Utilizing technology in an engaging and innovative way!

Author: jamieb12 (Page 1 of 2)

EdTech: Reconciliation Clearinghouse

Welcome to our EdTech presentation! For our EdTech project, we chose to begin by researching the concept of Indigenizing the BC curriculum. We were thinking: with the ever-increasing incorporation of technology into the classroom, how does that impact including Indigenous knowledge and First Peoples Principles into the curriculum? Through this process, our research led us down all kinds of interesting paths including questions about how to include Indigenous languages in our classrooms, and even just more general information about territory acknowledgments and what kinds of information and resources we need as educators to effectively teach and represent Indigenous knowledge and culture in our classrooms.

So here is what we came up with: an easy-to-access resource that educators can use to learn about effective territory acknowledgments, local First Nations groups, language revitalization, and Indigenization of the BC curriculum (and more). Now, it is important to say that although we recognize that this is a tall order, we plan on continuing this project and developing it throughout this program, and are excited to have our Indigenous Education course this summer to add to our knowledge.

What started as a specific inquiry into Indigenizing curriculum evolved into a more general resource for educators, and settlers in general, to educate in the effort of reconciliation. Check out our resource below and keep reading to learn more about our process!


How we started:

Our project started the way any good project does: with a mind map! This is where our ideas about Indigenization expanded and our discussion led down the road of uncertainty about the best or most appropriate and respectful ways to integrate Indigenous knowledge into the BC curriculum.

Our research

We both acknowledged right away that we are by no means experts on this topic, and wanted to consult any experts and Indigenous knowledge holders about our idea before we really delved in. Fortunately, Alex has a neighbour, Shay, who (although not Indigenous) worked for many years with First Voices and now works with the First Nations Technology Council (this could be a really cool resource for your class, Rich-we haven’t been able to add it to our site quite yet)! We met with Shay and got some really great information and guidance on how to approach our project.

Takeaways from the meeting with Shay:

  • So many resources! Shay connected us to First Peoples, First Voices, and other Language resources.
  • The process of going to a band office for information or bringing in an elder. Shay told us about honorariums and how to do this respectfully.
  • Considering the importance of wellness resources and connecting with culture. This includes talking about history as the present, and not merely talking about it in past tense.
Source: https://technologycouncil.ca/

We also had the fortunate opportunity of meeting with Lalita Kines, the Indigenous Academic Community Engagement Associate Director whom we met through the First Peoples House on campus. It was important for us to get an Indigenous perspective as we move into this project because we wanted to make sure we go feedback on our idea so that we can work on this project from a place of deep respect. Lalita was very kind and liked our idea, and viewed it as a project based on reconciliation-which spoke to both of us.

Takeaways from the meeting with Lalita:

  • We received great information about local First Nations and some clarification on connections to language
  • We learned about how to ask for clarifying information from band offices and more about that process
  • We learned the importance of getting to the why in territory acknowledgments and connecting to the heart
  • We received so many amazing resources and suggestions on people to contact or look up as we continue our research
First Peoples House, UVic
Source: https://burntembers.com/2013/03/21/doug-lafortune-welcome-figures-university-of-victoria/img_1774/

Our Reflections (what we learned, what surprised us, what we still wonder)

Jamie:

The way I understand it, and one of the goals we had when coming up with this site is that integrating Indigenous knowledge in our teachings must be consistent and be fostering deep respect from all students towards the Indigenous communities whose land we are learning on. Indigenous ways of knowing and teaching and learning are not a separate subject or component to the curriculum, but should rather be constantly brought in and integrated into all subjects.

Throughout this project, I learned so much about Indigenous resources and how to integrate and utilize Indigenous resources to become more mindful of the land I am on and the importance of integrating knowledge into the classroom and Indigenizing the BC curriculum. I was surprised by how many amazing resources are out there, and I was surprised to learn about all of the local Nations I didn’t know previously. Our scripted territory acknowledgment really scratches the surface of the land we are on, and I really feel that I was able to learn and connect back into being mindful of this and the importance of doing research. Something I still wonder about is how useful this resource will be for other teachers or settlers. It would be really cool to continue adding to this resource and developing it more fully. I know that I will be referencing it for my own personal lesson and unit plans!

Source: https://www.bcafn.ca/first-nations-bc/interactive-map

Alex:

As a cynic (roll your eyes if you must – I would too), I really wondered how this talk we’d heard while in our program of “Indigenizing” the curriculum could be applied to technology, or if it was even possible. Looking over the First Peoples Principles of Learning, thinking about how important place-based learning is to Indigenous cultures, I had my doubts, but then our inquiry really shifted as Jamie and I began speaking with different sources, exploring various websites, and bouncing ideas off of one another. Before you know it, we had a chalkboard full of ideas and no idea how we would bring all of these things together.

