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My mother gave me my name. It didn't have much meaning when it was given to me. My mother liked the letters -K and -V. She knew she wanted my name to have them. She says she threw some vowels in and Akiva was born. I did learn later that Akiva is actually a popular Jewish man's name. It translates to Jacob. It was a huge joke when we found out. This year I learned my name means heal. I love that meaning. I feel like its a true meaning of what I try to do as a woman, as a person, and for my overall spirit.
Zaire is a country in Africa. My mom isn't sure why she chose it, but she said she loved how pretty it sounded. When I was younger I would tell people that my name meant that I would be the princess of an African country some day. While thats fun, it isn't what Zaire means. Zaire simply means Zaire, but I like my reason better.
Johnson is my final name. Being of black decent, my last name probably comes from a slave owner family that my ancestors unconsciously inherited. However, my dad has always told me what it means to be a Johnson. To be a Johnson, means to be strong. To be a Johnson, means to be smart. To be a Johnson, means to never give up. When I feel overwhelmed, or as if I don't have much fight left in me, my dad says, "You're a Johnson. You got this." I am Johnson. Akiva Zaire Johnson.

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My favorite past, is laughing. I love to laugh. I constantly tell jokes or whitty remarks. When I talk to my friends all we do is tell stories and build each other up. I'm super silly and goofy and it just takes the right person to bring it out of me. My sister thinks I'm the funniest person alive. My nieces and nephews love my corny jokes and when I talk about their cartoons. I constantly joke that my funny came out when I broke up with my boyfriend in 2014.  He was holding me back from my funny potential .
Laughter is literally good for the soul. When you're having a bad day, a bad week, or overall bad time, laughter makes it better. Laughter lightens a mood and brings people together. Laughter will connect you with a stranger next to you at a movie theater. Laugh is contagious in the best way. Laughter will make someone else's day. Laughter fuels your body and releases stress. Laughter is a necessity of life. I pride myself on being able to provide laughter and find laughter in just about everything.

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My number one source of literacy practice is all my social media accounts. I'm actually not proud of that. I may read stories on Facebook, but never anything of real substance. When I do read, it's reading assignments from class. While some are interesting, because I truly have a great interest in teaching, some of them are just long winded and wordy. I'd like to be someone who picks up a novel and starts reading. I want to be someone who can discuss books in groups and how I felt about it. I do enjoy reading a good book, a really good book ! My problem lies in finding what I like to read. I have a variety of interests when it comes to reading. I love children's books, romance novels, adventure stories, and more. Recently I've decided I will make myself a reader. I will find a genre that I can't put down and begin to simply read for enjoyment. I can be sure that it'll be better time spent than scrolling on Facebook with people only sharing opinions, mostly negative.

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I tried hard to think of one important object I couldn't live without. I have a gold necklace that matches the necklace around my sister's neck. It was given to me two years ago by my parents and I've worn it every day since. I would be extremely sad if I lost it or broke it, but it is something I can live without. I have shoes and clothes that I love tremendously and I'm always upset when I have to throw something away. However, I can live without these material things because they are replaceable.
My memories are my important objects. More so, the pictures that hold my memories are my important objects. My grandmother passed last March. When she passed, I searched frantically for pictures of her. Pictures of her smile, that I would never cause again. Pictures of her mid-back length hair that I wish I had. Pictures of her personality, that I'll miss the most. The rare photos that I could find of her are what helped me through. They continue to help me through. There are a lot of things I can live without. However, the memory of my Nana is the most important object that I cannot live without.

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My most impressionable literacy experience happened while I was in second-fourth grade. At the start of second grade, I moved to Thomasville, Ga. It was a small town with one elementary school, one middle school, and two high schools. They also had a small junior college with an affordable nursing program. At the start of my second grade year, I moved to Thomasville, Ga so my mother could become a nurse.
My mother spent two years with every known nursing book across her bed. I would watch her flip through pages, highlight words, make note cards and fall asleep with all the lights on still from reading. My mother's room was a gallery for note cards. It was filled with formulas, phrases, and nursing lingo I still don't understand. I didn't know how but between the studying for her nursing program she was still able to help me sale fundraiser items to the neighbors, attend every award ceremony, and go over dictionary words for my first spelling bee. My mother is my literacy experience. I watched her engulf herself in her education. She made learning a part of who she is and now a part of who we are. Charlene Johnson, RN who birthed Akiva Johnson, future educator, who graduated high school with honors, number 13 of 356, and current President's List student at GGC college.

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I am Akiva Johnson
I am smart and funny.
I am wealthy beyond money.
I am a child raised by a village,
I am child still learning my privilege.
I am caring and sensitive,
I am full of knowledge and love to give.
I am still learning.
I am not in this profession for the earnings.
I am saved by God's son
I am Akiva Johnson.

