Laura Soto December 15, 2013 LRC 480C-Maria Acevedo Aquino Final Self-Reflection on Stories Ill explain my journey

with story by explaining how its definition for me has changed throughout the duration of this class. When we were first asked what we thought story was, I wrote, It can be told through different mediums, provokes emotions, can be affected by time, gives information, can contain different perspectives and mean different things to different people, and can lead to another story. During my midterm, I agreed with my former self but added that there was so much more depth to this definition. I explained that stories now made me analyze if it was a single story, would the emotions it provoked evoke discussion, and will the audience relate to the story and feel comfortable enough to share their own stories? Although these definitions still apply, Ive had time to reflect on what they mean for me as an educator. Through family interactions, Ive come to understand that families use stories in various ways. No family is the same but some of the motives behind stories that Ive been lucky enough to observe have been to relive a memory, make personal connections, explain transitions and help communicate and explain their values. Educators arent very different when it comes to why they share and listen to stories. Some of the reasons include to find funds of knowledge, make connections with the family, create relationships and to understand a childs behaviors. Stories are very important but their role in my life has changed after this class. Without realizing it, each assignment has shown me a different aspect to story, how unpredictable story can be and how each of my definitions of story interconnects. Literature circles emphasized that every story has multiple perspectives. Reflection Journals allowed me to make personal connections and understand how important the personal connection is. The most important reflection journal that I did all semester was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and I truly believe it was because of all the personal connections I made with it. I now take this

Laura Soto December 15, 2013 LRC 480C-Maria Acevedo Aquino Final Self-Reflection on Stories into consideration when bringing stories into my classroom and ask myself if my students will connect to this story. Invitations highlighted the different strategies that can be used by educators to extract a story. The Diversity Toss and Text Set taught me that there are deeper issues and interconnections behind every story. Furthermore, I learned that these stories are hard to find, especially age appropriate ones, but its important to keep looking for them because its important that each child see themselves within their classroom. The Map Literacy Experience helped me be creative in telling a story. This allowed me to reflect on the options I will give my students in the future that will encourage them to use their creativity. The next story observation was made on the Storytelling Mini Inquiry I project; there was a note on the graded version that summarizes my learning from this experience, Great example to understand how natural stories are for children and adults. The Read Aloud Inquiry I underlined how important it was for children to identify with the story you tell them. The Something Scary experience allowed me to realize how important the illustrations are to the story. This learning outcome came out again during my Family Story Interaction when the family pointed out how important pretty illustrations are. This interaction also demonstrated that stories can be found anywhere as long as I was willing to listen, empower, and be curious. Another interaction that stressed this learning outcome about stories was the Read Aloud Mini Inquiry II. This engagement allowed me to see that stories can happen anywhere and at any time. This flexibility with stories will help me cater to the many different learning styles within my classroom. The Author/Illustrator/Poet project helped me find the hidden stories within a story. Through this observation, I was able to understand that I must always search for more meaning behind every story. This includes stories told by the families in my classroom.