Literacy Autobiography
“I know that my life is marked by the road signs of my beloved books, each one
symbolizing who I was when I read it, shaping who I have become. The
uninitiated might say that I am lost in my books, but I know I am more found than
lost.”
~Donalyn Miller
The Book Whisperer
Reading and writing have always been valued and important in my life. As a
young teacher I remember finding my mother’s copy of Teach Your Baby to
Read and quizzing her relentlessly as to why in the world she would have
wanted to do anything as ridiculous that! It must have served some purpose
though, as I have always been an avid reader, spending much of my childhood
walking to the public library and serially reading every book on the shelf by one
author before moving on to the next. In spite of one anomalous successful early
writing experience though, I never really thought about myself as someone who
could be a writer. I wrote well enough to successfully play the game of school,
but I never really considered myself a writer “for real” until I took a summer
workshop called “Critical Issues in Reading, Writing and Inquiry” in 2000. As
Robert Frost so aptly said, “…and that has made all the difference.” (I’ll explain
why below!)
I love using mentor texts as a way to think through and structure my own writing,
and as a primary teacher, picture books are often the texts that appeal to me.
When I went back to teaching after taking several years off when my girls were
born, my teaching portfolio was a hand-made big book of photos and original
artwork called “Time for School” modeled after the book Time for Bed by one of
my most influential teaching/writing mentors, Mem Fox. With each page of the
story, I told about a different aspect of my beliefs about teaching and learning,
trying to imitate Mem’s lyrical text. (“It’s time for school little girl, little girl…”)
I decided I would try to write this Literacy Autobiography in much the same way,
using another iconic author as my mentor; Margaret Wise Brown. The text I’ve
chosen, called Another Important Book, was apparently meant to be a
companion to The Important Book, but it ended up being published
posthumously. It is a joyous celebration of all the important things about being a
child of one, two, three, four, five, and six. I have loved reading it with my
kindergartners, and it seemed the perfect springboard for what I want to
accomplish here.
Literacy Autobiography
~inspired by Margaret Wise Brown’s Another Important Book
The important thing about 6
is that six is a little wish.
Mrs. Cain let us read in the tree house
if we had finished carefully coloring the pictures
and drawing indecisive lines
between the letter S and the sock
in our plaid-covered first grade
phonics books,
and finished the SRA cards
all the way to GOLD.
She valued my words though
and published them in Tiger Tails,
making me think that just maybe I
really was a writer.
But the important thing about 6,
is that 6 is a little wish.
The important thing about 8 and 9
is pioneer bonnets and long skirts fine.
Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caddie Woodlawn and Daniel Boone
transported me back in time to march to a different tune.
Playing out lives that weren’t at all like I knew:
Imagining rough wagon trails, endless chores,
and barn raisings, to name a few.
But the important thing about 8 and 9
is pioneer bonnets and long skirts fine.
The important thing about being a ‘tween
is “Dear Diary, what a day it’s been…”
I spilled all my secrets under lock and key,
then gave them all away in insipid ramblings to my friends…
especially when I was waiting for the test to end.
I walked to the library as often as I could:
Blume, Danziger, Zindel, my summer friends from
the book-filled ‘hood.
But the important thing about being a ‘tween
is “Dear Diary, what a day it’s been…”
The important thing about being a teen,
is having a busy, busy social scene.
Orchestra, volleyball, soccer, and more,
reading and writing weren’t as much at the fore.
I could write what I needed and read what was asked,
and finally devoured Tolkein when school had passed.
But the important thing about being a teen,
is having a busy, busy social scene.
The important thing about being in college
is Crazy Professor Nelson’s high expectations of my
knowledge.
I wrote and I wrote and revised and revised
until finally at long last my poem he didn’t despise.
“I think it’s good enough to be put to music.” he said.
And once again I could imagine I had the makings of a
writer in my head.
But the important thing about being in college
is having someone show the reason for all that
knowledge.
The important thing about Professional Development
is that I discovered I could choose how to keep myself current.
Sure I attended conferences: MECC, ISTE, HASTI and TREK,
went to be filled with someone else’s ideas and to get my
paycheck.
They all left me wanting, still searching for more
until someone said,
“Read this, you’ll like it, it’s not likely to bore.”
So Mem I read, and reread each year,
her reflections a radical jolt to my sphere.
Because the important thing about professional development
is that I choose how to keep myself current.
The important thing about graduate credit
is making you feel good about the money it cost
after you’ve spent it.
Home with 4 children, longing for more,
I stumbled into “Critical Issues” and found once more
a teacher who believed me into being the writer I wished to be.
Helping make the sting of “Holiday Magic” less hurtful to me.
I wrote and I wrote and revised and revised,
and with thoughtful guidance and encouragement,
once more in a book I arrived.
So the important thing about graduate credit
is knowing you can feel good about the money you’ve
spent for it.
The important thing about being a parent
is passing on a legacy my children are proud to inherit.
Though I’ve struggled to raise children
who would identify themselves as Jews,
I’ve learned in the end it is the right thing to do.
Becoming a Bat Mitzvah, the most important of rites,
gives me that rare moment when a speech I can write.
Each word must be perfect,
each pause oh so clear.
My message so critical,
crafted with aching and care.
I wrote and I wrote and revised and revised,
until finally I could say all I needed with books, words and pride.
Because the important thing about being a parent
is passing on a legacy my children are proud to inherit.
The important thing about being me
is all the teachers who’ve believed
and the children I’ve been privileged to see.
Reading, writing and thinking are the hallmarks of my trade,
but more than that, they form the basis from which all humans are made.
Words give us the means to engage with our nation.
To think and create, to make sense with our brethren.
Paying forward the gifts I’ve been fortunate to receive
gives me hope that those with whom I work will also achieve
that elusive but inherent power within us
to make a difference, to make a life, to make meaning with words as our focus.
Because the important thing about me
is all the children and teachers I have yet to see.