Introduction

Hello! My name is Chelsie Staker. I am in my fifth year of school at USU and my major is English. I am also minoring in Psychology. I am from Clearfield which is about an hour south of Logan. I am the oldest of 7 (3 brothers and 3 sisters). I am really close with all of my siblings and love goofing around with them. My oldest brother is almost finished serving an LDS mission in Brazil and I CANNOT wait to see him. I got married a little over three months ago to my high school sweetheart. It has been fun getting used to married life and starting our lives together. My hobbies really consist of reading, listening to music, watching crime shows, and hanging out with family and friends. I really just love spending time with my husband and relaxing at home.

To me, English is the study and application of language. It isn't just reading or writing essays to please the teacher. English is the opportunity to explore universal themes and feelings. It is the opportunity to consider things in ways you might not have before. Through English classes, students should learn to relate literature that they read to "every-day" life. English classes should also to teach students how to express themselves in writing and how to use writing to serve their own purposes. Overall, I think the one thing that English really teaches is critical thinking.

What really drew me to English was my love for the written word and the power it has to move us. I loved that I could read a book about a fictional character and find ways in which their situation or feelings related to mine so deeply. I wanted to be able to show others just how powerful words can be. While not everyone enjoys reading, it is possible for everyone to find literature or words that they truly love. I was also drawn to English because I enjoy writing. I enjoy the freedom that writing gives us to express ourselves in ways that we cannot through speaking. Writing gives us the freedom to say things we normally wouldn't or to look at things in a different way than we would have before.

My current definition of literacy is the ability to read, comprehend and apply knowledge. Does this mean understanding everything perfectly and applying it right away? No. To me literacy is a process. In order to learn something you have to start at a very basic level and climb your way up. Everyone learns in different ways and on different levels. The tricky part of teaching is being able to help everyone gain the highest form of literacy possible when everyone is so different. I think that literacy definitely relates to the subject of English. It is the basic goal of English. In English classes students are expected to be able to read literature, apply it to many situations, comprehend what they have read, and write about it in such a way that they show they understand the key themes of the books. Literacy is key to success in an English classroom.