Literacy Timeline

Literacy Timeline

Preschool – Standing up in the front of class and saying my days of the week. Everyday Monday someone would have to come up and say the days of the week or tell what the weather looks like outside. I can remember always wanting to be the one in front of the class.

Kindergarten – I moved to a new town and I had to go to a new school. But I didn’t care, I wasn’t nervous. I made new friends really fast and adjusted to the new changes.

1^st Grade – First year at a school with older kids and new teachers but just like everything I didn’t really care. It was normal to me I didn’t even think about it.

2^nd Grade – In my 2^nd grade class I always was giving plays. I can remember never getting nervous and love being in front of the class. I somehow got a lead role that I was really proud of but now I don’t want any thing to do with plays. My mom thought I was going to be the Tom Cruise, but that obviously didn’t work out.

4^th Grade – Every fourth grader in our school participated in the Presidential Gala. Which was when every fourth grader dressed up as their assigned president that they researched. Then there was an assembly in front of the whole school and the parents in the auditorium. Again, this was another breeze it was hundreds of people and I didn’t think anything of it.

5^th Grade – Throughout my 5^th grade year our school would put on choir concerts and talent shows, that everyone was acquired to do. I remember singing and dancing in the front row, having the time of my life. I dressed up as Elvis and lip synced to a song in front of all the parents and students again. It all just seemed like a breeze to me.

6^th Grade – Through one summer everything changed. When I went to 6^th grade everyone was worried about being cool and I was no different. It was a no school with, new friends, and new teachers. I hated being in front of the classroom because I didn’t want to mess up and make people think I was not “cool”

7^th Grade – I remember in 7^th grade we had to do a big science fair project and we had to present in front of the class. It was only about 20 kids most of them my friends and I was so nervous. I never could figure out why I got so nervous but I hated it.

9^th Grade – This was the start of my four years in high school. I still nerve liked giving speeches and couldn’t figure out how to overcome them. 

10^th Grade – Throughout my freshman and sophomore year, I gave lots of speeches. I still go nervous for them but they started to become a little easier than in middle school because I gave them so much.

11^th Grade – My junior year I got put in to a speech class because it was required for me to graduate high school. I was not looking forward to it because I never liked giving speeches and now I would have to give them all the time. Near the end of the semester, I actually started to become a really great speaker. I think it was because of all the class. I remember our teacher saying, “Everyone gets nervous and there is no hiding it. But great speakers know how to deal with nervousness.”

12^th Grade – As a senior there was a lot of speeches that needed to be given because it was senior year and they were trying to prepare us for college. But there was one speech that really meant a lot to me. It had nothing to do with school but as a senior on the swim team, we all had to give speeches. Being the captain and being a numerous record holder at the school, I really wanted to leave my mark with a great speech to the team. Just the week before the speech, I went back to my pre-school did help out in the classroom because my mom worked there. Right before class they still had a child come up and say the weekdays and the weather. When a teacher asked who wanted to do it, with out a doubt every single hand flew in the air. I then realize that I needed to be myself and not worry what other people may think or say about my speech. My speech the next week was the easiest and best speech I ever gave.

"Two Questions" Summary & Response

The literacy narrative I liked the most was the comic by Lynda Barry called “Two Questions.” The literacy was about a women, that changed her drawings and story making over the years. As a little girl, she could be as creative as she wants because no on was there to tell her that it was bad or it didn’t make sense. As she got older and went to school there was more people there to judge her drawings and she started asking herself. “Is this good?” or  “Does this suck?” Instead of not caring she started changing her drawings to what other people wanted and it was harder for to be creative. As she grew older and older, she struggled with those questions but eventually she remembered her child hood. She started drawing through herself and didn’t worry about other people.

I think everyone can agree with this literacy. As a child I would draw and write and I wouldn’t care if it didn’t make sense because no one was there to judge it. As I got older I started writing in a more structured or proper way to get a good grade in school, stead of writing more freely. I do not draw or write when I have free time anymore. But, there are very few people that do. With cell phones and all the new technology we find better things to do instead of drawing and writing. I think if I would have kept writing, maybe today I would be a better writer and know how to be more creative but its to late to tell. Overall, I really liked this narrative by Lynda Barry and it was very easy to relate too.

Purpose of Writing and Communication

Writing is important in many ways. Writing is what allows us to express our thoughts and feelings to an audience of people. Writing can also express the kind of person you are. Showing emotion towards a certain subject can really be shown well in writing of done correctly. As writing and communication may seem easy, sometimes getting the point across in the correct way is sometimes very difficult.         

Right now I am a health science major here at Oakland and I’m not a hundred percent what I want to do. But I would like to work in a hospital or some kind of medical related field. And communication and writing will be a major part of my profession. Working in a medical field always has paper work and always doing some type of writing whether its to a doctor or patient and maybe possible just an overview of the last patient I saw, to keep in my notes. My writing will have to benefit my patients, co-workers, and myself. I don’t know if I would have to do a lot of essay once I have completed my degree but I do know I will have to communicate with people and I have to make sure that my point or idea is coming across in the write way to the person receiving it. In a medical field, you will not want to have someone read one of my papers and it not tell them the right idea.

So, I believe I need to work on using the right words and sentence structures, to get my idea correct for the audience. Sometimes I struggle on getting my thoughts on to paper, so I think practicing writing in class will help me figure out the best way to organize or set up my ideas on paper. This class should benefit me for my profession and the rest of my years of schooling. This is always a paper to be written for a class and this will help me practice and become a better writer.

Overall, writing and communication is a huge part of my everyday life and learning how to use it correctly and properly will be a huge advantage to me, in my academics and my profession in a couple of years down the road.