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Teaching ASL:

 

A few quick links for ASL teachers:
Level 1 practice sheets: https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/curriculum/practice_cards_level_01.doc
Level 2 practice sheets: https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/curriculum/practice_cards_level_02.doc
Powerpoints: https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/curriculum/powerpoints/index.htm
Gallaudet Font Download: https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/gallaudettruetypefont.htm
Where your students can learn to fingerspell:
Teaching advice: https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-layout/teachingasl/teachingasl.htm   [That is "this" page.]
 

Hello ASL Heroes!!!
     As a teacher of ASL if you aren't also teaching fingerspelling, numbers, non-manual markers, various inflections, ASL grammar, cultural tidbits, and so forth, you can teach a huge number of "signs" per hour. If you ARE teaching all of the goodies, having regular review quizzes, incorporating history and culture, modeling variations of signs, providing guided practice opportunities, giving students small group interaction time, and letting them ask whatever questions they have, ("What's a video relay service?") then you are going to get through maybe 10 signs per hour (in a beginning level course).  And that's okay! That's the way it should be! Thoroughly covering 300 signs and related skills during a course is much better than doing a slipshod job of covering 600 signs. For more on my philosophy regarding curriculum development and ASL instruction (pedagogy) click here
     Below I'll put some of the most common questions I receive from other teachers of ASL and my answers.  Plus below that I'll put some links to various additional advice and tips for teachers of ASL. As time goes on (between teaching my own classes) I'll post more ideas and refine the list. You might also want to check out the archives of my newsletter by visiting "ASL Pah!" at http://aslpah.com
Take care and best wishes for a successful semester.
          Cordially,  - Dr. Bill


Train the ASL Trainer: Questions and Answers with Dr. Bill Vicars:


Question
: You state that it takes around 60 to 75 hours to complete each level (ASL 1, ASL 2, etc.) of the ASL University curriculum.  Does that include homework or just "in-class" time?

Answer:  The "60 to 75" hours per course refers to the amount of time it is going to take a typical distance education student to work their way through the course. Thus the 75 hours can indeed be considered to include "homework" but then again a "distance education course" is "100%" homework in the sense that the student is at home doing the work.  The amount of "review-type" homework is going to vary widely depending on individual student abilities. Some students can see a sign a few times and easily recall it later. Others may need five times the review. The "75" hour number is a baseline for students to schedule block out in their calendar at the beginning of their semester to work on this course.

At the college-level "in-class" time -- if you are teaching ASL in-person (actually standing in front of the students) you will find that it takes about 50 minutes to "fully teach*" and review 10 "vocabulary concepts."  Thus 15 lessons of 20 signs each will involve 30 hours of active (interactive) instruction and supervised practice time. Then you need to factor in instructional "overhead" (roll call, testing, announcements, etc.).  

For what it is worth, at my "day job" at Sacramento State I used to teach 25 lessons in 45 (in-person) contact hours.  My students did great. I got excellent evaluations. However, when some colleagues tried to follow the same schedule they had a hard time teaching that many lessons in one semester.  So I reduced each level to 20 lessons per semester. It was still too many lessons for most instructors to cover in a semester.  Then finally I reduced it to 15 lessons to semester and it seemed to fit the needs of people teaching a three to four hour per week course meeting for 15-weeks (plus a finals week). Thus over time and through testing to see what worked -- "Lessons 1 - 15" became "ASL 1."  According to most "state" laws regarding class time, one "college" semester is counted as one "high school" year. For more on this topic see: "Credit."

What I recommend though is "flipping your class."  An amazing amount of material can be covered (taught / learned / understood / retained) if an instructor chooses to "flip" their class.  Flipping a class is done by having the students do the bulk of their "learning" at home and then they come to class to PRACTICE and apply what they have learned.  For an ASL class that means learning the vocabulary and related concepts at home and then coming to class and engaging in activities and games that involve signing.  Using this approach I've successfully taught complete levels of ASL courses in as little as 3-weeks (meeting Monday through Thursday for 3-1/2 hours per day during "summer session") and the students ended up signing much better than usual due to the immersive nature of the course and the frequency of exposure.

