My “SIngle Story” kicked in a few months after that. I remember one day just looking in the mirror and feeling lost. Something just seemed off. I then realized I had been feeling like this for a bit, but it just suddenly occurred to me. I remember looking at myself and thinking, I don’t want to look feminine, but not because of fashion.

Looking back now, I realize this was when I first began to question my gender identity. Instead if taking it slow and thinking about it, I just told myself I was insane, and that I was a cisgender woman through and through. Part of the reason for this was because in my mind, I didn’t look the part. My hair was too long, I usually dressed too feminine, and I just didn’t give off the vibe of a she/they. I had a single story of what a demi girl was supposed to look like, act like, and just be like. I did not fit in those boxes, so I shut myself down. This led to a summer full of anxiety and constant questioning. If I had just looked past this single story, I could have talked to people I trusted and have them try using she/they pronouns for me instead of she/her. I still have only told four people. It is just hard for me when I have no way of actually knowing until I hear it in action. 

This experience showed me that single stories can be harmful. While my single story didn’t hurt anyone else, it was still harmful to me. This could be happening for other people as well. This shows me that I need to break down these single stories for myself and others. I plan to be a high school English teacher, so this is extremely important. This has just further inspired me to make sure I have a variety of books for my students to read and choose from. I want them to experience characters that they can all connect with and relate to. A safe space to share fictional and nonfiction stories about anyone and everyone is one way we can break these single stories.

I am currently taking a Literacy, Language, and Learning Theories course, and we are currently discussing how we read. We all have different strategies for reading, and this is what we need to teach our students about reading. Atwell mentions how teachers feel they can’t let students pick up their habits, like passing over a word they don’t know (ch 7 pg 154). Personally, when I read for pleasure I will either look at context clues, look it up in the dictionary, or just pass over it; however, when reading for a project or academically I try to figure out as many of the unknown words I can. I plan to let my students know, because trying to get them to use reading strategies most people don’t actually use may cause them to dislike reading. In my Literacy, Language, and Learning Theories class we also discussed how we are not always good readers. I plan on letting my students know this. Sometimes when I am reading something I don’t like, I’m not the best reader. While I still try, sometimes we have times where we are bad readers, and that is okay. I think hiding this from our students is a factor of making them less interested in wanting to be good readers.

One thing that I will definitely “steal” from Atwell is the letter activity. I think this is a great option for student engagement, and how they are interacting with their book (ch 8 pg 171). When using this method I would have them pick out a notebook to write their letters in, and then I would collect them and respond. That way we would have all of the letters in one place. I would maybe have them do at least one letter per week, but they would always be allowed to drop it off whenever they wanted with more letters. They could even write multiple letters during the week, and then give it to me at the end of the week. I’m not sure of the specific yet, but I think this is a great way to interact with my students. In all, being able to adapt and change some of Atwell’s ideas to my own needs and styles of teaching will definitely be a great tool.