My Memory of Language Arts

       When I think of my first experiences with language arts, a word that comes to mind is struggle. Whether it was with reading or writing, I always had to put extra effort to produce average work in these areas. Even spelling tests were a nightmare for me as a young student. I can remember being excited to hand in a writing assignment that I spent hours on the night before, only to find out I earned a much lower grade than I expected. After that, I got to the point where I found myself embarrassed to turn in assignments and read out loud to even a teacher. I would consistently get a stomach ache when it was time for language arts. I was placed into special education in fourth grade, where I finally began getting the help that I needed. 
 
       It took a few years, but once my reading and writing skills improved, I went from reading simple picture books to more difficult chapter books. Shortly after I was introduced to the Junie B. Jones series, I developed a love for reading that I didn't think was possible for me. For the first time in my life, I became confident and proud of myself as a student, and especially as a reader. As I spent more time reading the various books in the series, my reading, writing, and spelling skills blossomed. My grades improved and my confidence soared. By the end of eighth grade, I was removed from special education and was ready to begin high school without extra help. I no longer viewed language arts, or English, as a struggle, but rather a challenge that I worked very hard to overcome. 

       Through high school and college, English became my strong subject and I enjoyed reading and writing like never before. I believe my difficult experience with language arts in elementary school led to my appreciation of the subject and the knowledge that I had acquired, especially while receiving extra help in special education. I remember how it felt to not be able to decode a word or to get a writing assignment back with red writing around every other word. It gets very discouraging to be one of the only students in the class that can't get a perfect score on a spelling test and never have my name on the "excellence in spelling wall". These memories are what encouraged me to become a special eduction teacher the most. There are so many students out there with the same issues that I had to face in reading, writing, spelling, and beyond. I want to play a part in these children's lives by helping them to achieve, like my wonderful special education teachers did for me.