Definitions:

Vocabulary concept:  When I mention teaching a "Vocabulary concept" I'm referring to: "A sign, its variations, applications, and limitations."

Fully teach:  When I use the term "fully teach" I mean that the process of "fully" or properly teaching "vocabulary concepts" means introducing the signs, pointing out culturally important aspects of the signs, modeling the signs, reviewing the signs, engaging the student with the signs, having the student engage you with the signs, correcting and adjusting student production of the signs, reviewing the signs, and having students engage each-other with the signs under supervision). 

Instructional overhead: By "overhead" I mean the administrative  processes (administrative overhead) and social aspects (social overhead) of class that do not directly teach vocabulary or model grammar but that are helpful for the smooth functioning of the class.  This includes: greetings (Good morning, how are you?), explanation of rules ("no eating in the classroom"), roll call, social niceties (How was your weekend?), announcements and current events (There is a social this Saturday at the Deaf center.  There is a test next Thursday!), warm ups (Go around in a circle each person show me the next letter of the alphabet, a, b, c, ...), administration (John, you are not on the official roster, check with the registration office to see if your tuition payment was accepted), academic information (the syllabus, grading, make-ups, etc.), technical information ("Go to this web address and click on this link, to access the video...,") discipline ("John, turn off your voice," or "John, put away your cell phone,") etc.  An "online" class has much less "social overhead" but requires the student to spend much more time figuring out the course requirements and processes. 

Homework: Homework can involve self-study.  It can also consist of focusing on specified tasks such as taking online-quizzes, doing research papers, attending Deaf events, creating videos, completing worksheets, developing scripts, and practicing individually or with a partner outside of class.

Self-Study: Self-study refers to the act of independently learning material which has not been actively introduced by an instructor. If an instructor tells a student to "go home" and study material which has not been introduced in class then the student is doing self-study is a form of homework.  If the material being studied has already been actively introduced by an instructor then the studying of that material is "review" (not "self-study").

Supervised practice time:  Time during which the instructor is overseeing the process of students asking each other questions and responding.  This includes providing scripts or guidance material, actively observing the students sign, providing corrective feedback when necessary, and responding to student requests for modeling of forgotten or partially forgotten signs.
 



Question: How should I pace my class?

Answer: It depends on the length of each class session. The longer the class, the more you will need breaks, games, and format switches. I tend to teach a concept, use it in a sentence, and interact with the students using that sentence (I ask them a question. I have them ask me the question. I ask one of them what the response was of another student.) Then after I've introduced around five concepts (using questions and answers) I have the students work in pairs or groups to review the five recent concepts (via question and answer) as well as five concepts (sentences) from previous lessons.  After which I get the attention of all the students and introduce another five concepts.  This process generally takes about 50 minutes to cover half of a lesson.  If you teach for longer than an hour (50 minutes) at a time it is imperative that you play games and/or do an activity that is novel and interactive.

Question:  On your website you tell students to check with their local teacher for instructions on which quiz to take.  I am the local teacher and I myself am not clear on which quiz they should take. What should I do?

Answer:  I recommend you give your own quizzes.  You can give short "daily" quizzes (or however often you meet) on the recent previous lesson and then give unit quizzes after every five lessons.  I recommend making ALL of your quizzes cumulative (meaning -- include material from lesson 1 on up to where you are currently).  
You can also use the general vocabulary quizzes at this page: https://lifeprint.com/quizzes/index.htm
If you want you could tell them to take the quizzes here:
http://asl.gs/quizzes-practice/index.htm  Those are older though.

Question: I notice on your website from lessons 16 on, you don't have the video of you signing one-on-one with the student posted.  I am curious to why no signing demonstration from like lesson 16 on.

Answer: Those videos for lessons 16 and forward are available from the Lifeprint bookstore on the "SuperDisk" or on the "SuperUSB." Or you can watch them for free at www.youtube.com/billvicars

Question: I was hoping your Super disk will have power point words on it so I can use same style as you do in class but I don't see any Powerpoints there.  So I suppose I will work on my own Powerpoint presentations. 

