1. Ms. Amanda My Autobiography

2. Introduction Born in … North York, Ontario Canada Amanda Hartley January 11 th 1984 About my parents – John and Debbi Hometown – Toronto Siblings – Brother – Matthew, Sister – Eryka Hobbies – as a child What I do now – International Teacher

3. Story #1 An Important Hobby – Swimming Lessons 5 W’s and an H – Who: Me, my swimming instructor, parents, my friend – What: About trying to do a front roll – Where: Pool in a high school called Laurier C.I. – When: I was 8, 1992 – Why: It is important because I learned a valuable lesson and I realized that swimming was important to me. – How: in sequence, in order, present tense

4. Story # 1 Plan BEGINNING – The instructor yells at me and I cry, this actually made me want to become a instructor and later a teacher. Let me tell you why….. – Taste: – Sound: laughing, echo – Felt: Warm, steamy, nice – Looked: hazy fun – Smelt: chlorine MIDDLE -We are learning to do front rolls, I fall, can’t do it because I have no balance. My mum encourages me to keep trying. END - Tell the whole story of why the instructor yelled, what I did, what my mum did and what I learned.

5. Writing the BEGINNING of my first Story Start with an interesting opener Set the Scene: Tell me where you were and what it looked like, felt like, smelt like, tasted like, sounded like. Introduce the main idea/topic Introduce the main character (if it is not you or you have not said what you were doing yet) Tell the story in order, don’t leave out details End your beginning by setting up the “problem” don’t tell us what it is yet. Just hint at it, or tell a mini story so we know something else is going to happen.

6. Beginning – 1 st Paragraph LO: I can use my five senses to describe a place. PLAN Taste: nothing Sight: hazy, steamy, fun, blue and white, and red Smell: chlorine Sound: laughing, splashing, waves Feeling: warm, nice

7. Write your Senses Paragraph The noise in the room echoed loudly off the white tiled walls. I could hear children laughing energetically and splashing about. The water was so warm it left steam marks on the tinted glass windows and made the outside look hazy and grey. The bright lights reflected off the top of the water in the pool and made little waves as everyone swam and jumped. The strong smell of the chlorine tingled my nose and the cool water felt nice lapping against my toes.

8. The BEGINNING of Ms. Amanda’s Autobiography Once you have written the opening descriptive paragraph we need to “set the scene”. Plan your next paragraph and write it. PLAN -What I am doing – going to swimming lessons. -Who else is there- mum, my friend, my instructor and I I walked out onto the deck in my pink swimsuit, holding my bright green goggles in my hand. I was ready for today. I was excited. Our instructor had told us we were going to learn how to do a front roll and I knew I was going to be amazing at it. I walked over to where my instructor was standing waiting with the other children and stood, quietly talking to my friend about what I had learned in school that day. Then the instructor led us to the deep end to begin our lesson. We walked past the tinted windows of the viewing room and I could just barely see my mum behind the glass smiling at me. I smiled back.

9. 3rd Paragraph – Middle PLAN -What: The most exciting part = Climax. what happened after the most exciting part. I lined up with the other children on the edge of the pool. The instructor told us to put our toes on the edge and keep our heels flat. Piece of cake, I thought. Well the minute I tried to put my heels down I fell flat on my butt. I got up and tried again. Again I fell. I started giggling because I was so embarrassed. The instructor got angry and told me to stop laughing. I noticed that my friend couldn’t do it either, we were the only girls in the group and I was angry that all the boys could do it but I couldn’t. I kept trying and trying. The instructor got angrier and angrier.

10. Last Paragraph PLAN -Resolution: My Mum talked to me about learning. -What I learned: I learned that everyone learns differently and that teachers should be more patient. My mum talked to me about learning, how we all learn differently and that that is okay. She said that not everyone can do everything in the same way and that part of learning was changing things so that it worked for you. This is an important story in my life because it taught me that in order to be a good teacher, and a good learner, you need to modify and be patient. I may do a front roll differently than other people, but I am proud to say that I can still do one today.

11. The End Why: Resolution; How was the problem fixed or what happened next. In the conclusion tell me why this was important to you. After what felt like a million hours of falling and a million angry looks from my instructor, class was finally over. I walk slowly to the door where my mum was waiting to pick me up. I had tears in my eyes. “What’s wrong?” Mum asked as I walked off of the pool deck and into the change room. “I can’t do it.” I said. My mum then explained to me that just because I couldn’t do it today doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be able to do it tomorrow. She suggested that I try different ways to find what might work for me. She then promised to take me to the pool that weekend with my older brother, so he could teach me. This moment in my life may seem unimportant and kind of silly but it taught me a valuable lesson and also made me want to become a swimming instructor. Everyone does things in a different way and that’s ok, but as an instructor (or a teacher) it is your job to help them and make them feel good about at least trying.

12. Story 2 – Plan Fell off a Stage 5 W’s and an H Who: Me, my grade 8 class and room full of parents What: Fell off the stage during a performance of “The Time Machine” Where: In Middle School, the stage area When: when I was in grade 8, 12 years old Why : was distracted by the lights How: In sequence

13. Story 2 BME Plan Beginning Middle End

14. Story 2 – 5 senses plan Taste - Sight- Touch (feel)- Smell- Sound (hear)-

15. Write Story 2 Senses Paragraph Beginning Paragraph – who and what Middle – the most exciting part End – why did you tell me this story? What did you learn?

16. Conclusion My life has been a rollercoaster of many fun and interesting events. The ones I have shared with you here are important because they have taught me a lot about myself. I am now an international teacher, but it was teaching swimming lessons that was my first passion. I also hate being on a stage, and have never again tried to perform since I fell on my butt. I guess in life there are a lot of ups and downs and we just have to learn from them, get back up and try again.