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Jaylaan Bennett
Professor Raymond
UWRT 1104
12 July 2016
Writing Prompt 2 Literacy Narrative
After Elementary School I continued to grow as a reader and a writer. I was ready to see
how much more I could learn in Middle School because of how well I did in Elementary School.
I remember the first day of sixth grade when my English teacher, Mrs. Bullard, had us
set goals as to what we expected to learn in her class throughout the year. She gave all of us a
sheet of paper and set a timer for ten minutes. I began to think, What do I expect to learn? This
thought ran through my mind many times. Then, it came to me, I wanted to learn how to become
a better writer. When it was my turn to say aloud what I expected to learn, I stood up and began
to say, This year in Mrs. Bullards class I want to become a better writer. Mrs. Bullard
responded, If you continue reading and growing your vocabulary your word choice will expand
and I will teach you how to construct your sentences properly. I sat down, surprised she had a
plan for me to achieve my goal, then smiled with relief she could help me.
I understood the best thing I could do is learn new words daily. I would come home and
my mom would ask me, Jaylaan, what new word did you learn today and what does it mean?
This helped me excel, such as Mrs. Bullard predicted in the sixth grade.
I continued finding new words daily, until eighth grade. In eighth grade I made the Dutch
Fork Middle School cheerleading team. I was so happy I made the cheerleading team I devoted
my time out of school to practice and spend time with my fellow teammates. I slowly began to
realize my writing was beginning to suffer because of this. Due to me not following what my
mom and Mrs. Bullard told me, I did not do as well on my papers as I did in the past and my

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grade in English suffered. This also could be because I received my first cell phone in middle
school, therefore I was easily distracted. Greg Graham stated on his blog: Cell Phones in the
Classroom? No! Students need to pay attention how students attention span are slowing
decreasing because of the use of cell phones in the classroom. He states, Were no longer
suffering from an information deficit; were suffering from an attention deficit (Graham). I
agree with Graham fully because I am a witness of how a cell phone can be a simple distraction
and my eighth grade first semester report card grade in English can attest to this statement.
I remember the night I brought my report card home after practice and I knew I was
going to get in trouble because I never made a C in English, ever. I walked in, gave my mom my
report card and sat down ready to get yelled at. But then I didnt hear anything. My mom didnt
yell, she just looked at me and said, What happened? I knew my mom was disappointed in my
C and I was disappointed in myself. I did not come up with an excuse to justify my C to my
mom, I just said, I will do what I have to do to make a turn around. She looked up from
reading my report card and said You better and walked away.
Middle School tested my ability to have a social life, cheer and excel in the classroom. I
can honestly say Middle School was the hardest years of my life. Between things occurring
outside of school and managing what was happening in school I almost lost my sanity. If it
wasnt for my mom telling me I better get it together that night, I dont know if I would have
turned my year around. After speaking with my mom that night I began keeping a journal and
writing again. This I tell you, is when I knew writing could be more than just something I do in
school. Writing was my escape from my problems in the world.