Answer: There are indeed Powerpoints on the Superdisk.  Open up the following folders: asl101/curriculum/powerpoints and you will see them there.  Or for updated versions see the same folder at Lifeprint.com/asl101/curriculum/powerpoints/

Question:  I have made a hard copy of your lessons to hand out to my students. I add my own comments. Plus sometimes I make adjustments to your punctuation and grammar. Would you like me to send those to you so you can see what I'm changing and adding?

Answer:  Yes, certainly!  Make sure to identify what page or lesson. For example:
Suggested Revision: Lesson 6:
Old sentence: Yadda yadda yadda.
New sentence: Bing, bang, boom!
Reason:  [put a reason here]

Question:  I teach three terms and term is 20 hours.  How should I deal with 20-hour courses?

Answer:  When I'm teaching using my "Responses Per Minute (RPM)" approach I tend to cover at least 2 practice sheets per hour -- which is to say 10 new sentences (at least). 

If I'm teaching using a "flipped" classroom approach I could easily cover all 15 lessons of level 1 in a 20-contact-hour in-person class.  Google "how to flip your classroom" for information on "flipped classrooms." What I do when teaching "flipped classroom" style is I send the students home to learn the vocabulary and then start each in-person class session with a receptive quiz wherein I sign and they write what I signed. (Daily quizzes insure that the students do their homework and study the vocabulary.)  After collecting the quiz I throw the answers up on the overhead screen and provide feedback to the students. THEN  we dive into activities and games USING the vocabulary they recently studied online at home.  Thus my classroom becomes a place where the STUDENTS do most of the signing and I am the "guide on the side" -- providing feedback and corrective suggestions.

In your level 1 term invest any extra time teaching more fingerspelling, numbers, and conversational tools (such as: SLOW, AGAIN, what-MEAN, ALL AGAIN, SPELL IT, SPELL that letter by letter), plus fun greetings (GOOD-MORNING, etc.) and personally relevant introduction techniques (I/ME BILL. I LIVE SAC. I DEAF. I MARRIED. FOUR CHILDREN, etc.)

Any extra time would be used for review, practice, games, local vocabulary, or student-requested vocabulary.

So, how many lessons you cover is really going to depend on your local needs. 

Seems to me that if you don't want to flip your classroom you might want to do 10 lessons per term. Thus you would cover level 1 and level 2 over a period of three terms.

Question: 
Dr. Bill,
My problem is with the economy being so bad, my boss cancelled the "Keeping up ASL" class for about four to five years now.  ah I might ask my boss to increase my class to three hours a week for 10 weeks (30 hours).  That will help with this curriculum.  I am going to try to build my numbers up so that I can carry the levels increasingly harder, so that people are happy in their learnin'!   No easy task, that's for sure.
- Name on File

Answer/Response:
Dear Name on File,
Do not "rely" on a boss for your income.  Go set up your own classes, do your own advertising, and keep the lion's share of the monetary rewards!  On the Superdisk (available from my little online bookstore) in the root files of the disk you can find a file titled: "e-report." That file has over 60 pages of information regarding how to earn a decent living teaching sign language.  When I was younger I used to feed my family and pay my bills as a freelance ASL instructor. You can too. ASL University easily provides enough lessons and curriculum to teach many levels of community education courses. (Five lessons per six-week course = enough for 9 community-education levels using lessons 1 - 45.)
- Dr. Bill
 


 

ASL Teacher's Toolbox:
(Various links to helpful ideas and information
 

► Spelling and number tools: http://asl.gs  |  http://asl.ms 
Practice Cards: Level 1: Lessons 1 - 15 (.doc) format
Practice Cards (Lessons 16 -30) (.doc) format
ASL University Workbook: Level 1 (lessons 1 - 15) (.doc format)
Powerpoints
Syllabus Design
 


 

* The worth of a sign
* General guidelines
* Bilingual-Bicultural
* Qualifications: Are you qualified to teach? (01)
* How accurate should your students' signing be?
* Ideas for when you have a substitute instructor
* Lifeprint Teaching Method
* Perfectionism?
* Leniency Requests
* Shy students
* Student Ages
* Deaf / hard of hearing education credential
* Taxes
* Time Capsule
* Setting Your Fee: How much to charge
* Activity: Who are you?
* Game:  "Givers and Keepers"
* Help!  My class is dead!
* Student Satisfaction form
* Sample Student Bio video assignment
* Sample ASL Instructor job announcement / qualifications
* General Tips
* The "Tell 'em" Curriculum
* The "Find out" Curriculum
* Research papers that students are excited to do
* Cheating: Dealing with cheating in the ASL classroom
* Balancing the needs of the one with the needs of the many
* How and when to drop an online student

* The curse of knowledge

* Constant Requests For References or Letters of Recommend
* Maybe it's not the students?

