My Literacy Development

I was born in Colombia in 1963 in a very small town named "La Victoria."  In my hometown there were only two schools, one was an all-girls catholic school and the other one was an all-boys catholic school. Kindergarten did not exist back in the day and you had to be 7 years-old in order to enter elementary school. When I turned 7 and my parents decided to sign me up for elementary school, they were notified that there were no more spots available and they had no option but to register me in the all-boys elementary school. I was the first girl to attend an all-boys' school. I remember that they made my mom cut my hair short and for the uniform I had to wear pants instead of a skirt. I used to cry every day for the first month but then I got used to it and I made a lot of friends.

I started learning to read when I was in first grade, with a method called the "generating word method". This method presents an illustrated word that the teacher reads aloud so that the students can repeat their reading. The word is then divided into syllables which in turn are used to construct new words. As new words are added, new letters appear and then new words are generated. The first book that I remember reading was called "Nacho Lee".

My name is Maritza Rojas Andrade. I studied in a vocational High School with an emphasis on the educational profession. Then, I graduated with a bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education. I also hold a degree in Industrial Engineering. I came to this country eight years ago, I studied ESL at Union County College and I completed my bachelors degree in Psychology from Kean University.  

My professional experience includes thirty years at the Pre-K, Kindergarten, Elementary and Middle school levels. At the present, I work as a Pre-k teacher at Elizabeth Board of Education. This position enables me to provide students with a “head start” in mastering basic skills. It is my goal to combine my range of experience with my ability to be a compassionate, enthusiastic, and intelligent teacher who will make a positive contribution in my school district. This is my first time taking a class at NJCU and I am currently enrolled in classes to obtain my 15 credits for the alternate route program. My expectations for this course are to learn more about literacy development, language acquisition and phonemic awareness.

I have a small family but I am very fortunate to have a beautiful daughter, her name is Marcela, she is  25 years old and she has a bachelors degree in Biology. She is my motivation and inspiration to succeed. My hobbies include jogging, hiking, watching movies, and spending time with my daughter.