I have been working with students in English Language Arts for over a decade, and have focused intently on Reading Intervention and Literacy Acquisition. Now, I function as a Reading Intervention and Literacy Acquisition Specialist.

My love of reading and writing did not bloom until quite late in my childhood. I struggled deeply with reading and writing as a child, and my relationship to literacy was rocky, and full of insecurities and frustrations. In fact, several of my early elementary school teachers suggested that I be held back to allow me to catch up in these areas. Being told several years in a row that I was “behind” was devastating to my self esteem. On top of my slow growth in the area of literacy, I also struggled daily with relentless ADHD. The combination left me feeling, and believing, that I was less intelligent and less capable than other people.

That was until sixth grade. One day, I found a book that I fell in love with, and I found the difficult task of reading worth every bit of effort it took me to read it. It is important to note that I was still reading at around a fourth grade reading level in sixth grade, and writing half-heartedly with little hope of catching up to my peers. It hurt me deeply to look around and see so many students finishing chapter books in a week, and writing full essays while I was still on chapter one, paragraph one. But this book, and the following book report, was the beginning of the beautiful relationship I now have with literacy.