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Studio One – Literacy Three Ways Part One: A Literacy of FirstsWhat is the first book or story you recall someone reading to you? There’s a picture from my childhood – one of my favorites – of my dad and me lying on our backs on the guest bedroom bed with a Classic Car magazine raised above our heads. This was the first of his many attempts to pass on a love of old cars to me, in which he never succeeded. Of course, I don’t remember this moment because I was only 12 months old or so. The first book that I remember being read to me was a folktale called, The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt. My mom must’ve read it to me on a late night, cozied up in my parents’ room, approaching bedtime. It was about three mighty trees in the forest who dreamt big about their future. When they were chopped down, they each were turned into ordinary objects, far from their dreams, but in the end they fulfilled their true desire. For example, one tree dreamt of being crafted into a chest that would hold great treasure. Instead he was made into a feed box for animals, but this was the manger that held baby Jesus, certainly a great treasure.What is the first thing you remember reading on your own, either to yourself or to someone else?The first book I read on my own was a BOB book – I don’t remember which one, for they all seem the same. Those thin square books came in sets of sets of 12 in every color of the rainbow, and I always raced to finish them quickly. Each time hoping to beat my previous record. Reading was less about enjoyment, but more about accomplishment. It was like a point was added to a scoreboard somewhere each time a finished the next book. This must have been the start to my love of reading.What was the last book you were assigned to read in high school? Brave New World by Aldous Huxley was the last book I was assigned to read in high school. It amazed me that many of the fictional elements of the book had come true so soon – almost like the Bible. For example, in the book, characters were dependent on soma pills to relieve stress. Dependent on pills to relieve stress? Sounds a lot like modern-day society.What is your earliest memory of being in the car and hearing a song on the radio (or whatever your parents listened to as they drove around)? I feel left out when my peers rave about music from the late 1990s and early 2000s. Only now am I discovering the classics like New Edition, TLC and Boys to Men.In our house, we listened to strictly gospel music. I can’t tell you about the above artists, but I can tell you about CeCe Winans, my mother’s favorite gospel artist, and how we used to sing and dance to her song “Alabaster Box” all the time. I do remember, driving home one day (from church of course), we were listening to the Praise 100.9 radio station when one of the broadcasters slipped an adult joke. I begged and begged, but they wouldn’t explain. I begged and begged some more, so finally they agreed to explain it to me when I turned 19. Well, I’ll be 19 in a few months and I’m still looking forward to hearing the joke.What was the first music piece you bought (or otherwise procured) for yourself? iCarly Soundtrack. This was a big deal for me because for the first few years of iCarly I was not allowed to watch it because it was inappropriate – they did adult stuff like kiss and use the words “stupid” and “shut-up”. I’d gone from gospel music to songs like, “Let’s Hear it for the Boy”, “Girlfriend,” and “I’m Grown.” I sure did feel grown when listening to the album, although I knew nothing about boys and still blushed the idea of datingWhat was your favorite television show going as far back as you can recall? Dragon Tales. It was a PBS show about two children with a magical scale that transported them into the world of dragons. I loved the show so much that my mom bought tickets for my best friend Emily and me to see the Dragon Tales show live. I still have the disposable camera photo and Emily and I grinning beside the big blue dragon – his name was Ord. What is the earliest experience you have with a parent (or grandparent or other) trying to teach you an activity? My uncle is one of the smartest and most opinionated people I know. Each time my family and I visit him and my grandmother in South Georgia he has something new to argue or be passionate about, and he’s always sure to make his opinion known no matter how long it takes and whether or not you were listening. This trip, I was around the age of 7, and my uncle’s latest topic was professional tennis. He raved about Venus and Serena Williams and how smart and dedicated they were – and rich too. He was determined to turn me into the next tennis-playing Williams sister. Each morning for the five or so days we spent down there, my uncle would drag me to the tennis courts to practice. I didn’t enjoy, nor was I naturally inclined to the sport. Luckily, I made it through the five days, and by the next trip to South Georgia, he was on to the next topic.What was the first time you tried to teach someone else to perform a task?It was sixth grade, I was entering my eighth year of ballet and I had just reach a major milestone in the life of a ballerina – dancing on pointe. Pointe shoes were the epitome and ultimate goal of every young ballerina, so over course I had to show them off. I carried my book bag and my dance bag to school that day, as I was carpooling to ballet rehearsal right after school, and somehow, I accidentally on purpose let a pretty pink pointe shoe slip out of my bag. My friend Hannah was fascinated, swiftly kicking off her sneaker and replacing it with the pointe shoe. She flailed across the room, attempting arabesques and pirouettes, untied ribbons flying in the wind, and it was clunky and awful. She was so clueless to the technique, control and grace that I’d spent eight years cultivating, yet it was so funny that I laughed instead of complained. What do you recall as the first major failure you experienced?In middle school, I received Cs and Ds in several classes, not because I didn’t understand the material being taught but because I never turned in homework. At my previous school, there was no homework or grades. If you were smart, the teachers knew it and that was enough. It took me years to understand the importance of grades and to begin turning in homework consistently. What do you recall as your first major success? In 2009 Hannah Montana had her first movie debut in “Hannah Montana: The Movie.” In one scene of the movie Miley Cyrus (who played Hannah Montana) led a mass group dance at the local restaurant called the Hoedown Throwdown. This became the obsession of preteens around the country. A video was released on YouTube, breaking down each dance move, and as one user commented under the video, “I remember when this was the most important thing to learn in my