Back to School
I was looking for a school so I could volunteer for some experience within a classroom when I found the perfect contact person. This woman was a coordinator of the deaf program at an elementary school nearby, and she offered to give me a tour of their school and classrooms. When I first entered the all-deaf kindergarten classroom, I felt like I had stepped onto another planet. Sure I've been around plenty of people who use sign language, and I've been in many crowded rooms of complete silence where hands are flailing all over the place. But this one was different. These were kids, four or five years old, who could move their tiny hands and express themselves without someone trying to force them to speak. One little girl came up to me and asked me my name. Hers was Angela. When the coordinator and I walked out of the classrooms, I was beside myself. If I let myself, I would have cried, but I took a few deep breaths and went on to the next few classrooms.
Starting first grade, the deaf and hard-of-hearing students are put in a classroom with hearing students, and the teacher speaks and signs at the same time. This is called sim-com (simulatenous communication). The purpose is for all students to have the same access to information. Of course, it isn't 100% effective because ASL and English have different grammatical structures, so one language is always going to come second . That one is ASL. However, the students seem to be understanding just fine, and the hearing kids are also absorbing ASL like a sponge. It's really a pleasure to watch.
I've started volunteering on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings in the first grade classroom. The first day I went in, which was last Wednesday, all of the kids were really excited to meet me because I'm a big college student. One of the kids wanted to call me Tarzan because he couldn't pronounce my last name, which can definitely sound like Tarzan if you say it wrong. It reminded me of when kids used to tease me back in the day and call me Tarzan. So this time around, we decided to call me Miss Mary. I love being Miss Mary. The next time I walked in the room, five of the kids ran up to me and hugged me all around my waist. I was so shocked; I had no idea they liked me so much. All I really did was walk around guiding them through readings and pay attention to them when they had a question.
It's strange because I knew I wanted to be in a classroom but I was always worried that kids would go crazy and I wouldn't be able to calm them down or something. But it turns out that classrooms already have that structure that makes them know who's in charge. (The tall people.) And there's still that freedom to be creative and have fun. Every time I go, I know it's a place I want to be. I want to be in that room with those kids all the time.
I've found it.
Starting first grade, the deaf and hard-of-hearing students are put in a classroom with hearing students, and the teacher speaks and signs at the same time. This is called sim-com (simulatenous communication). The purpose is for all students to have the same access to information. Of course, it isn't 100% effective because ASL and English have different grammatical structures, so one language is always going to come second . That one is ASL. However, the students seem to be understanding just fine, and the hearing kids are also absorbing ASL like a sponge. It's really a pleasure to watch.
I've started volunteering on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings in the first grade classroom. The first day I went in, which was last Wednesday, all of the kids were really excited to meet me because I'm a big college student. One of the kids wanted to call me Tarzan because he couldn't pronounce my last name, which can definitely sound like Tarzan if you say it wrong. It reminded me of when kids used to tease me back in the day and call me Tarzan. So this time around, we decided to call me Miss Mary. I love being Miss Mary. The next time I walked in the room, five of the kids ran up to me and hugged me all around my waist. I was so shocked; I had no idea they liked me so much. All I really did was walk around guiding them through readings and pay attention to them when they had a question.
It's strange because I knew I wanted to be in a classroom but I was always worried that kids would go crazy and I wouldn't be able to calm them down or something. But it turns out that classrooms already have that structure that makes them know who's in charge. (The tall people.) And there's still that freedom to be creative and have fun. Every time I go, I know it's a place I want to be. I want to be in that room with those kids all the time.
I've found it.