Today in my conference I was able to narrow my focus for my research paper. I started out with the idea that I would prove that the process of learning to read and write is a complicated and often times painful experience despite "romantic" notions as the process as a simple one. In doing some outside research, and talking about the topic, what I'm finding is I more specifically want to write about the cultural story created in the school system. I want to examine my transcripts to look for evidence of how I did not fit into that story, how I made my way into the story (through rebellion) and how I came to be on the other end of it, as a teacher who came to expect my students to fit themselves into that story, even when it wasn't a good fit. I want to look at, as a teacher and a mother of a new reader, why I could not recognize those who are not part of that story, and the significance of being on the fringes of that, when I was there as a young student myself.