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When I say my privilege is my socio-economic status, I want to be clear I have never been rich. I have also never gone to bed hungry because there was no way to food to be found in my house. I grew up sharing a room with my younger sister, sleeping about 2ft from each other. I also rode around in a green Mitsubishi while other families in our neighborhood had no car. My privilege is having the means to get away from my situation. We grew up in a predominately black neighborhood on the "black" side of town. There were gangs in my neighborhood and known drug dealers across the street. The family next door was a mother and father, their five kids, and plenty of roaches. I didn't live among people who took summer trips around the world. However, my mother was a nurse. She was able to take us places and do things for us that other neighborhood kids were not.
One day, someone knocked on the door. When my brother answered the door, someone hit him in the head with a pipe bar. My mother was so worried, we were so worried. The next weekend we went to Disney World for the first time. We stayed in the Hilton and spent almost $50 on hot chocolate through room service. She wanted to show us something different. She showed us a new life. So yes, we were privileged to escape our reality for a little while. My mother has sense moved us out that neighborhood in a nice size house in Conyers, Ga. We've taken several trips to Orlando and took our nieces and nephews (her grandchildren) on a huge Disney World vacation. My socioeconomic status isn't that of a well -off white man in the Hamptons, but its much better than those I grew up with.

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I believe my bias is against very SOUTHERN white people. When I say very southern, I mean people who have never seen a black person. They probably live on an old plantation somewhere. These people have grandparents who still call people boy or girl, or colored because "they don't know any better." There are southern people in my class who I can tell have not been around many black people before. Last semester in Dr. Brandon Lewis' and Dr. Ava Hogan-Chapman's class they performed an experiment. In summary the activity asked the audience to vote which of the elementary aged three black boys would go to jail, drop out, and graduate. The people around me raised their hands to vote and I was disgusted that they had thought that way. I was disgusted that they even voted on children. However, it opened my eyes to the southern white mentality of the people around me and the fear I have that they will teach little girls and boys that look like me.

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Whenever people see me, I am usually laughing and smiling.

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My strength with teaching culturally diverse students is my diversity. I grew up in poor neighborhoods, working-class neighborhoods, and suburbs. I've have Puerto-rican friends, Jamaican friends, and white friends. I enjoy being around new people. Mostly I enjoy being in touch with my inner child. I watch cartoons and know all the new music and dances. I may not know how to do any of them, though. However, just being able to talk to my kids from their point of view gives me an advantage while teaching them. They are comfortable talking to me and engaging with me during lessons. Many teachers are focused on being the adult or the leader of the class. While classroom management is extremely important, it's very important to be approachable. You need to be someone your students want to learn from .

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My mother raised me to be respectful to all. However, respect is earned not just given. I respect those who are respectful to me and people who look like me. I stand up for what I believe in and for people I believe in. I have never been a bystander. If I see an injustice, I acknowledge it. If there is a problem I will address it. I treat everyone the same when I first meet them. I am kind, respectful and my normal bubbly self. If my personality changes over time, it is due to people's actions. I am a reactor. If people are kind to me, they get the same in return. However, people who are rude get no personality at all. Respect is big in my book. I expect children to respect adults as I expect adults to respect children as people. When I start my own classroom I plan on instilling a respectful classroom immediately. We work together better when we respect one another. I plan on implementing that in my classroom as soon as it begins with the quote "Open Your Mind Before You Open Your Mouth."

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When I decided I wanted to be a teacher, I didn't have much thought about books that had got me there. One day while I was reading with my niece. We read the book The Giving Tree. As I was reading, I really related to the tree. To everyone I know, especially my loved ones, I give endlessly. I give everyone around me anything that I have and have always been like this. In the end of The Giving Tree, there was nothing left of the tree, but the stump. As a stump, the tree still gave to the old man. Throughout the story the man continued to take from the tree, but never once thanked the tree. He didn't show any real appreciation towards the tree. The book hit a soft spot for me. While I'm sure this isn't the lesson Shel meant for kids to learn, I learned to stop giving so much to people. It is good to help and be helpful when you can. However, if you give too much, you will have nothing left.

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My heart is so big. I can't help but to to care about and for people. My fear is that if I work in a school with kids who are less fortunate than others, I can do it, but I won't know when to let go. At the age I am now I know I would like to foster children at some point. As a teacher I know I'd like to work in less fortunate schools to support students learning and keep alive their desire to learn. I know the there will come children that I come across that I help that I know don't receive help at home. I know that my heart is so big that I will go above and beyond without being asked. My concern is that with those kids I won't know when enough is enough. I won't know the line between teacher and caregiver. I will want to take them home with me and I know thats not an option either. You can't take every hungry face home with you and I'm aware of that. However I don't know how to stop my heart from wanting to keep protecting them . (The girls below were both in well taken care of homes. They are pictured to show my love for them.)

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I don't know who I am uncomfortable around. I have been around a variety of people. I am around people with good hearts and people with hate in their spirits. I have been around strongly religious people of several faiths and people who believe in no one.I have been around people I know don't like me for reasons I cannot control. I have been around people who look like me and people who do not. I cannot think of a cultural activity or a culture in general that makes me uncomfortable. I enjoy meeting new people and being tossed in new circumstances. I don't have a cultural discomfort because I am confident in myself. I do not allow myself to feel uncomfortable. If people are different from you, they are different. I am in an education program where the majority of people are not like me, from looks, to beliefs. I don't see what good comes from being unable to be around them just like I would anybody else. My cultural discomfort is people who are culturally uncomfortable.