Literacy Narrative
It was a warm morning in late summer
when I arrived at school on my first day of third grade. Not only was it the
first day for all of the children arriving at Pearson Elementary but I had just
transferred over from Silveridge Elementary and was not looking forward to this
first day. I had only been transferring because my old school had been too full
and my residence being on the borderline they asked me to move over to Pearson.
Pearson elementary was a smaller elementary school but still had a good amount
of students. Getting ready the hour before I cautiously put on my red long
sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans with my hair in two pigtails. I had to make
sure everything was perfect so that the kids would like me. As I rolled through the front doors of my new
school with my pink roller backpack I was nervously excited to meet my new teacher
and new fellow classmates. Being nervous was not new to me as I had transferred
from Poulsbo elementary after kindergarten and now changing schools once again
after completely my second year. At my previous school my first grade and my
second grade class was the same roll sheet, the same classroom, and the same
teacher just different activities and lessons. I walked through the hallways to
my classroom with other kids rushing all around me. Some younger, some older.
Tall, short, blonde, brunette kids swarmed everywhere. I finally got down the
hallway to room four where Mrs. Turkey greeted me with a warm smile and a
quaint greeting. She directed me to my seat at a table near the window that was
really a collection of tables all in one group. There was already one other
girl there in the middle of the far side. She had shoulder length ash blonde
hair and chubby cheeks. She wore a blue striped long sleeve and some light blue
boot cut jeans. Her hair had a sparkling butterfly barrette to keep her bangs
at bay and it sparkled in the sun shining through the window. I sat down in my
seat and I glanced over the table. In the top right corner was a name card
tapped to the desk with a graphic pencil design and in a beautiful hand written
text the name “Jessica”. I quickly made a glance across the tables to read the
other girls name tag, with my mediocre reading skills, upside down her name
plate spelled out “Rachel”. Looking up from the table tops I scanned the room
taking in these new surroundings. There were about 6 table groups and on the
wall adjacent to me was a big white board with an array of colorful pens.
Across the room from the board and near the outside door to the hallway was the
teacher’s desk where Mrs. Turkey stood close by greeting children as they
walked in. She wore a dark brown pencil skirt, a light green Sweater, and some
matching brown clogs. Her grey tinted long blonde hair glowed in the reflected
sunlight and her tanned skin was slightly weathered like she had spent years in
the sun. Across the room from her was the big window to the outside world and
under the window were about 8 computers. Around the entire room were colored
Christmas lights strung along the ceiling creating a warm and happy atmosphere
in the room. Being brought back to the present, Mrs. Turkey made her way from
the back door to the white board in the front of the room. She greeted the
class by introducing herself and then that was the beginning of class.
After introducing herself she had
each kid stand up and tell the class their name and something that they like to
do. As each kid took their turn I thought hard about what was so interesting
about me. When it came to be my turn I stood up and introduced myself, “Hello my
name is Jessica and I play softball”. Once the collective clapping stopped and
the next kid began their introduction I sat in silence and observed the other
children and their mini speeches. After the last kid, a small boy with choppy brown
hair and glasses, completed his speech of, “Hello my name is Daniel and I like
drawing” we all took a group trip to the library where we picked up our first
book, Charlotte’s Web. The library was a trip outside the main building, up the
short amount of stairs, and off into the smaller building that held all the
older kid classes, the office, and of course the library. The hallways of that
small building were filled with beautiful drawings way more advanced than my color
book skills. Right before the doors to the library I saw a sign-up sheet for an
ASB welcome party and I wondered what ASB was and who in the world would be involved
in that. Walking in the library for the first time at this new school I was
astonished at the difference between this library and the library at my
previous school. This library had tall walls and the books covered the surroundings
of the walls. There were tables all in the middle of the distant area where you
could sit and study but right in the vicinity of the door was a split between a
lounge area and the checkout desk. The library was warm and there was a slight
smell of musk coming from all of the old books. The librarian greeted us all
and explained the layout of the library, the simple procedure of checking out
books, and her love of her library. Admiring her dedication to her job I waited
in line to check out my copy of Charlotte’s web and continue back out the door,
down the stairs, and off to my little third grade classroom. Coming back to the room we all sat in our
seats and opened our books to the first page as the teacher directed. Mrs.
Turkey wanted us to observe the colorful artwork on the front of the book
before she continued to the first page where she read aloud the first
paragraph. But after the first paragraph she suddenly stopped and looked around
the room. “Okay class now who’s turn is it now?” Mrs. Turkey glanced around the
room waiting for a child to raise their hand. After the children took multiple
rounds of just looking around and around and around at each other Mrs. Turkey
announced we were going to play the popcorn game. The popcorn game is where the
current reader reads aloud their designated section and then picks someone else
to read the next required section. Using a game was a good way to get the
children to enjoy reading as a group. But young Jessica was not the most
outgoing child and she was not looking forward to having to read aloud for the
entire class of twenty-five to hear and judge. It finally came to be my turn
and even though my comprehension skills had been enhanced my speaking skills
were not. I struggled and struggled to get the words out but it was an
agonizing minute of messing up word after word. I was so embarrassed by the end
that I decided this activity would be my least favorite of all time. Another
thing that came from this new found hatred of reading aloud was the problem of
perfection. I knew that I had the reading skill needed or this activity but for
the fact that I could not express that thought and that the other children could
possibly think I was illiterate killed my small will for learning and improving.
From there on I just could not complete an activity unless it was perfect.
Which meant I was never happy with reading aloud advanced books and when it
came to writing activities I hated it. Looking back now I wish I had not been
so stubborn and just did it knowing that I would eventually get better but unfortunately
I had to have an attitude and not do as I was told. I had so many words in my
brain that taking the extreme length of time to organize them was not a
possibility and so I was just always upset with my work. It made me not a very
willing child and I hatted English classes. As an 18-year-old now I still
struggle with perfection issues but the sad part is that I’ve learned not to
care. With that not caring comes a consistent disappointment in one’s self and
I would rather work through a science or math question than sit and struggle
with what to say. But also with the maturity of being an adult now I have
realized that if you just take that extra second to sit and get things done is
much better than not doing anything at all. And as stated previously I have a stubborn
personality and I am very good at English when I want to be but want is always
the issue. I wish I had the will to do better and I am trying as young Jessica did
not.
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