Introductory Writing Activity
On a separate piece of paper, write me a letter that answers the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Tell me about your family, background, and hobbies.
Tell me about how you feel about school and English.
Tell me about your favorite books, movies, and social media sites.
Tell me about when I should push you and when I need to lay off.
Try to write at least one paragraph for each answer. Here are my answers:
Dear Student,
My family is a patchwork quilt of marriages, divorces, step parents, and siblings that
combine to make an exquisitely unique and stunning heirloom that perhaps only we can truly
appreciate. I have a beautiful mother, who owns her own business, meditates, and takes
classes on metaphysics. She is a complex contradiction of fiscal responsibility and wild,
romantic adventure. My father also possesses a duality that refuses to be defined. He spent
most of his life on Vancouver Island as a logger, yet he is one of the most environmentally
aware and sensitive people I have met. I have one “full” sister from these two parents,
Tiffany, who resembles me outwardly, yet is my polar opposite in personality. My parents
were divorced shortly after my sister was born and I have no memories of them together.
From their subsequent marriages I was blessed with two half-brothers, Tyson and Connor, a
half-sister, Tayler, and a step sister, Kayla.
I have often felt as though I lived with one foot in a conventional life and one foot in
an unconventional life. Not only did I move back and forth between my parents, but I also
moved frequently with my mother, who delighted in adventure and liked to put city names
into a blue baseball hat and pull out the name of our future home. My school experience has
been unique and exciting. I have attended 14 different schools in my life, including
preschools and universities. In one year I went from a Kindergarten in California, to a
Kindergarten in the Lower Mainland, to a Kindergarten on Vancouver Island. I eventually
came to live in Kelowna 17 years ago, by way of the blue baseball cap. I was 14 and just
entering grade ten. I attended Springvalley Secondary until grade 11 and then transferred to
Rutland Senior Secondary in my grad year. When I was 17 I moved out with my sister and I
have craved the stability of a permanent address ever since.
In November 2000, I met my husband, Mike, and we married in 2004. He is the most
caring, generous man I have ever met and I feel blessed to have him in my life and on my
team. On February 12, 2006, we welcomed our first child, Wyatt. He has always been
inquisitive and bright, although he favors engineering endeavors to literature, much to my
chagrin. We welcomed our daughter, Caitlyn, on May 12, 2007, fifteen months to the day
after her brother. She is our cuddler and would rather curl up with a good book, on a warm
lap, than play transformers with her brother, much to his chagrin. My father, Herb, also lives
with us, helping out at work with Mike and at home, while I am at school. There is no way I
could keep up with the demands of the teaching program, and keep my sanity, without the
profound assistance I receive from my husband and father.
I have learned a great deal from my past experiences, including an appreciation for
the complexities of humanity. I find it almost impossible to view the world in black and
white and can see the ambiguity in most situations. For example, although I have usually
performed exceptionally well in my studies and I have always had a natural desire to learn, I
have felt challenged at times to connect with a course and I even (gasp) failed two classes in
my first year of university. These failures were a shock to me because I often felt as though I
could get by in school with little effort and I was surprised to learn that I had to expend effort
in order to expand my knowledge. The disappointment of failing also helped me put into
perspective an unhealthy relationship I had created with grades. I had come to believe that
my grades represented who I was, instead of the level of subject mastery I had demonstrated.
It is my goal to help unravel these unhealthy relationships when I see them in my future
students and to facilitate the specific learning goals of each student.
These are some of the contents in the battered suitcase that I bring to this class. I hope
that you can let me know a piece of your past and what some of the items in your suitcase
look like. I look forward to embarking on this valuable journey with you.
Most Sincerely,
Ms. Franczak