Ivan Ramirez

English 1A

2/21/14

Draft 3

 

There have been many things and people that have influenced both my writing and reading skills. I have traveled to many places and met many people that have had a huge impact in my writing and reading. I used to be one of those kids that was never really confident in his writing ability along with his reading as well. I am usually a very confident person but I was never truly confident when it came down to reading and writing. I would never have a very high reading level when I was younger and was basically playing catch up trough the years. My first language was Spanish and I did not learn English until I was in third grade, which is why I feel like I didn’t have as high reading and writing scores as my peers. I am a soccer player and have always been confident about my soccer ability, but when it came to school it was a different story. I have two younger brothers Alan and Omar and they all have had to go through the same struggle that I had to go through when I was a kid. But with It all went away during high school after I got much advice from friends, teachers and constantly practiced. It took me a while to get confident but after long hours of putting in the work I am content with my writing ability. There have been many teachers that have contributed to my writing ability today and have had many friends that have had a huge part in it as well.         
        The teacher that I have had so far that has had the biggest influence in both my

reading and writing skills has to be Mr. Roman. Mr. Roman was my English teacher my junior
year of high school. He taught me so many skills and tactics that comes to do with my reading
and writing that I still use today and plan to keep using. They aren’t huge skills that
automatically made both my writing and reading better, they were little skills that are crucial
when it comes down to writing a paper. He taught me how to properly plan an essay before I
write it in his own different way.  A lot of teachers have taught me how to plan essays but the
way he taught me was the easiest and came more naturally for me to do. Most teaches wanted
me to go through this whole process on planning my papers, but he taught me to just write
down a list of potential things I am willing to write about and just bullet point main ideas that
will go in my paragraphs. He told me not to go into specifics when it comes to planning, just to
cover some main points. He also taught me not to follow the five paragraph motto that so
many kids are attached too. I will never forget what he told me, he said “Just write until you
think it’s enough”. He also taught me many other things but those are just some of the ones
that have stuck with me over the years.

            Another teacher that has had arguably the largest influence with my writing is Ms. Ferrares, my fourth grade teacher. I know that I was still a young boy at the point that I had her, but she had the biggest influence with me when it came down to learning the English language faster. Like I said in my first paragraph, I didn’t learn English until I was in third grade. While my peers were reading chapter books, I was trying to read picture books. She would always stay after school and in during lunch to help me with my reading and writing. She would teach me how to pronounce words that I did not understand and truly gave me a kick start with my English. I feel like I would not be were I am today if it wasn’t for her willingness to always help me.

            Many of my friends have also had a huge contribution to my reading and writing. My

friends have had more of bigger part when it comes down to my reading and annotating
abilities. I would always forget what I read and would always struggled to find important quotes
I read when It came down to doing a paper on a book that I read. I would always complain
about and wined to my friends about it in many occasions. It wasn’t until my friend Kaylie
McGrady taught me the techniques that she used when she read that I actually started
annotating readings correctly. She told me to underline important quotes and events that I
thought were important. She also taught me to write down little notes after every page I read
to help me out when finding things when I would have to write papers about. I also learned
from her to write a little paragraph summary after reading every chapter to help me remember
the events that occurred throughout the book. I had many friends that gave me plenty of good
advice but she helped me out the most because I started using the techniques right after she
taught them to me.

            My parents have always had a huge part not just in my reading and writing skills, but my education overall. They would usually not be able to help me out because they were not very good with the English language themselves. But the fact that they made me put in the extra hours in reading, writing, and school overall helped me substantially over the years. My mom would always read me books when I was younger and acted like a Ms. Ferrares with me, but at home. She would make me read everyday and had me write everyday as well. No matter how silly the topic she picked was. Even though they were not the biggest influence when it came down to actually improving my writing skills, the work they pushed me to do definitely allowed me to be at the level that I am today.

 Overall I am thankful for all the people that have helped me over the years with my

reading and writing. I only mentioned a few people in my paper but there have been many other teachers and friends that have taught me very important skill sets. I would have to write a ten page paper if I included each and every one of them. I am not saying that my writing is perfect, not even close. I know that I still have a lot of skills to learn and a lot of work to put in if I want to be at the writing level that I want to be at. Right now I am content with my writing ability, but I want to be happy about it. Hopefully I meet many more great teachers and friends that will take me to the level that I am pursuing.