Blog 1

Hello Everyone! 

My name is Olutoyosi Alawode but I go by Toyosi. I am a 4th Grade Special Education teacher in East Brunswick. I am working towards my Masters degree in Reading Specialist. This will be my fourth year of teaching. I started with preschool, kindergarten and now fourth grade. 

With my teaching experience, I realized English Language Arts (ELA) is the foundation of literacy, especially in elementary education. Since childhood, I have had a passion for reading and writing. I remember my favorite children’s books and how I would make copies of stories and include drawings. My elementary teachers helped me in developing my passion and I strive to make the same impact with every child in my class. 

As an educator who has worked in special education, I want to inspire my students to love reading and writing. Mastery of ELA starts with love and intrigue about it which sparks interest in exploring the depths of its structure. Throughout my 4 years career as a teacher, I have learned that what troubles many students and teachers concurrently is not the mastery of language but how to fall in love with the language. I, therefore, want to be remembered by my team and students as the educator who emphasized first finding love for the English language before exploring it. 

I intend to attain skills on how to learn and master literacy materials faster and more efficiently. Throughout my teaching career, I have discovered that intellect is tied to language proficiency. Through the course, I want to learn how I can view language as an art rather than a discipline. I intend to make language and literacy fun and exciting rather than approaching it in the traditional classroom styles of memorizing.  Although literacy is an indispensable component of learning, the number of learners who lack this vital aptitude is often understated. This situation can only be improved with new paradigms in the disciplines of reading and literacy. I hope to be among the pioneers of a new paradigm in teaching and learning the English language.