 

 

Before you teach: 


Before you teach:
* Qualifications: Are you qualified to teach? (01)
* Qualifications: Are you qualified to teach? (02)
* Qualifications: Are you qualified to teach? (03)
* The importance of a syllabus
* Designing your syllabus
* Feedback on a typical syllabus
* Syllabus samples:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
* Permission to use this material

* Understand Copyright

 

Get their attention: 


* Use fingerspelling and number drills to focus attention

* Use variation and reward to keep your students' attention.

* Immunity Idol

* Multi-sided dice

 

Topics: 


Games / Activities to review
* Go Fish
* Jeopardy (1)
* Speed Signing
* Frankenstein's Questions
* Exit Activity

* Deaf History Poster Project

 

Activities to introduce new vocabulary: 


* Fingerspelling Race (1)
* Name Tea Party
Team Bingo
 

Activities to review previous vocabulary: 


* Fingerspelling Race (1)
* Game: Tell me five

 

Classroom: 


Modality:  Voice or No-voice
* Voicing in Class?
* propaganda

 

Instructional technology: 


* Getting a PC Laptop to work with a Projector
* Should you get a laptop or a netbook?
* Creating videos
* Choosing a curriculum
* What software program do I use while teaching?

 

Fingerspelling: 


* The quick brown fox
* Who is your neighbor?
* You're a liar!

* Boggle
* Helen Keller Speller

 

Testing and Grading: 


Grading:
* Extra Credit:  Should you give extra credit?
* Testing:  Students who argue over answers (01)
* No name on paper?
* Testing: Proficiency 
* Testing and feedback checklist
* The "67 Subject" Multiple Choice Test
* Score Converter
* Grading Scale

 

Numbers: 


Number games:
* general
* math game
* Bingo

 

Various: 


* Ask for a challenger (116)
* Classifier Charades
* Editing the Pauses?

* What is an excused absence?

 

 

Politics: 


* How should I handle it when the ASL 2 teacher criticizes the sign variations of students who took my ASL 1 class?
* Handling criticism

* The value of authenticity


 

 

 
 For MORE ideas on teaching ASL, order Dr. Bill's e-report "How to make a decent living teaching sign language." (Click here for details)

 

QUESTION:
Dr. Bill,
I notice when you use your powerpoints, you move to a screen to type in explanations then return, seamlessly, to your PowerPoint.
I was wondering how you do that because when I try to go between PPT and Word, it starts the PPT from the beginning.. I can't pick up where I left off.
Thank you for any help in this area. I use your PowerPoints when I teach my classes and wanting to keep it no voice, I prefer the screen to type explanations.
Thank you!
-Elise

ANSWER:
Dear Elise,
Hello :)
On a PC running "Windows" you can press ALT+TAB to switch between Windows-based applications.
Cordially,
- Dr. Bill
 


Question: A teacher asks:
Dear Dr. Bill,
At my school the coordinator announced that we are supposed to include a "significant graded cultural component" in our ASL 2 class offerings to satisfy a "general education" requirement for that course. What is meant by "a significant graded cultural component"? Would that be a Deaf event or social that the students would attend and report on?
- Name on File

