Students Deserve Choices

      When I reflect back on my own education, one area that stands out for me...where I consider myself lucky...was in the area of literacy and language arts.  As a child, I was infatuated with movies, watching hundreds of cars fill up the local cinema 1-100 superplex and seeing the crowds and lines form.  I was enthralled with every last bit of it, from the buzz of the people waiting in line, to the sneak previews, to the popcorn and candy.  As a result, at the age of 13, after finishing eighth grade at my public middle school,  I decided to apply for admission to a performing arts high school.  I can still recall my guidance counselor admonishing me that "this was a school for professional actors, for students who were currently working on Broadway, and in New York City in television and film," not for beginners like myself.  Way to almost scare someone away from pursuing an interest!  Fortunately, my guidance counselor's warning only fueled my determination to audition.  With a chip on my shoulder, I  rehearsed my audition monologue daily with a family friend who was a former theater major at SCSU.  About a month later, I received an acceptance letter in the mail.  To this day, it was one of the most satisfying moments of my life!  What does all this have to do with literacy, and how literacy is taught in the classroom?  Well, I pursued acting, it was my choice.  It was never forced on me.  I had ownership of it, and it gave me autonomy.  As a result, all the reading I did at my performing arts high school, from Shakespeare to Ibsen to Arthur Miller, it was all reading in which I had a vested interest.  As a result, I enjoyed the work of reading.  No one had to implore me to read, and I spent a lot of time reading.  I spent a lot of time with each text.  If I struggled with comprehension at times, I was motivated to look up the word or words I didn't know.  Same goes for the writing I did back then.  I poured myself into writing monologues, writing scenes with my classmates, and writing short, one-act plays.  I believe that if students are allowed to make choices in language arts classrooms, they too will be motivated, and their chances for success will increase.