1 Literacy Autobiography Ryan Silkworth

9/15/11

1

Part I My Reading Autobiography
Literacy is something I have always thought is an important fundamental skill in
education. However, it surprised me when I sat down and thought about my own experiences
how little I could remember about learning to read and write. I cant begin to tell you how
exactly I learned to read or write. As far back as I can remember I was at least writing or reading
words. I remember learning about sentence structure, paragraphing, and reading comprehension
in early elementary school. All of which were, as far as I can remember, easy skills for me pick
up, though I did not find them enjoyable. I do remember struggling early in my education, as I
still do, with spelling. I was at a Montessori private school when I was younger, and I know they
dont put a lot of emphasis on pushing students to work. When I entered public schools for first
time I was in the third grade. While I was behind in almost every subject, I was able to read and
write at that point.
Of course now-a-days I give little thought to reading or writing as it is such an integral
part of my day. I wish I could read faster or write with more skill; however I have realized that
literacy is not a skill I often focus much time or effort in. I am positive I need to work on the
basics of writing and its probably due to the fact I have not worked on literacy since my days in
English class. I dont read for pleasure very often, and when I do it is generally late and I fall
asleep before I make much progress. Therefore, the vast majority of reading I do is from
textbooks and scholarly essays.


2 Literacy Autobiography Ryan Silkworth
9/15/11

2

I then turned my thoughts towards reading and writing within my discipline, mathematics
and engineering. I still struggle sometimes with the math language, spelling and reading and I
wondered if it didnt have something to do with my early setback of being a Montessori student.
Numbers and equations have always been easier for me than words and letters.
Part II My Literacy Philosophy
I think reading and writing are important fundamental skills, particularly for the
American school system. Writing is a way to communicate your thoughts, ideas, and beliefs.
Without a strong foundation in writing I could see how a student would struggle with school.
Teachers expect student to articulate their knowledge base with written word. A student
struggling with writing wouldnt be able to demonstrate their understanding properly.
Reading is similarly important a students success. A reading deficit would cause
problems for student far beyond their inability to comprehend material. A student, for instance,
with poor reading skills could easily make a mistake on tests, not due to knowledge deficiency,
but because theyve misread the instructions.
Many students struggle with math and I think that some of that misunderstanding stems
from their math literacy. Students are required to grasp math concepts at the same time they are
taking a crash course in math vernacular. Like I previously mentioned students can make test
mistakes due to reading and writing deficiencies. I think it is critical, therefore, that math and
science teachers take into account how they are teaching literacy in their own content areas. Not
only does a student have to learn the content but must also learn become literate in that fields
way of communicating.