Karla Reilly ~ Literacy Autobiography
HWP ~ 2010
I never really considered myself much of a writer. Before I started school, I learned to
write my name and the ABC’s and a few words. I remember grammar lessons and
spelling lists and how to construct a paragraph. Conventions and punctuation rules I
learned well. Every once in awhile, the teacher would assign something to write. Six
grade stands out where I had to create a limerick and a couplets poem. Yes, I wrote
speeches and other papers, but I don’t recall learning how to actually craft pieces or learn
how to read like a writer. I never learned or took interest in writing in a journal or a
writer’s notebook.
When I needed to compose a piece of writing, I would generally write the middle and
end, then go back and write the beginning. I would toil over wording and structure.
Balls of crumpled paper would surround me. Once my piece was drafted and edited by
me, I would go to the master editor, my mom. After her proofing, I would write and
rewrite until my words, handwriting, and conventions were “perfect.” (prior to word
processing).
My parents always wrote a yearly Christmas letter. This, besides shopping lists and an
occasional letter, is a tradition I continue and was basically the extent of my writing.
When I started teaching, I taught my students the same why I was taught – through the
English book. But in the summer of 1999, my whole perspective changed. The Writer’s
Workshop Summer Institute changed the ways I thought about and taught writing:
 Students kept writer’s notebooks
 Ideas for writing came from the notebooks
 Students learned to nurture seed ideas and take a piece of writing through the
writing process
 Students studied genres
 Students learned to read like a writer and analyzed the craft of authentic
writers.
And when I say “students,” I need to include myself. Not only did my students benefit
from living the life of a writer, I became a better writer and teacher of writing.