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My first and middle names, Kaitlyn and Virginia both mean pure. Kaitlyn is an Irish name, which is significant because my family on my father's side were Irish. They came to America during the potato famine. Kaitlyn is a variant of CaitrÍona, the Gaelic form of Catherine. My mother's name is Trina, so my name comes partly from hers. My middle name, Virginia was given to me to commemorate both my grandmother's. My father's mother was born and raised in Virginia. While my grandmother on my mother's side was named Virginia. Some privileges my name has afforded me is that people generally know how to pronounce my name and I can usually find it on keychains and other collectibles. The only struggles I have had with my name is that it is often misspelled because there are so many ways to spell Kaitlyn. My parents never had any other names in mind for me. As a child, I often walked around saying, "hi! I'm Kait-Kait!". This lead my mom and dad to often call me Kait. However, no one else calls me that.

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My favorite characteristic is my sense of humor. It helps me cope with stress and channel it in a positive way. Laughter is the best medicine and I love to make others laugh. My sense of humor reflects the cultural outlook of positivity. Life is too short to be too serious. I always post funny meme's and photos on my Facebook. My friends and family have told me that they visit my page whenever they need to have a good laugh. I chose these pictures because it shows my silly side and not the serious side I usually show.

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An important object is the necklace my boyfriend bought me the for our 1st Christmas, 4 years ago. He is a marine and at the time he was stationed in Okinawa Japan. The necklace is in the shape of a heart with an infinity sign looped around it. It also has both of our birth stones. This necklace represents commitment and sacrifice. Long distances relationships are very hard and it takes trust and commitment to make it work. I grew up an Army brat because my dad was in the Army so I understood the sacrifice and strain the military places on a family. However, I did not understand how my mother felt until I dated someone in the military. Our journey has been filled with nights alone, cherished time together, and painful goodbyes. This object shows that I value our military and the people who fight for out freedom as well as love. I believe that love has no boundaries. I chose these pictures because they are reminders of the commitment it takes to be in any relationship, let alone a long distance one.

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Growing up in a white middle class family, I was very fortunate. Although my parents divorced while I was in high school. I always had a roof over my head, food on the table, and did not have to worry about how the bills got paid. I was able to cheer during high school while some of my friends had to work. I was afforded things like new clothes, a new car, manicures, and hair styling due to my privilege. These are things that I think of as everyday living expenses even though I know that they are desires not necessities. Living comfortable allowed me to focus on my studies and hobbies. I could not imagine having to work, go to school, and cheer during high school. Although I now do these things during college. I am so appreciative that I was able to "be a kid" during high school and not have "adult" things to worry about. I chose these pictures because they represent the privilege I have and grew up with.

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With self reflection I noticed I have previously made the assumption that immigrants do not care to learn English. As a young adult, I would get my nails done and often the girls would only talk to each other in Vietnamese and the other would have to translate for her to me when asking questions. Reflecting back I think it bothered me because I was/am insecure about not knowing what is being said. According to research by the independent, nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, today’s immigrants may speak their first language at home, one-half of those older than 5 speak English very well (Ten Myths About Immigration 2011). While it may be true that first generation immigrants find it harder to learn their new countries language due to lack of opportunity because of schedules and resources and also the difficulty of learning English as an adult; each generation usually evolves from bilingual to fully accept their new language as their first language. I believe that as I have been  more involved with English as a second language learners I have built more understanding and compassion. I chose this picture because it reminds me of my bias.

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I have always been able to understand that there is a scale for sexuality, as it is a fluid thing. Someone does not necessary have to be strictly heterosexual or homosexual. However, gender is something that makes me very uncomfortable. Society today has become very politically correct and I often worry I am saying or doing the wrong thing. I often choose to ignore any discomfort rather than address it because I do not want to offend anyone. If I encounter someone who does appears to be a little masculine and feminine I am afraid I will call label them with the wrong pronoun. I often feel as if it was much easier when I was growing up as kid. I always learned that there were two genders and as the culture around me changes I hope I can learn and adapt to it. I chose this picture as it represents my fear to say the wrong thing especially dealing with gender.

