Personal Literacy Story by: Nicole Zivku

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks has changed the way I view literacy. Ever since opening up one of his books, I have fallen in love with reading. This story captured me from the beginning and I want to share this passion with students. I want to make them feel how I do about books and inspire them to want to read for fun. According to the four resources model, literacy learners are meaning makers. They use prior knowledge and personal experiences to construct and communicate meaning when reading and writing. I have used my personal literacy story to give meaning to myself as a reader. Through my literacy history, I have realized that I have grown as a reader and found my true passions. When I teach literacy one day, I would like my students to be excited about class and learning to read and write. All of my experiences have influenced me to become who I am today, someone with a love for reading.

My positive experiences in school have shaped the choices I have made. After university, I volunteered with the Reading Buddies program to help children continue reading throughout the summer. The program encourages reluctant readers to enjoy books by making reading fun through games and activities. I have a passion for reading and by helping children read I wanted to give them the confidence they need. I believe it is important for children to love reading and read for fun. Reading is important in my life and I want children to be excited about it. I want to teach my future students to love literacy and be passionate readers and writers.

I would go to the library with my mom and sister to borrow books. I fell in love with reading. I enjoyed reading romance novels. Over the summer, I would read many books and add them to my summer reading list. Sometimes I would read one book in one day! My favourite authors included Rachel Hawthorne and Kate Cann. I also love cozying up with a good book in the winter. I enjoyed going to Chapters because they had so many books to choose from. I bought many different novels and loved series. Whenever a new book in my series that I was reading came out I was so excited to go and buy it. I enjoyed fantasy books, especially vampire themes. Once my reading foundation was set and as I got older, I started to really enjoy Nicholas Sparks books and they became my favourite. It is said that, "Nicholas Sparks is one of the world's most beloved storytellers."Dear John by Nicholas Sparks has shaped my beliefs and values about literacy. His books are really moving and inspired ...

My Personal Literacy Story begins with my mom reading me bedtime stories. Before I could read, I loved listening to stories and seeing the colourful pictures in books. Watching Disney movies over and over has also affected my love of reading. I have always had lots of books exposed to me as a young child, such as Dr. Seuss. When I was in grade one, my teacher was named Mrs. Shedden and she influenced my reading by giving me a book every night to read. I remember always filling out a reading log in elementary school to track how much I was reading at home. She also gave us a list of words that we had to practice and say to the teacher. My favourite book series in grade one and two was Junie B. Jones. I liked when the librarian at my school would read to students and dramatize her voice. I would visit  the library with my mom and sister for Reading Buddies and to take out books. Through my elementary school years, Reading Buddies was a program that I got the opportunity to p...

Hi I'm Nicole Zivku and I will be sharing my experiences with literacy. I am a consecutive education student at Brock University. I am going to focus on one particular text, Dear John by Nicholas Sparks,  that has shaped my beliefs and values about literacy. Before I get to this point in my life, I will give you some background on my literacy experiences. Literacy teachers are well informed and appreciative of the way that they became literate - they are aware of how their literacy history impacts their behaviours, beliefs, values, and relationships with others. I will recall, document, and present my Personal Literacy Story as a means to understand myself as a literacy teacher, acknowledging how social and cultural practices have shaped this history. My experiences with reading have influenced me to become the literate individual that I am. I will also explore how this personal literacy history connects to the course and my future practice. I will explore influences and ev...