Dear Name on File,
In general a "cultural component" would be something that helps your students to develop a mental framework regarding Deaf Culture. This can take many forms: Definitions, examples, comparisons, reflections, considerations, etc.
Thus simply attending a Deaf Event doesn't necessarily insure that a student has learned how to place what he/she has observed into a mental framework of understanding of what it means to "be" Deaf.
If you were to specify aspects of Deaf Culture that you expect your students to "look for" during their "Deaf Event" and then have the students reflect upon those specified observations (via a "reflection paper or an essay for example) then that "reflection" or "essay" would constitute a "cultural component.
What makes it significant in "syllabus" terms is granting a significant number of points for completing the assignment. What is significant? That is arguable. I think 10% (for an ASL class -- not a culture class) is fine. A different instructor in my department thinks 30% is better. So, there you have it, two Ph.D. level university instructors disagreeing over what is significant. I think that basic ASL classes should include a culture test or quiz but it should not overshadow ASL skill building requirements. This is especially true in a program that also offers a separate and specific Deaf Culture class.
Pick a "point value" and go with it.
That being said -- "relax." Typically you will be fine (as an "ASL 1" or "ASL 2" instructor in a college) as long as your students develop and show respect for the Deaf Community and Deaf "norms," evaluate you well on end-of-semester evals, and are able to get along fine in their next (higher level) ASL class.
Cordially,
- Dr. Bill
 


 












 

 

 

The information below consists of notes and "under construction" items for expansion and inclusion in the teaching resources list. When I get some time, (ha!), I will be explaining these and linking to them.

 

 

 


Available Workshop topics:
-Alternate teaching methods for Low Technology Environments

 



If you are NOT teaching fingerspelling, numbers, non-manual markers, various inflections, ASL grammar, and so forth, you can teach about 20 signs per hour.


If you ARE teaching all of the goodies, having regular review quizzes, incorporating bits of history and culture, modeling variations of signs, providing guided practice opportunities, giving students small group interaction time, and letting them ask whatever questions they have, ("What's a VRS?") then you are going to get through maybe 10 signs per hour (in a beginning level course).


Thoroughly covering 300 signs and related skills during a course is much better than doing a shotgun job of "teaching" 600 signs.

 


Dr. Bill's Notes:  (Will expand on these later and create page links)

  ___Took them two years to figure out I wasn't MR
  ___So-So-Suck-My-Toe
  ___Pledge Of Allegiance
  ___Bill is "Bald"
  ___Inflamed Throat
  ___Merlin The Magician
  ___Making Out in the hall
  ___Grandpa's Aid
  ___Three Deaf Guys
  ___"What time/kind is it?"
  ___Lena and Ollie UR going to die
  ___Does your wife sign? checks
  ___Belinda and I are compatible: HA675
  ___Honeymoon
  ___Wife fell out of car
  ___Deaf couple adopt hearing
  ___So if a deaf kid swears do you tell him to wash his hands?
  ___graduate student screw in a light bulb
  ___How many Deaf to screw in a light bulb?
  ___What is the difference between a pizza and an asl instructor?
  ___That's a deaf hunter's dodo
  ___Deaf Kong
  ___Safari
  ___Deaf Tree


General ASL concepts:

  ___sign language continuum: gesture, mime, ASL, PSE, SE, cued speech, Rochester method, etc.
  ___space-present referent
  ___space-absent referent
  ___headshake for negation
  ___head nod for affirmation
  ___"y/n"  Question expression
  ___"wh"  Question expression
  ___agent affix
  ___plurality: horizontal / vertical sweep, number, reduplication,  Quantifier, etc.
  ___incorporation of number: pronoun
  ___incorporation of number: time
  ___sign parameters: handshape, location, movement, and orientation
  ___directionality
  ___classifiers
  ___compound signs, (e.g.): brother, wife, daughter, etc.
  ___name signs
  ___initialized signs
  ___Register: * intimate: extreme ellipsis, private language; * casual: ellipsis  (eyebrows up, "Take off?" = Are you ready to leave now?); * consultative: some ellipsis, colloquial language (He went, but his wife didn't.  ___[Drops "go"]); * formal: impart information; * frozen: formulaic (religious, courtroom)


ANECDOTES & STORIES
  ___Roz "He's handicapped"
  ___"No, I want to fly"
  ___Hands on the wheel
  ___Monestary
  ___Bullhorn
  ___Fire Alarm
  ___Merlin The Magician
  ___Making Out
  ___Football Huddle
  ___Inflamed Throat
  ___Hallway Scenes

