New Literacies Autobiography
By: Ashley Feehan
GED 8031
12-8-2012
“Live as if your were to
die tomorrow. Learn as
if you were to live
forever.”
-Ghandi
My Family
• My family includes my mom, dad, and two brothers. Since I
can remember, my family has always encouraged and
supported me to be successful.
• There was a high value of reading and writing in my
household. We has a library of books, including
encyclopedias, in our house and we read them often. My
parents also had us write letters to anyone that gave us a
gift.
Here is a picture of my Grandma
Marilyn reading a book with my
brother Matt and I.
I went to Lorne Street Elementary
School in Northridge, California.
I loved school and tried hard in all of my subjects. Here is a picture of me
and my friend Megan creating a project in second grade.
I loved reading as a child!!!!
• My mom and I would often go to the public
library. She helped me get a library card and we
would check out books together. Since I was the
only girl at home, this enabled me to pick out
books that weren’t in our
home library.
Books I loved
reading as a child
Besides reading I have an extreme
passion for music. I love the feeling it
gives you, the emotions it evokes, and
the way the words are put together. I
believe that my love for music stems
from my childhood and my dad’s band.
My dad has been in a rock band for over
thirty years. Growing up, his band would
have their practice in our garage every week.
Below is a picture of my dad’s band, Full
Throttle, performing at a house party. He is
the man in the back on the left.
I always have listened to music non-stop. When I was in elementary
school, my favorite artists were:
TLC
Brandy
Mariah Carey
Salt-N-Pepa
I can remember buying their
tapes and reading the
booklets as soon as I opened
the package. I would read all
of the lyrics to the songs
before I listened to them.
From that point on, I have
been extremely impacted by
the lyrics of songs.
On top of reading and music, I loved watching TV
and movies. Some of my favorites were:
Television Shows:
Saved by the Bell
Family Matters
Movies:
Steel Magnolias
Mrs. Doubtfire
Spaceballs
When I was in elementary school, my dad
received his A.A. in Computer
Technology. We had a computer in my
house and my dad showed us how to type
on the computer. My brothers and I would
play these typing games on the computer
and it was really fun.
When I started middle school, I got my first magazine subscription to
Word Up Magazine. I would read the magazine cover to cover the
day I got it. I would also put the pictures up in my room.
During middle school, my friends
and I started a music group.
None of us had any known
talent with singing, but we still
thought it was a good choice.
The group name was J.A.M.M.,
which stood for Jennifer,
Ashley, Michelle R., and
Michelle J. We wrote one song
together and nothing else
happened with the group.
My creative writing expanded and grew a
lot during high school.
I started writing
more songs and
poems. I am not
always good at
expressing
emotions
verbally, so this
was a way for
my to express it
through written
words.
In high school, I had a 9th grade
teacher, Mrs. Stout, who greatly
impacted my writing.
• Mrs. Stout taught me how to:
– use an outline to write a quality essay with
complete paragraphs
– use correct word choice
I didn’t know it then, but what
I was being taught would help me
tremendously in college.
During 9th grade, I got my first
pager!!!!
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My friends and I would use pagers to write short messages.
We would use pager code, which was a set system of numbers
that visually represented the letters of the alphabet.
For example, the letter h was “4” and the letter m was “177”.
Here is how you would write “How are you” – “40111-61234011”.
When you finished typing your message in the phone, you would
end with your pager code number. My number was 21 so when
the message ended with “21”, my friends knew it was from me.
This was something very impactful for my friends and I and we
used it constantly to communicate.
I look at pager code as the stepping stone to text messaging.
I still know pager code and could still read or write something
written in it.
During high school, my favorite shows were:
Dawson’s Creek
Moesha
TRL:
Total
Request
Live
Beverly Hills,
90210
After high school, I started college and was
required to write many, many papers.
I was required
to do
research on
topics relating
to my
courses.
I had to write
reflections on
articles that I had
to read for class.
I had to cite my sources accurately to avoid plagiarism.
My computer played a huge role in my
college experience.
I used my computer to stay
in contact with my friends
and family back home. We
would email, instant
message, and share pictures.
I used my computer
to access Blackboard,
which was necessary
for some of my class.
We would also use
online forums to
have discussions.
Other ways I used my computer during
college:
I used my computer
to watch DVDs and
listen to music.
I used my
computer to
research my topics
for my papers I had
to write.
I used my computer
to type all of my
assignments for my
classes.
I used my
computer to read
news articles.
When my best friend
graduated college, I
decided to make a video
for her.
I had no experience with video making, but I tried my best.
I used a handheld video recorder and filmed our friends and
her family saying short messages to her.
In between people being filmed, I filmed
pictures of her throughout her life. It was an
amateur video, but it turned out good and she
thoroughly enjoyed the video.
After graduating college
and my teaching
credential program, I
started teaching in
California. The next year, I
taught ELL in Barcelona,
Spain.
While living in Spain, I tried to read
books in Spanish. It was interesting to
be using the skills of a beginning
reader of using pictures to tell the
story since I wasn’t able to read the
words.
I also watched TV in Spanish,
which was another difficult
challenge. I had to rely on reading
the TV show by using the
characters’ body language and the
settings. This helped me
comprehend what the plot was of
the show.
After returning to the U.S. from
Spain, I started teaching 2nd grade.
• I used many different types of text during my instruction:
– videos
– songs
– poems
– stories
– online resources
• At my school, my class was required to perform for our
Kwanzaa night and for our poetry jam.
– I wrote songs for both performances, as well as
choreographed the moves/dances. I was very excited to be
able to write these songs because it was something I have
always enjoyed doing.
Now, I am teaching kindergarten and just
finished writing our song for our
performance on Antarctica.
In class, we also use our
SMART board to look at
pictures of Antarctica, so
the students have a better
picture of the unique
continent.
I am also a graduate student and have
found myself reading academic material
and writing academic papers. Luckily, I
am able to pull from my previous
education to help me be successful.
Beyonce
Rascal
Flatts
My love for music has only grown larger. I still
listen to the same artists since I was younger,
but I have started listening to more country
music as well. Some of the artists I listen to are:
Melanie
Fiona
Drake
My favorites throughout my life:
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Book: Summer Sisters
Author: Emily Giffin
Movie: Steel Magnolias
TV Show: Sex in the City
Singer: Brandy
Songs (there are many): “Hello”, “Fall”, “Hey
Mama”, “Keep it Between Us”, and “Water
Runs Dry”
Personally and professionally, I
have opened my mind to what
fits under the literacy umbrella.
I wish music would have been more of a
component during my K-12 experience,
rather than just at home. I think I would
have enjoyed projects more if I had
been given the flexibility to write a song
or make a video.
I never realized how private I have been
about my experiences with literacy. Most of
my close friends don’t know that I wrote
poems when I was younger or that I was
briefly in a music group. The things I wrote
were very personal and I don’t always feel
comfortable exposing those emotions. Even
as I get older and write academic papers, I
notice that I don’t like too many people
reading them.
Journal Articles
Books
Magazines
The types of
texts that I
love:
Music
TV shows
Movies
Websites