My sophomore year I observed and taught lessons in an ASL classroom at Concord High. The teacher there was very supportive and always gave me a lot of advice to use in my future classroom. Working with this cooperating teacher introduced me to many new resources that are valuable in an ASL classroom. I was able to borrow various resources and judge for myself what materials I could use in the future. My cooperating teacher introduced me also to new technologies. For her assessments, she used methods that I had never experienced in my ASL background. Observing her exams and understanding the different technologies that are available opens up many different forms of assessment.
While this cooperating teacher is currently on maternity leave, I have kept up with colleagues of hers through email. I am on a list of ASL educators all over Indiana that share classroom ideas with one another. Recently this semester I received an email with ideas for setting up a classroom that will provoke learning.
August 10, 2009
Hello Everyone,
Welcome back! I made as ASL calendar for my classroom this year and thought I'd share it with all of you. I made the calendar grid out of a large piece of construction paper from the big rolls 36" by 46". I measured 6 inches for the month at the top, 4 for the day of the week and made each day a 5" by 6" square. I glued the days of the week in place and then laminated the calendar by folding it in half and feeding it through the machine because it was too wide to fit. When it came out I slid a pair of scissors along the side and opened it up so just one side is laminated. Then I printed off the numbers and months and laminated them as well and cut them out. I affixed them to the laminated calendar grid with Velcro so they can be changed easily with the month.
I did use the Gallaudet font for the months so if you have not downloaded that the months will show up in English instead of fingerspelling.
I also made a second set of numbers 1-12 and taped them over the numbers on the clock. It is hard to read from a distance but the first few rows can see it just fine and by high school they should be able to find the time on the clock by the angle of the hands without the numbers anyway.
So there are a couple room decoration ideas.
With this email, there were various links of posters to put up in the classrooms. Having this resource is so valuable to a future educator like me. While I may not be using this right now, I am saving all of the emails and attachments so that I can use them in the future. There are also forms of assessment that teachers share with each other in this network. Authentic assessment is difficult, but when I have resources and connections with other teachers that are in the same field as me, I will be able to expand my teaching and assessment methods. Through this brainstorming and feedback, I can share my ideas in the future as well as use ideas from other educators to create an optimum environment for students to learn ASL.
As an education major and an American Sign Language major, I try to dedicate my time in both fields so that I can become a better teacher of a new language. To keep up my signing skills, I meet with various people that know ASL on a regular basis. I do this by meeting with Goshen College’s ASL club each week, taking a Deaf Literature class, and chatting with classmates outside of the school setting. These students and professor are encouragements as well as mentors when it comes to my language acquisition. They are more than a support system because they can advise me and critique me to become a better signer and soon, a better educator.
The Goshen College ASL club meets every week (at least) at 10:00 am on Wednesdays. The Wednesday meetings are only for ASL students—freshmen through seniors. This is a time where we can sign as well as use spoken English to communicate. Having this opportunity to use my first language with students that are more knowledgeable than me is extremely valuable! Some of these students are in my ASL classes and it is nice to be able to ask questions to clarify or discuss things that happened in class. For example, I had seen a sign that was unfamiliar to me in class, but I was too shy to ask my teacher for clarification. Since no spoken English is allowed in ASL classes, I took advantage of the ASL club and discussed my question with upper level ASL majors. They were able to give me an answer in my first language, which led to understanding. I am very grateful for this opportunity to learn more about ASL. I am very thankful that the upperclassmen in GC’s ASL club have been friends, encouragers, teachers, and mentors to me since I came to Goshen College.
This fall 2009 semester, I am also taking an optional course that is taught by a Deaf professor. Even though it does add to my workload of my semester, I am so thankful to have a Deaf professor if I need advice. As I previously explained, GC’s ASL club has been very helpful in my language acquisition. However, having two and a half hours of class in American Sign Language each Thursday night has also helped me use and learn more of my second language. The majority of my classes this year are education classes, so having an all ASL environment has helped me keep up my skills. My professor has always been very encouraging to her students, and I see that this semester in my Deaf Literature class. Being able to ask her questions about ASL—her native language—has been an extremely valuable resource. She is always open to questions and discussion, and she genuinely wants us to grow in our new language learning. Since this professor is our only Deaf individual on campus, she is asked many questions of clarification in ASL. I feel very fortunate to have an individual on campus that can answer my questions and critique me. It is assuring to know that the advice she is giving me is genuine because her first language is ASL and she is well educated. Having a class with her once a week has been a way for me to stay strong academically in ASL.
Since I was at Ox Bow elementary school for over 20 hours, the teacher I was observing, Mrs. Gove, let me go to other classrooms. Apart from working with Mrs. Gove, I worked with a Kindergarten teacher, a different hearing-impaired teacher, and an interpreter/teacher's aid. Working with the Kindergarten teacher gave me an idea of material they cover in this age group and what discipline techniques work best. This was very helpful to determine what I wanted to do. It was good to talk with her and get "behind the scenes" of a Kindergarten class. She let me know I was welcome any time and it was very encouraging to have that experience.
There was a teacher that worked with hearing-impaired students in all different grades. I followed her around one day and this was excellent for me to see differences in the different ages. She was very smart and worked very well with students.
In the middle of my time at Ox Bow, they got a new teacher to help out in classrooms. She was to follow a student around and keep him on task while interpreting. She had a tough job, just working with one kid, but this was good for me to see. It is another connection I have and another profession possibility in the future.
It was hard to fully communicate with students when I didn't know sign language very well. Myron Yoder, my ASL professor here at Goshen, really helped me through this. I would come to him with questions on how to sign things and he was always willing to help. It is great to have someone like this to always fall back on when I need some help with my signing.
Along with Myron, my ASL peers helped me in this same way. Heather Zimmerman, Justin Yoder, and Isaac Lederach are just a few classmates of mine that have really helped me improve my signing. If I come to them questions of clarifications, they would be more than happy to take time and help me. These are people that I could go to at any time in the day. Heather lives on my floor and has really helped me better my knowledge so I can communicate with deaf kids.
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