JOKES
  ___Deaf Kong
  ___Deaf people have AIDS
  ___Deaf screw in a light bulb?
  ___Deaf Tree
  ___Does your wife sign? checks
  ___Grandpa's Aid
  ___Honeymoon
  ___In this very room (1.7)
  ___Pledge Of Allegiance
  ___Safari
  ___So-So-Suck-My-Toe
  ___That's a deaf hunter's dodo
  ___Three Deaf Guys
  ___"What time/kind is it?"
  ___Why do farts smell?
  ___Wife fell out of car
  ___Working with Elders (1.7)


Dr. Bill's Notes:  (Will expand on these during Fall of 2009 and create page links)
  ___Deaf German
  ___He fell in love with her
  ___ASL Continuum
  ___Videos available
  ___Sign dictionaries
  ___Tutoring available
  ___3-D computer language
  ___Prescription for arthritis
  ___Albert Mehrabian: 55% body, 38% para 7% verb
  ___Signing monkeys pass sign to their babies
  ___Used with disabled
  ___Schizophrenics
  ___New laws passed



 ●  Play Charades using vocabulary or Pictionary cards.

● ___Buzz  (counting game, buzz on 7's)

● ___Who's The Leader
The students stand in a circle.
One person is chosen to be "it" and stands in the middle (eyes temporarily closed).
One person is chosen to be the "leader."
The "it" opens his/her eyes and tries to figure out who the leader is.
The leader makes a variety of movements and everyone in the circle must copy "exactly" what the leader is doing.  Make sure the first few leaders are "show offs" who will get the group doing all kinds of movements: head patting, turning around, leg shaking, clapping, mild dance moves, silly faces, etc.

● ___Who has the sign?
Everyone sits in a circle
The teacher assigns one sign to each person
one person goes in the center of the circle - closes eyes.
one person volunteers to start and 'have the sign' (Person A).
Center person opens eyes.
(Person A) signs someone else's sign (Person B) without center person knowing it. Once person B signs his own sign - he then 'has the sign' and signs someone else's sign.
center person tries to figure out who 'has the sign' by asking 'do you have the sign'? Respondents must answer truthfully.

● ___Deciphering written descriptions.  Provide students written descriptions of signs and see if the students can figure out what the sign is.

● ___Describe sign to partner.  Show a sign to a student and he/she has to describe the sign via voice to a partner who hasn't seen the sign.

● ___Elephant trainer: Use the "Elephant" game as a break.

● ___Bingo or make special cards and play "Signo."

● ___Hangman

● ___Circle of sign (first letters):  Students sit in a circle and take turns showing a sign that starts with the letter, A, then B, then C. Each time a student can't think of a sign the letter advances to the next letter.

● ___Circle of sign (handshapes):  This is the same as the "Circle of Sign" game except that the sign's handshape has to have the "letter" as the handshape.  The English gloss doesn't matter.  Thus the sign for HELP could be used for either the letter "A" or the letter "B."

● ___Circle of sign using named categories: colors, fruit, animals

● ___ Tea Party: Each student has a sign. She signs her sign then one other person's sign. That person signs his sign then one other person's sign. If you screw up you are out. If you do the sign of someone who is out -- you are then out.

● ___Numbers: Math drills: Ask your students math questions. If they answer correctly they probably understood your question.

● ___Tic-tac-toe: regular ___with letters ___with numbers ___with vocabulary

● ___Speed Dating: New signs between switches

● ___Helen Keller Speller: one student closes his/her eyes -- the other student spells a vocab word into his/her palm.

● ___Family Feud: base a vocab activity on the old TV "Family Feud" game show.

● ___Deer Hunter  (like paper/rock/scissors except with DEER, POACHER, WARDEN)

● ___Sign relays (rows) person at back has a list of vocab and taps person in front, and sends a vocab word up the line to be written on the board of the person in front.

● ___Concentration:  Put the vocab cards in pairs (or 3 or 4) face down on a table. If a student gets a match they keep the cards. Student with the most card wins.

● ___Spelling Quiz using vocabulary.

● ___Go Fish

● ___Battleship (good for number and letter practice)

● ___Hot & Cold (getting warmer) (good for expression practice)

● ___Describe a person in the room

● ___Jeopardy

● ___Food:  Make a Menu (order a hamburger)

● ___Multi-sided dice: use a "gaming" die to choose students to sign various sentences.