life”, I spent hours each day in front of my computer learning and perfecting each step. Then when I mastered the dance, all my friends and I could do it together. For months, my mom referenced this incident saying, If only you focused as hard on your grades as you did to learn the Hoedown Throwdown.”Elaborate on one of the questions above If you ever hear me say I experienced a smooth transition from a private school to a public middle school, call me out, because I am lying. The social transition was ideal – I made friends, joined the cheerleading team – my academic life suffered. In private school, we learned in a relaxed and individualistic environment. Weekly work plans were given to us to complete at our own pace and group instruction occurred only a few times a week and in short sessions. At the end of the year our teachers met with all of the parents to inform them of whether or not their child would be moving to the next level. No letter grades, no report cards no accountability. If you were smart, you succeeded. When I transitioned to the public middle school, the idea of homework and progress reports listing As, Bs, and Cs, were totally new to me. In 7th and 8th grade I received several Ds and Fs, never because I failed the tests or because I didn’t understand the material, but because I didn’t complete the homework. My intelligence had never been measure this way, and disappointing my parents made the failure so significant. Even after this, it took another year or two to fully adjust. Part Two: A Literacy of Knowing, To ShareList ten (10) things you know how to do and do well.Memorizing for the short-termBaking pound cakeWeigh pros and consPlanning (but not necessarily implementing the plan)Creating speechesThinking creatively Investigating people online and on social mediaCreating peace amidst heated argumentsBring elements together, like managing a group of people with individual strengths and talentsCreating a vision and inspiring peopleExplain why you consider each something you know how to do well.Each of the items I listed above are things that I’ve done more than once, and have been commended for. For example, my grandmother’s pound cake is the only sweet I will eat, so I’ve been learning the recipe and perfect the process for years. You should spoon the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping it up. It’s also best to let your eggs and butter come to room temperature naturally than heating them up in the microwave. My last few pound cakes have been consistently good, and my family has begun to ask for them. I can see my future- soon I’ll be the church cake lady who bakes a cake every week upon request. State one kind of literacy you would like to know how to do, and why. I would like to be literate in dog ownership and care. My family and I will be receiving our first puppy in a month, and none of us having any experience in caring for a dog. While my mother thinks it will be instinctual, like raising a baby, I have never had kids and would rather have an organized game plan.What is the first place you would go to find out about this new literacy? Why? Be specific, please.To the Internet, although it is not a physical place. I beginning to learn the vast amount of information there is available to first-time dog owners. SPeciifcally I’d review YouTube videos, because they are easier to take in than pages of paragraphs, and I’d also look for advice specific to our breed, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. What is the second place you would go to find out about this new literacy? Why? Please be specific.It will be our responsibility to compile the information and the differing opinions and take it to other dog owners, the breeder and the veterinarian to determine what’s best of the information. Our family friends who own dogs live lifestyles similar to ours, therefore they will give us realistic and practical advice and recommend affordable products. The breeder is familiar with our puppy’s family line and their tendencies, and also best practices for taking care of a puppy. The veterinarian is of source superiorly educated and make call us to consider matter that we may not have before. Give a reason as to why this is a form of literacy others should also be open to learning.Dogs are members of the family and they deserve to be cared for and loved just like any human. In my research thus far, I’ve learned information that I wouldn’t have otherwise known. For example, many dogs dislike hugs and some even view it as a threat. I’m sure that his piece of information would surprise some people who have owned dogs for years. To care for your dog the way they deserve it is important to continually education yourself on the dos, don’ts and best practices. State how this form of literacy is going to benefit you in the future. Tell if it will also benefit others, and how.Learning how to take care of a dog will teach me true responsibility. Being accountable for a living animals is very different than washing dishes or doing laundry. You must be concerned about the dog’s health and mental-wellbeing. Responsibility is an important skill to learn to benefit you in the workplace as well as other social situations. This experience will also prepare me for my own dog one day.Sell it to me: in a couple or three sentences, make the case for this being THE new literacy for people to know, as if you were promoting it among people at an interest fair. The American family is not complete without the barking pup in the yard. Dogs bring us happiness, stress-relief, physical exercise, and security. It’s time we appreciate our dogs for all they do and care for them the way they deserve. Part Three: Literacy Maps, To Show Studio One ReflectionThis has been a great way to reflect on what I know now and what I want to learn soon. First I reminisced on my past, then I planned for my future, and finally I created of visual representation of how the two relate. The hardest but most enjoyable portion of the activity was Part One. Upon reading each prompt, I was flooded with memories and it was difficult to choose which memory to highlight. For example, I’m sure that the ballet incident in sixth grade was not the first time I attempted to teach someone something. I have two younger siblings, whom I taught a ton before the ballet story, however this story came to mind first. It was also the most memorable and therefore the easiest the write about.I wouldn’t agree that this task has given me a better idea of my personal literacies. I’m more aware of my perceived strengths but not necessarily abilities. There are things that I can do that I don’t regularly think about, and noticing them would require reflection over a longer period. This exercise has however taught me the importance of learning concrete skills to enhance your life. ................
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