Kyle Crifasi
Richard
English IV, 1B
31 August 2011
Literacy Narrative Typically, people think of reading when they see a novel or a short story, but I think of reading when I’m out on the baseball field. When I hear the word “reading”, unlike most people, I think of a green grassy baseball diamond at night, with the lights lighting it up, filled with fans in the stands. Believe it or not, I read all the time on the field. I read the ball coming off the bat when I’m playing in the field. When I hear the “ding” of the metal bat and hard, rubber ball colliding, I know that there is a chance I could make a great play. I can see the ball getting bigger and bigger as in approaches me. I read the ball coming out of the pitcher’s hand,
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I always enjoyed reading back then more than I do now. The books that I read now, I’m usually forced to read and they usually aren’t interesting to me. To me, reading means many things, not only the reading of text on a page but actions of others and myself as well. Most other people may not say that they will think of baseball games when thinking of how they read in real life, but I view the game of baseball that way and I like to share about how I can read in many different ways in life. Reading books is definitely not one of my favorite hobbies to do, but every once in a while I will find a good book that will catch my interest for the next couple of months. My learning experience from reading on the field has taught me another meaning of literacy that I would not have realized if I had not thought about what reading really meant to me. I can now understand how I use reading in all different aspects of my life better, and not just in the classroom but throughout my everyday activities, like baseball.
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The idea of reading correlating with baseball has never been a thought process of mine. Before reading the article; I reflected on the title: “Why Reading is Like Baseball”. As I analyzed the two subject matters; it became clear. The two subjects have never been assembled in the same category; neither in my educational journey or my teaching career. Therefore, this idea instantly sparked my curiosity. As I started to read the article; the metaphor of reading and baseball became more vivid to me. Furthermore, a few points in the article really challenged my perception regarding reading instruction, or just instruction in general for that matter.
I first started playing youth baseball back in 2008. I had a passion for it since I was a very young boy. I used to sit at home on my PlayStation 2 playing MLB the show. My baseball idols are Derek Jeter, David Ortiz, Jackie Robinson, Sammy Sosa, and Alfonso Soriano. I used to play catch all the time with my cousin Tristan.
It was a chilly Monday night as I finished putting on my baseball uniform. I was nervous because it was the championship game. We were playing our rival team, the Yankees. My close friend Tom was their pitcher, and he struck out a lot of people. Tonight, I was going to get a hit off of him. At least I hoped so. I heard a beep in the driveway and realized it was my mom who was ready to go. ¨ Coming Mom!¨ I shouted through the garage door. As I jogged to the car, I could not stop thinking about getting a hit off of Tom.
That when you do something in the past that you weren’t good at, then you try it again. When, you try it again you would know what to do but better. So, when I took a break from baseball and didn’t play for months and I came back better than I ever was. So, taking a break was a good thing for me cause i cleared my head and had a different mindset. And, they made me be better at what I do, and maybe even better than people that I couldn’t beat in the past. I once, saw a docomatary about a player (Derek Jeter) that took a break from playing sports and was a good thing for the Yankees. They won the World Series when he came back to play for them. Then i started to think to myself that if they took a break and
Literacy plays a huge role in my daily life. Every single day I read and write. Whether it’s writing an email or reading a text message, class assignment, discussion board, etc. My literacy journey is unique because I have had different experiences. As a result, this is how my literacy journey has let me to be the reader that I am.
I have been working with the Coweta County School System since August of 2000. I began as a paraprofessional working with students with Autism through the Emory Autism Program. I enjoyed working with special needs students so much that I entered the TAPP program to obtain my teaching certificate. I began working at East Coweta Middle School in the fall of 2002 and am still currently working there as an interrelated special education teacher. I have taught resource, collaborative, and co-teach classes. I have even had one year where I worked one-on-one with a student that required specialized instruction.
Throughout my childhood, the idea of having a college education was greatly stressed. As a result, it was my duty as the next generational child, to excel in my studies and achieve a life of prosperity and success. Learning became the basic foundation of my growth. Therefore, my youth was overtaken by many hours spent reading and writing what was known to be correct "Standard" English. I first found this to be a great shortcoming, but as I grew older, I began to realize the many rewards acquired by having the ability to be literate.
Literature is everywhere. No matter where you are, you’re exposed to it. It is on your phone, in the paper, on the McDonald 's receipt in a wad under your car seat, it is even on the billboard signs as you drive down the interstate. With literature getting so much coverage there is no question of where such heated debates come from. It is hard to have an argument or sometimes even a conversation with a person using ONLY literature. Sentences can have the same words, but handed to different people and they may interpret the sentence in two polar opposite directions. Debates take on a huge problem when they are done solely through literature, unfortunately I found that out the hard way.
My sophomore year at Central High School did not start out the best. I was recovering from an awful grade point average, awful for me at least, I was sitting the bench in a sport that I had lost interest in, and overall I just did not enjoy school anymore. I personally did not see the point in coming to school at all. It took some time, but I finally started to get my grades up, my season had ended for football, and I knew I was not going back. After everything was starting to go my way I started thinking, “What am I going to do next?”
English has never been my favorite class to take. I was more interested in math because there is one answer to a question and that is it. With English, everyone writes differently. Style is difficult to grade and there is not a yes or no answer to an essay.
Throughout my childhood, the idea of having a college education was greatly stressed. As a result, it was my duty as the next generational child, to excel in my studies and achieve a life of prosperity and success. Learning became the basic foundation of my growth. Therefore, my youth was overtaken by many hours spent reading and writing what was known to be correct "Standard" English. I first found this to be a great shortcoming, but as I grew older, I began to realize the many rewards acquired by having the ability to be literate.
I am sitting at my work desk reading an autobiography called the Blood of the Lambs, and I ponder about the amount of time having passed since I have sat down to a nice personal evening with a book. Upon reflection, I realize that the path I took to learning to read wasn’t an easy one and involved time, effort, and hard work.
One day baseball season was starting, and James and Adam wanted to join, so they asked their parents.
My entire life I have always felt like I have been looking at the world through plated glass. Never fitting in to my ethnicity or my nationality. As I was sitting in Starbucks drinking my Caramel Ice- Latte we begin a discussion about my favorite sport in the world.. Baseball! As I rant on for hours on end about why I love the Yankees; I cant seem to notice the peculiar looks on my American sisters faces. “ OMG your so Dominican.” They say it as if its an insult; as if it were a blow to my ribs or a spear shot through my spine. I acknowledged that they didn’t imply it as one, but it stung just the same. Days later; I’m sitting in my living room with my native cousins discussing the appetizing food my mother cooks on Christmas day. As my mouth
Learning to read and write as a child is an experience that all can relate to. The average child learns to read and write at the early ages of three and four. Developing literacy at an early age is crucial to academic development as well as to performance in life. Early development can be just what a child needs to stimulate their minds, which in turn is assisting in the evolution of their future. The early and latter stages of development in a child’s literacy journey are the makings for their reading and writing skills. It also plays part in their analysis of obstacles as well as their developed or problematic literacy future. A child