● ___Tell a story:  Students in a circle, first one signs something like ME/I, second student signs something like WENT-to, third student signs something like STORE, and so on. Each student adds one new sign concept to the story.

● ___ Look up the words in book  (if you are using an ASL dictionary or textbook) you can assign students to look up how to sign their sign in your textbook.  Then have each student model their sign to the others. Provide correction and feedback as necessary.

● ___Memory game: show 10, how many can they remember?

● ___ Sign a color and all students have to "touch" the color within 10 seconds

● ___ Jokes:  Teach a joke that uses a lot of vocabulary from your lesson.

 


● ___Understanding what it is like to be deaf slash hoh
● ___Understanding Dr. Bill's "RPM" teaching method
● ___Bingo
● ___Pencil Between Thumbs
● ___Practice Card Usage
● ___Certification to teach Sign Langauge
● ___Politics and Public Relations



For later development:

=============================================================
● ___Fingerspelling Review: relays ___spelling speed drills ___bingo ___phonetics ___advanced handshapes ___The Quick Brown Fox... ______Phonetic spelling sheets ___Spelling quiz using vocabulary ___Lexicalized Spelling
● ___penny pass behind back while standing in circle, elephant hunter, deer hunter,
● ___Attention getters: rubber pencil, frog, disappearing Quarter, lift a finger, cat/cow, broken finger, stick behind back, student's own tricks, two people tied with string, human knot, toe-to-toe balance competition, Simon says ___Geometric Shapes
● ___Warming up: Using "warmup exercises" to focus attention: ___Finger exercises ___Change five things ___Frog ___Sculpture ___Pick A Finger
___Pencil Between Thumbs
___Pull a face relay ___Piano fingers ___Simon Says ___Stick behind back ___This finger weighs ___Where's the quarter? ___Human knot ___Picture It ___Circle sit down (stand behind each other, sit on lap).
● ___My Life Right Now: What important things are going on in your life right now? How do we sign those things?
● ___Namesigns
● ___Practice Card Usage
● ___Certification to teach Sign Langauge
● ___Politics and Public Relations
● ___ABC races using asl.ms
● ___Who am I?
● ___Through Deaf Eyes
___"magic calculator" ___(buzz)
● ___Pass It On (coin behind the back)
___My boss is ...
● ___Classifiers: Descriptive: size, shape, and space specifiers refer to the physical characteristics of an object. ___Semantic: indicate objects belonging to certain groups of nouns (e.g., "3" = vehicles).
___Body: represent parts of the body in action or function as a reference. ___Instrument: show how a referent (object) is manipulated. ___Primitive: show groupings, clusters, categories, and areas.
● ___64 Question survey ("Find out" curriculum)
● ___Syllabi that Succeed
● ___Logistics: pairing and grouping of students.
___Review methods: ___Same or Different: Y/N vs WH modeling
● ___Human interest stories: ___Deaf girl to mother: "He's handicapped" ___"No, I want to fly" ___Gallaudet tidbits: DPN-Bullhorn, Fire Alarm, Football Huddle ___Hands on the wheel

 



General notes on grading and syllabus design:

 

I am of the mindset that if a student is going to pass my ASL class it is because he/she has learned ASL. 
Doing "research papers" and "attending Deaf events" are "nice" but they don't translate into signing ability.  Thus I grade heavily on signing and receptive ability.

HOWEVER, in some ways I think that research papers and attending Deaf events are actually better for society in the long run. 
 
Why do I say that?

96% of our students will NEVER become fluent in ASL. 
 
They just won't.

So we drill them for 4 months with ASL and create great signers and they walk out our door -- one year later 96 out of 100 of them have forgotten almost all of their signing. 
What have we accomplished?   Hmmm, 96% times 0 = zero.

The 4% who go on to actually learn this language would have learned it anyway regardless if the course were taught by Koko the gorilla or some idiot who took a few classes himself and somehow got hired. 

The "four percenters" were hooked after their first ASL class and will self-study and hang out with Deaf until they get it -- so it won't matter if they do or don't do a report.

But for the 96% who will barely manage to remember how to sign "HOW YOU?" a year later when they meet a Deaf person "for real" -- having done a report might just have created some level of empathy or at a very least have reduced the individual's prejudice against Deaf people. 