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When I was a Freshman in high school my parents got a divorce and my dad moved out of the state. I watched my mother struggle to balance my sister and I’s activities and her two jobs. She always made sure our lifestyle did not change no matter how much she had to work. In my mind she took on being our mom and dad. This instilled in me that there were no “woman roles”. My sister and I have always done everything from cook and clean to mow the grass and change the oil in our cars. Even from a young age I was told I could do anything as well as the boys as long as I tried my best. This pushed me to pursue my current job as the General Manager of a health club, which is a male dominated industry. I am the only female manager in our district. I believe that anyone can fit any role they set their minds to with handwork and tenacity. I was raised with a no excuse attitude. This helps me keep my expectations high and my excuses low for my employees and future students. I believe anyone can learn to learn. It may come easy to some and more difficult to others, but everyone can succeed regardless of the challenges they may face. This could be anything from socioeconomic status, ethnicity, disabilities, ect. It is up to us as educators to inspire and challenge our students to rise up to our expectations. When we make excuses for our students we are instilling that it is acceptable to fail. I expect all my students to put in effort and I will challenge them to do so regardless of if they are above, below, or at grade level. Biases can create low expectations which can have a negative effect on a child’s potential (Colorblindness: the New Racism, 2009)”. I chose these two pictures because they represent my hard work and dedication. The picture of the rings are from my competitive high school cheer-leading team. We won 3 state championships three times. This took many hours of blood,sweat, and tears. I also included my picture from my management class I attended. Out of the 8 pictured only one person got to be named General Manager. It took many many late nights to earn the title of GM and beat the older candidates that had years of experience, especially in such a male dominated industry. This is why I value hard work and tenacity so much. I believe the greatest limiting factor to anyone is their-selves!

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As a millennial I find that my phone is usually glued to my hand. Therefore the literacy I typically practice is tech related. I am constantly blogging on Facebook, texting ,or writing emails. I have learned that multiple literacies exist. Multiple Literacies is the idea that literacy can take on forms other than those typically expected in schools. This could be oral language, writing letters, translating, or reading to siblings.

is the idea that literacy can take on forms other than those typically expected in schools. This could be oral language, writing letters, translating, or reading to siblings. I chose these pictures because they represent the literacy practices I do in a normal day!

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Before this class, I would have never classified my love of memes as literacy. However, I now understand that there are multiple literacies. I constantly post funny memes that appeal to my sense of humor. These memes are posted on my social media and allow me to interact with those who share my humor and the difficulties they depict. Memes often take inference skills because they usually do not just say their point. You must understand the context of the picture with the text.  The world us is shaping and teaching us even when we do not realize and put a name to it. Literacy is not just reading a book or writing a story, but many many literacy events over the course of our lives. This particular meme represents perfectly what I would like to be doing in my life (traveling) however being a college student my reality is the window on the washing machine.

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This series is where my love of reading began. It challenged my vocabulary and kept me wanting to read more and more. The elements of the book series are pretty dark, but appealed to me because as a child you often feel like you are being sheltered from the atrocities of the world. I feel as if this element of the story shaped me into being a realist. Although the book is full of tragedy there is also comedy. I think this shaped my sarcastic and sometimes dark sense of humor. It taught me that laughter can often get you through any of life's challenges. The series also gave way to my first hero, Violet. As a girl, I always felt different because I never aspired to be a princess. I valued my wit and humor. So when I encountered Violet, a girl who was brilliant and always inventing new contraptions I was inspired. She was an extremely smart girl, who used her wit to help keep her family safe.

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I would say that my overall weakness, is that I do not share the same experiences as some of my students. Although, I can be understanding and compassionate I know I can never fully understand some of the experiences and struggles some of my student face. Some of my students have parents who speak no English, some come from families who can not afford school supplies, some have a parent who has passed away.
I feel as if the best I can do is to try to be compassionate and show the students that I care about each of them. I want to show students that their struggles do not define them and that I am here to help in any way I can. I chose these two photos because it shows the lack of diversity that I grew up with. Most of the girls I cheered with came from very wealthy families and did not have go without or worry about food, clothes, or shelter. Although I may not be from the same situations as some of my future students, I can still be understanding and compassionate.

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I believe that my biggest strength in teaching culturally diverse students is that I am compassionate. When I am interacting with my students, I am genuinely interested in their lives, their culture, and who they are. I want to help each student succeed and see their potential. I do not just want to be their teacher, but also a mentor and coach! I chose these photos because these are some thing I have made my students I have worked with. It takes a few moments to do something thoughtful for students and it goes a long way. You never know what happens when students go home so I want to try to make school a nurturing and caring environment for all students.

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I am compassionate and funny
I wonder if others think the way I do
I hear the school bell ringing
I see students learning
I want to make a difference
I am compassionate and funny

I pretend to be organized and put together
I feel pressure to succeed
I touch the keys of my laptop
I worry that there is so much to do
I cry when I am stressed
I am compassionate and funny

I understand that we are all different
I say that we need to work together!
I dream of walking the graduation stage
I try to put a brave face on when I am worried
I hope to be a great teacher
I am compassionate and funny

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I have often been told I do not talk enough or am very serious. However, I am just shy and it takes me a while to open up to new people. I chose this picture because when I am with my sister I am my very true self. We have been through so much together, especially when our parents were getting divorced. When we are together we always have so much fun. It brings out another side of me that I truly love.