Cultural and Literacy Autobiography
Abby Villasana
READ 3311-220
Hubble
I am the oldest of four children, which means I was first to experience school.
Santa Fe Pre School is where I attended Pre-K and Kindergarten, both years I was put in
a bilingual class where most of my classmates were Hispanic. After Santa Fe, I went to
Irving Elementary, a mostly Hispanic school also. For first grade, I was in an ESL class,
back then, my first language was Spanish. I was a fluent reader, writer and Spanish
speaker. I could hold a conversation in English when I was around other students that did
not understand Spanish. GT and Student Council were two programs I was in, in first
grade, where I had to speak only English. My friends in the early years of school were
Hispanic and that I can remember, we were all treated well. When it was time for me to
move on to second grade, my first grade teacher, Miss. Devora, had a conference with my
mom and told her she believed I was ready to leave the ESL program and join an all
English speaking class.
I started second grade in Mrs. Fowler’s class, I was one of three Hispanic
students, and the majority were White and African American. It was then, that I realized,
my class before was at a way lower level than I was at now. This new class knew how to
write stories, use computers, spell and read. That change allowed me to recognize while I
was being moved.
Mrs. Fowler had a passion for teaching, and was always trying to make
learning fun. Her husband built a little “reading house” for us to study or read inside the
classroom! The bottom floor had a small table and chairs for two or three students to go
under and study or do class work. The top floor (we had a ladder to get to the top floor)
was for reading only, and had many pillows for two or three students to take books up
and enjoy reading with a view. Going into the reading house was a privilege, so we were
a well-behaved class so we could earn that reward.
For writing, the class got to publish our own handmade stories! Our stories had to
have a title, us students were the author’s and illustrators! Mrs. Fowler had our stories
published and laminated, the whole nine yards! The Tortoise and the Snail, is a story I
wrote as a seven year old, based on The Tortoise and the Hare. Once my story was
complete, Mrs. Fowler allowed me to visit Miss. Devora and read my story to her class!
This motivated me to want to write more stories and improve my writing skills.
While I was in second grade, I read my first chapter books and was very into
reading, but I cannot say that I enjoyed reading at any age level after this grade. I read
when I had to and only if my mom was constantly reminding me, or if I knew there
would be assignments over the story.
As a potential Bilingual Teacher, I plan to be as energetic and believe that
learning can be fun and have my class love reading and writing, just like Mrs. Fowler did
for me.