{"id":386,"date":"2024-04-21T23:30:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T23:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.bridgewater.edu\/?page_id=386"},"modified":"2024-04-21T23:30:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T23:30:12","slug":"auto-ethnography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.bridgewater.edu\/mrankin\/auto-ethnography\/","title":{"rendered":"Auto-Ethnography"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I remember, as a child, my mom and dad would read to me quite often. They would read me a story every night before bed and sometimes, during the day, they would read me something from a magazine or the newspaper. My parents have always been very expressive readers so it was always like a little show when they read to me, and it became something I looked forward to every day. When I was a toddler, the selection of stories at my disposal was made up of those that my older sister (by 14 years) read when she was a child. I read a lot of Dr. Suess, the Litter Critter books, Clifford the Big Red Dog books, and the Bernstein Bears books. When I was learning how to read, my mom bought me a collection of short little books \u2013 of which I can\u2019t remember the name \u2013 that helped me learn many of the basic sight words. Admittedly, I learned to read pretty quickly because I really <\/em>did not like the way my sister read. I wanted to \u201churry up\u201d and learn how to read on my own so I didn\u2019t have to rely on her to read me books while my parents were at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the early years of grade school, when I was still considered a beginner reader, Dr. Suess’s books and the Biscuit books were my go-to stories. I loved learning how to read and write in kindergarten, and I remember being so excited when our teacher read us books. In first grade, we became reading buddies with the fifth graders. We would take turns reading to each other and I was always amazed at how fluidly the fifth graders could read \u2013 I wanted to get to their level. As I got older and we started reading longer\/bigger books in school, I was thrilled because I was, in fact, reaching \u2013 and eventually surpassing \u2013 the fifth-grade reading level. I read a lot of Junie B. Jones books, found interest in Shel Silverstein\u2019s Where the Sidewalk Ends, and read numerous books by Roald Dahl. In fourth grade, my writing teacher gave us a sheet of random topics and each day we would choose one to write about. I loved this activity because we could take the topic any way we wanted to and it made writing feel very free. As a result of this practice, I started a writing notebook where I would write random, creative stories whenever I had free time.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By sixth grade, I was an avid, skillful reader and writer \u2013 earning placement in all of the honors English courses in middle school. Through middle school, I read the Percy Jackson series, The Hunger Games trilogy, and anything written by Wendy Mass. My love for reading stayed strong through middle school, but I had a few horrible English teachers who made me feel self-conscious about my writing abilities. They were very<\/em> picky and I started feeling as though I was bad at writing \u2013 I questioned whether I should be in the honors classes or not. To help me regain confidence, my mom signed me up for a writing camp after seventh grade. It helped me rediscover my love for writing, but I came to the conclusion that, although I loved writing creative stories on my own and enjoyed writing in my diary, I did not like writing essays for my teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In high school, I was still not confident in my ability to write essays for my teachers. Again, I had a few poor experiences with English teachers. In addition, the establishment of summer assignments for the honors\/AP courses started making reading and writing feel like a chore. By senior year, I hated<\/em> reading and writing, so much so that I often did not even read the books we were assigned (which made writing about them even harder and more agonizing). However, the summer before college, I started reading for fun again. I read (and reread) classics like Wuthering Heights<\/em>, The Great Gatsby<\/em>, To Kill A Mockingbird<\/em>, and Lord of the Flies<\/em>, as well as young adult literature, including anything written by John Green. By the first semester of college, I loved reading again, and I quickly regained my love for writing in my FILA 150 course, where we studied the presence of creativity in everything<\/em>. As a result of my rekindled love for reading and writing, I decided to major in English, with the goal of teaching at the high school level in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this current point, I love reading and writing as a whole. My favorite \u201cgenres\u201d of books are classics and young adult fiction. I recently read The Sun Is Also A Star<\/em> and LOVED it! I am also currently reading What If It\u2019s Us? <\/em>and (rereading) All-American Boys<\/em>. I also write a lot in my free time. I write mostly poems (I think of them as my diary in adult form), but I\u2019m also working on a novel with my best friend, titled The Run<\/em>. I still have the writing notebook I started in fourth grade, with the sheet of random writing topics glued to the first page. I definitely prefer to write and read on my own terms, but I do still enjoy the literature we read in the various courses I take. I also enjoy making connections with the works we read and writing essays about those connections. I truly do love reading and writing, but I\u2019d be lying if I said I never struggled to find the motivation to read and write for classes. Finding the motivation for free writing and free-reading is easy, but when it comes to class readings or essays, I often procrastinate until the last minute. Much of this is due to the anxiety that writing for the eyes of others causes me. I still struggle to have confidence in my writing so it takes me longer to complete writing assignments because I am constantly overthinking every word I write.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of self-confidence I felt for my writing in high school \u2013 and still feel now \u2013 is a major reason why I want to teach English. Writing can be and should be fun. It\u2019s a way to express your thoughts and ideas, but it shouldn\u2019t be viewed as a chore. As an educator, I will try to make writing fun for my students. Although I am not certain how I will do that, yet, it is still my biggest goal as a future teacher. In a similar way, I want to make reading fun for my students. I understand that teachers have certain standards they have to meet with their content, but I want to create a canon that contains literature that students want<\/i> to read. I want to choose works that they can connect with. Most importantly, as an educator, I want to encourage my students to engage in reading and writing outside of school \u2013 I want to help them find joy in both practices \u2013 so they can develop a love for reading and writing (or at least a tolerance). Mainly, I want to do the opposite of what many of my teachers did. I don\u2019t want to deter my students from reading and writing, because they open so many doors professionally and imaginatively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember, as a child, my mom and dad would read to me quite often. They would read me a story every night before bed and sometimes, during the day, … <\/p>\n

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