Sunday, August 4, 2024

My Literacy Story - An Autobiographical Paper

 Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

The school is crucial in ensuring that all students have great literacy skills. The level of literacy abilities we possessed yesterday determines how proficient we are in writing and reading today. The sort of literacy skill that students are taught in school has an impact on both their academic and social achievement. To satisfy the needs of the students, teachers should carefully design the lesson and provide enough skills utilizing a range of ways. An academically sound student who has strong literacy abilities will also always have strong communication skills. With solid literacy skills, they can learn to read, absorb information in the right way, become more analytical, understand texts clearly, synthesize ideas, give and accept feedback, and assess their work (Teach SDGs, n.d.). This essay explains how I improved my literacy abilities to become a proficient writer and teacher.

Description of Learning to Read and Write

Since I come from a low-income household in a small village, I didn't begin reading and writing until the day I entered kindergarten. The focus of my introductory classes has been on vowel sounds and the English alphabet. I initially had trouble understanding because English is the language of teaching in my nation and it is a foreign language to me. By the time I was in second grade, we had been exposed to rhyme songs, reading children's books, and sight words, so I was gradually able to catch on. My previous education was rote-based, and our teachers expected us to retain all they learned. Because the text's actual meaning was never spelt out for me, it was challenging to understand. I started reading more books as I entered fifth grade since my father used to reward me with comic books to encourage me to do so. Before I went to sleep at night, he would tell me stories. I gradually began to enjoy reading books after that to learn more brand-new tales. I started bringing those comics to class, reading them aloud to my friends, and telling stories about them in my free time. On the other hand, our teacher used to make us write every day as part of the writing portion of our class. I set aside an hour each day to write my work. In addition to everything else that came up throughout the lecture, we were told to prepare an essay. My older brother had already entered the eighth grade at that point. He began to serve as my at-home instructor, teaching me how to read and write effectively for an hour at a time. Whenever I asked him, he even dispelled my doubts. My view on my studies and the future changed when I was first to arrive in class for the first time in seventh grade. I began keeping track of significant quotations from various books in my journal. Later, my brother showed me how to effectively use those quotes in my writing. I pressed my father for additional books, which he kindly obliged. I was expanding my imagination, changing the way I used to think, and becoming more enthusiastic about reading and writing. I eventually graduated from high school with good grades. 

Discussion of books read as a child

I can still recall reading four books when I was younger. I still recall the short tale collection my father used to gift me, "Aesop's Fable." I learned important lessons about being a nice boy from Aesop's Fables. I also read the "Panchatantra Series," which contained intriguing short stories. I developed an appreciation for how stories were put together and the meanings they conveyed to me. I started telling stories among my friends over time. Along with my brother, I used to read his favourite comic book series, "Tintin Comics." I can vividly picture the many facial expressions my brother used to tell the story. When I was in high school, literature was introduced to us. Reading works by Charles Dickens, Rabindranath Tagore, and Anati Desai sparked my interest in studying history via literature. My favourite Charles Dickens work was "The Great Expectation," which tackled child labour and the French Revolution. When I was reading that novel, I often sobbed. After that, it took me a week to finish reading Charles' book "Hard Times." Along with that, I still recall the Anita Desai book "Pride and Prejudice," which helped me vividly recall the realism of life concerning loneliness, identity, femininity, and interpersonal interactions and directly discuss societal issues of the time (StudySmarter UK, n.d). (Critics, 2022, December 21). Due to the societal concern that had been ingrained in my head, this reading passion eventually led me to start creating novels on my own. To become a small part of the change in this society, I vowed to one day distribute my writing throughout the globe with a particular emphasis on the themes of peace and values. Those novels held a special place in my heart because, as of today, I am the proud author of sixteen books, two of which are sold on a global scale in both hard copies and eBook formats. Most essential, the topic of peace and morals is present in those works that are published abroad.

Description of Current Reading and Writing Habits

I consider myself to be a successful writer and reader now. I have written sixteen books, in addition to other works, as was previously said. I released three poetry anthologies, two of which were dedicated solely to the subject of peace. In four different cities in Romania and Italy, my anthology "White Dove," which contains 130 poems, was released. The Rhythm of the Butterfly, a new anthology, was released in India and Romania. For efficient English literature instruction, I have also written two manuals for instructors and students. At the request of numerous publications worldwide, I have also authored a large number of poems and articles. I have a personal library in my home with over 1,000 books, and I read novels avidly in addition to producing them. I enjoy reading books about Greek mythology, literary history, science fiction, and philosophy. My future book, which will be published in the middle of 2024, is a science fiction tale infused with moral principles and practical knowledge.

The very reason I read more books is so that I may learn more about life, solve the issues I encounter, and create and publish my book. Second, I enjoy encouraging my students to read and write more. Finally, rather than squandering time while having fun, I prefer to use my alone time to read and write. I am aware that reading increases my ability to communicate and write in English. I like reading because it takes me to places in the world that I have never been to. Despite my inability to travel, I am doing it every day through reading.

Explanation of Personal Story in Connection to Teaching

Reading opens the door to knowing everything there is to know (Keyser, 2022, November 1). Because I can share my success story with my students in my classroom to inspire and motivate them to be effective writers and readers in the future, my attitude toward reading and writing and how I have learned to read and write serves as the foundation of my teaching. They can improve their reading and writing skills and read for information at the same time through incentives. Reading would also enable me to accurately choose which texts to read for what purposes as I teach literature to grade twelve students, providing me with all the knowledge I need to impart to my students. It takes a lot of reading and writing to study a literary work, and I think that the way I approach my reading and writing will set the best example for my students because what they read also has content-related information that can be used to analyze the text critically and understand it in the context of a social setting. By serving as a role model for my students in the classroom, I can assist them in acquiring these talents.

Conclusion

Instead of just teaching a set curriculum area, literacy skills should be continuously developed for children (Teach SDGs, n.d.). Teachers should consistently choose texts that help students enhance their reading and comprehension skills (IMSE, 2023). Additionally, it's important to inspire pupils by sharing the experience of reading and writing stories with them. Success in every learning area in the classroom requires the capacity to use the significant, identifiable, and distinctive literacy that is necessary for learning and representative of the subject matter.

 

 

References

Critics, I. B. (2022, December 21). Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Book Review. Indian Book Critics. https://indianbookcritics.in/novels/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen-book-review/

StudySmarter UK. (n.d.). Anita Desai. https://www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/american-literature/anita-desai/

IMSE. (2023). Essential Literacy Skills: What to Teach and When to Teach It. IMSE - Journal. https://journal.imse.com/essential-literacy-skills/

Keyser, A. (2022, November 1). The importance of reading skills & why is reading important? WorksheetCloud. Download CAPS School Worksheets, South Africa. https://www.worksheetcloud.com/blog/why-is-reading-important/

Teach SDGs. (n.d.). Literacy Skills – The Root of All Knowledge. http://www.teachsdgs.org/blog/literacy-skills-the-root-of-all-knowledge

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