Because I am getting my endorsement in English, I am going to be taking more and more English courses that include both reading and writing. I want to make my students love to read and write as I did and still do. I feel that as a teacher, if you show that reading and writing can be fun and if you let students choose the kind of books they want to read sometimes, then the kids will reciprocate that same love that you show. Thats how teens' experience might shift -- It's important to be nothing but positive to students when talking about reading and writing. 

I started to talk when I was roughly one and a half, which is about the same time my twin sister did also. I don’t necessarily consider myself an “early talker,” because my older sister said her first words at the age of six months. My first words were probably everyone's first words. They were “baba” and “mama” which of course means dad and mom, but in Albanian. My mom said that I said “mama”’ first and that my dad would get mad because we didn't say “baba” until a bit later. Even now when I come home later sometimes and out of habit just scream, “Hi mom”, he yells back “No. HI DAD!” Still obviously having some built up anger from us not saying “dad” first. As I was growing up, my father always wanted me to talk in Albanian so I could talk to his parents (my grandparents). They only spoke Albanian as I was growing up so it was a bit difficult trying to tell them anything. I was still trying to learn English let alone Albanian. My parents signed me up for classes at a local Albanian school that taught kids how to read and write. I went there from the age of 7 to probably 12. Once you hit 12, you ‘graduate” so that meant we couldn't go anymore. When I first started there, I didn't like it because i didn't know what anyone was saying. Most of the kids were a bit older than I so they were at the advanced stages. I didn't know what they were saying because we had to speak in only Albanian. I truly learned so much Albanian there, and also, of course, my parents were teaching me too. By the end of our lessons at Albanian school, my sisters and I walked out pretty much speaking fluently. It was really cool because in awkward or weird situations, I could speak Albanian to my family and people would say “what language is that? It sounds so cool!” Speaking another language is still so cool to me. Being bilingual as a teacher can open many doors for me because I could possibly be an ESL teacher. At my job, there are a couple Albanian customers that only speak Albanian so they always wait for me to come in so they can do their bank transactions.  I love that my father signed us up for Albanian school when we were younger because if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't know all the Albanian we do today.

My mother was always the one constantly making us learn new words to say in both English and Albanian, and what they meant. She loved school; in school came her passion for reading. As a young mother, she always read us a new children's book every night growing up. Or at least I thought they were new ones because of how well she read them. She read with a new silly voice and she would just make up new characters that would fit perfectly. I started to read when I was about three and a half or four, and my mom was the one to teach me. With the help of my older sister, who is three years older than my twin sister and I. My older sister, Alia, always had us read a page aloud to her and she critiqued us as we went. She always knew she wanted to be teacher so she made up worksheets for us to write and fill out. She had a timer for us that beeped every two minutes and therefore she would say, “You guys are taking too long!! Hurry!” so then Nuria and I would rush to fill it out and hand it in. She told us to get back to our seats and sit in silence as she ‘graded’ them. As tough (and annoying) she may have been as a teacher, she still always gave us a 100% and a gold star. As I see that she is still the same teacher she acted like when she was younger, it has given me the passion to become one just like her. I wish to pass along all that I have learned and all that I will continue to learn in both reading and writing to my students. 

I would like to start off with saying how much I enjoyed reading Atwell's first Chapter. I was hooked from the very beginning. Reading her story and my classmates posts made me aware of many things I hadn't necessarily thought of. As I stated, I enjoyed reading Atwell's story, a particular part that stuck out to me was when her first day of the school year, she stated, "The principal handed me "the curriculum," which turned out to be a copy of my schedule: six periods each day of reading and English. Then he scurried back across the blacktop to the safety of K-6..." (Atwell, p. 5). 

After reading this chapter, I went to the classmates posts, and something that Toni mentioned resonated with my thoughts. She stated, "I have an integral conflict when it comes to teaching. Of course, I must abide by the curriculum that my school will provide for me to teach my students. But I would love to include my own lesson plans." I have the same thought. And after reading the quote I quoted from Atwell above, I can't help but think how hard it is for those teachers that can't implement their own ideas into the curriculum. I guess it depends on the state and school, but I have heard stories from friends and professors of mine that in some districts you can't implement your own lessons. My older sister Alia is a teacher and I talked to her about how the curriculum is where she teaches. She mentioned how at her school, they do have a set ELA/Math pacing guide that they follow to assess their students based on common core standards that have to be met each quarter. However, as long as the standards are being met per grade level, they are allowed to add their own twist of strategies to incorporate in the classroom. There also is set books they have to real aloud to their students but they have the choice on how to teach it. 

Hall, 2010). I feel that these would be good questions to ask yourself about your students’ talk:

*These rules I saw (adapted from Mercer & Dawes, 2008, p. 66) were great and I think can be implemented/reminded to the students before their classroom discussions:

(short story) This short story is about a person 

who talks about their own suffering, and dealing with their homelessness, hunger and poverty.
https://www.wattpad.com/story/1560011-poverty

"The Homeless Man in Pale Blue"
(short story *based on a true story) A mysterious, yet heartwarming short story of an encounter with a young girl and a positive, optimistic, and kind homeless man.
https://www.poeticous.com/dandria-smith/the-homeless-man-in-pale-blue-short-story

"Homeless Woman Shares Heartbreaking Story of Homelessness in Los Angeles"
(youtube video) - "I'm a human being, but sometimes I don't feel like one anymore," although it's hard to put homelessness into words, that heartbreaking statement made by Michelle comes close. She continued by saying that she doesn't care if she'd go to jail because at least she would have a roof over her head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tVHXHQ09JE

"The Family Under the Bridge"
(book) Armand, an old Parisian living on the streets of Paris, relished his solitary life. He begged and did odd jobs for money to keep himself warm and fed, and he liked his carefree life. Then one day just before Christmas, a struggling mother and her three children walked into his life.
https://www.amazon.com/Family-Bridge-Natalie-Savage-Carlson/dp/0064402509

Could I just go back to the way things used to be...

I don’t think I have eaten anything in days,

Please tell me this is just a faze. 

All I want is a decent meal, 

Some type of meat, like steak chicken or veal. 

I think all I have eaten in the last week was a strangers leftover turkey,

A half slice of pizza and a thin peice of smokey beef jerky. 

What did I do to live like this?

My home, my bed, and my dignity is what I miss. 

Not having a permanent living place can be scary,

But with the help of kind strangers -- I know this is only temporary.