever we went on a trip or received a reward I wanted a new book. I was a huge Berenstain Bears fan collecting their stories. Now many of the books from my collection as a child I use in my classroom. I then graduated to reading series like the Baby-Sitter’s Club in later elementary school. Those books were so influential my friends and I would pretend to be the characters. As a young adult I was into suspense and more intense authors such as V.C. Andrews, Christopher Pike, and Mary Higgins Clark.
As an adult I love comical novels and those with strong heroines, and have been lately enjoying works by Nicholas Sparks. I was never into the sappy tear-jerker stories until my mother got me to read A Walk to Remember. Now we devour his new books and pass along to each other and my grandmother as well.
As an educator working in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, I enjoy passing this love on to my students. I have over 1000 books in my collection at school and my students are always delving into its shelves. They are organized by months and themes to help me utilize them more in my instruction. Whenever we are learning about a topic I try to find a book to go along with it and engage my students in their learning.
Currently I am finishing up my tenth year of teaching at an inner city school in Morganton NC. I have been teaching at this school my entire career and most of my students are hispanic. 60% of our students are hispanic, so a minority group is our majority. I love my students and cannot imagine teaching anywhere else. We serve 2 public housing facilities and 98% of our students are on free or reduced lunch. Despite these statistics we have been at the top of our county's AYP scores for the last several years.

Nikki Leggins