Thus they will have forgotten the "signs" but will never forget how the class made them feel.

So, am I going to start assigning research papers to 100 students (in my college courses) each semester?
 
No.

I don't like correcting research papers. 

I like signing and playing games, having great discussions, and having a great time in my classroom.

And then leaving that classroom and having a life.

I think sometimes we make things too complex.

As time goes on I'm starting to despise "rigmarole."

If I had a teacher who was so anal retentive that he/she told me I had to use a specific font on my research paper I would seriously assume that he/she ...  ________

Never mind. I'm not going to finish that sentence. 

If I were a busy college student trying to get an "A" I would not appreciate overly strict rules and restrictions and "have-tos" and gotta dot this "i" and cross this "t" and set your margins to 1-inch if you want to get your measly 100 points.  It creates paranoia and fear within students when they read a "rigmarole" syllabus since the students are thinking "Oh g_d I'm going to have to be really careful and specific and re-read these instructions a lot to make sure I don't miss something and blow my grade and screw up my scholarship. I wish I had signed up for some other instructor who would have been easier!"

Note: They haven't "done" anything in your class yet other than read your syllabus.

And the "easier" they are talking about isn't about being lazy. For many of them "it" is about wishing they could be more effective with their own time.  Many of them (if they are like me) are HARD workers and LOVE to dig in and LEARN stuff.  They just get annoyed at having to waste effort on things that don't matter. (Like margins.) 

Teachers read emails all freaking day with no margins.  I could understand "worrying about margins" for an English teacher who needs to correct lots of grammar.  But for an ASL teacher it would seem that margins just don't matter.

I consider "font requirements" (and ANY similar thing or process) to be "learning friction."  Such requirements may weed out the ".01%" who use "script" font in "neon" pink color -- but in 25 years of teaching college classes it just hasn't been an issue for me.  If it ever becomes an issue I'll hand the paper back to the student and tell 'em to redo it.  I'll also say "please" and "it would help me more easily read it if..."
No sense being an A-hole teacher. (I'm talking about me, not you -- you are just hearing my internal dialog.)  The student was trying to be creative.

Does that mean I'm not guilty of learning friction?  On no.  I'm guilty as sin.  On at least one of my syllabi it still states "APA" style required.

I admit it.  I'm a sinner. 

But I'm trying to evolve.

I'm trying to get better and reduce rigmarole in my syllabi.

EACH semester I rebuild my syllabus (a bit) and try to look at it fresh as if I were a student.

I strive to lead off with what a student ACTUALLY wants to know most. Thus I start by listing my "schedule" of course meeting dates and due dates.

A student wants to know when are the assignments due.  How much are they worth?

Then after that I go ahead and expand on things a bit but still try to keep it to about a page.  I do not hand out a paper copy of my syllabus.  "Kids" these days are electronic in nature. The few who "want" the paper syllabus go to the computer lab and print it out.  However I might just go back to printing one. Will decide later.  Again, I evolve.  Think of it from a student's perspective.  Wouldn't you prefer both? Printed AND online.  Plus you'd prefer the syllabus to be pre-punched with 3 holes.  Heh.
 
Most students don't mind "working hard" on "learning."

They do however despise rigmarole.

Taking an ASL class is somewhat like baking a cake.
A person can LOVE baking.  And LOVE eating cake.  And love sharing that cake with others.

But if the recipe (syllabus) is 10 pages long and must be followed to the milligram -- that person is likely to say "Forget this! I'm going to go get ice-cream instead."

I've seen online evaluation sites that let students include in their ratings the "hardness" of the class.
The problem with this is that the word "hard" has multiple meanings. A better approach would be to ask:

*  Was the syllabus full of unnecessary rigmarole? Was it hard to figure out what the instructor wanted you to do in order to get an "A"?
*  Did the instructor require you to dig in, focus, stretch, and grow in ways that were personalized to you as well as integrated with/applicable to your goals?

An easy, unchallenging class can be "hard" and unsatisfying because of rigmarole.
Or a challenging, growth-inducing class can seem "easy" because it is straight forward.  The mental effort is expended on the subject (not the rigmarole.)

-- Dr. Bill


 



 

Notes: 

 




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