There are so many amazing aspects of this project that I would’ve liked to dedicate much more time to. The good thing is, this is something I’m confident Jamie and I will continue to research and explore. We’d especially like to thank my neighbour, Shay, as well as Lalita Kines (and Mary McCue) from the Indigenous Studies Office for connecting us with incredible resources in addition to providing us with their own wealth of knowledge. I came into this project knowing very little, and at this point, still feel like I know very little, but at least I know a tad bit more than when we started! I’m really looking forward to continuing to deepen my understanding in this field, and hopefully, us documenting our learning through Reconciliation Clearinghouse as it happens can be an invaluable resource for many educators!

Source: http://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/

Thank you so much for coming along on this learning journey of ours! We hope that you’re able to find some useful resources on Reconciliation Clearinghouse to use in your future learning and teaching!

Until next time,

Jamie and Alex

My Final Inquiry Post-Learning ASL

Wow, I can’t believe it is already the end of the semester! This has been an incredible learning journey and even though the semester is coming to a close, I plan on continuing learning ASL and hopefully engaging in some real classes, rather than me teaching myself online. I hope you enjoy my final reflection!

This inquiry project started from a point of thinking about accessibility and creating an inclusive learning environment for all learners. I have been wanting to learn ASL for some time now, so when this project was introduced, I knew exactly what I wanted to dive into. Now, I knew that this learning would be barely scratching the surface… but everyone has to start somewhere, right? From starting with the alphabet to learning more about deaf culture, I have covered a fair bit of ground this semester. Check out my video below for a little montage of my learning basic signs!

I especially love seeing the speed of the alphabet!

I think when I began this project, I envisioned myself simply watching Youtube videos and learning a lot of signs, but partway through I realized that I was missing something incredibly important-learning about deaf culture! It is true of so many things we learn about in teaching-everything needs context! So my question to myself was: who was I to be learning ASL without learning about deaf culture and from those who really are deaf? This led me down an awesome avenue of watching Ted Talks and following deaf You-tubers to listen about their experience. Even my Tik Tok algorithm has lots of ASL showing up!

Photo by SHVETS production: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-lady-learning-sign-language-during-online-lesson-with-female-tutor-7516363/

Initially, I wanted to learn ASL to have some signs on-hand that I can use if I ever have a deaf student. Although I still believe this is true and something I want to pursue, I had this realization that the context and doing the research into deaf culture and the history of oppression is an even more important starting point to have a more inclusive mindset that can be translated into the classroom. If we do not have any sympathy for some of the struggles our diverse students have, then how are we ever supposed to help them feel included? I feel like this realization translated to more than just my inquiry, and helped to put things in perspective for how I want to be in my classroom and how I want to form relationships with my students.

Audio of the paragraph above (just experimenting with multimedia)!

Another thing I have been reflecting on is how deaf culture can be represented in the classroom so anyone who is deaf can feel welcome and included. I plan on tracking down an ASL alphabet chart to have in my classroom and trying to be mindful of how I deliver instruction and what accommodations to make for my students. Visuals are always a good go-to for students, and now I must keep in mind that having different methods for delivering instructions (verbal, visual, written etc.) is also important. During my research, I had a really fun time seeing how the deaf community is getting more representation in mainstream media. Audible was a great movie on Netflix that I reviewed in my last post, and CODA is a movie about deaf people WITH deaf actors that just won an Oscar! I remember my parents watching it and loving it-so I am going to need to find out which service it is offered on! I will. put the trailer below.

Ultimately, this inquiry project has been a great learning experience and I feel like I took away a lot from it! Not only that, but I plan on continuing to learn ASL (and hopefully enrolling in a class of some kind to hold me accountable for that goal)! I mean, how awesome would it be for me to have a deaf student in my class and be able to communicate freely with them? With this in mind, I am going to list some of my favourite Youtube channels, Ted Talks, and resources I have found that have enhanced my learning journey. Thank you again for this opportunity for learning and growth! Onto the next learning adventure… practicum!

Youtube Channels/Videos

Ted Talks

THANK YOU!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

Technology and Inquiry with Joanna Lake, Fresh Grade, and Android Science


Joanna Lake’s Presentation

Today we were so lucky to be visited by Joanna Lake, a practicing grade 8 science teacher! I am going to list some of my notes and takeaways from her presentation below.

  • LOVE the guinea pig SEL feeling check-in for both verbal and non-verbal participation. These can also be linked to the curriculum (medieval owls).
  • Students design the room and help with designing the bulletin boards. Student designed art board, they get to choose what to display! I really like this idea for building community and relationships with students, as well as the connection with leadership!
  • Middle school MEMES, jokes, puns are a hit!
  • Joanna talked about building low risk connections: would you rather, mood scales, class playlist, post it notes, student survey
  • Survey question: how do you learn best? Where do you like to sit in class? What helps you learn?
  • You can never have too many images, visuals, displays etc. Visual schedules are a great tool!
  • First, then tasks (good for all ages, middle school included!)
  • The proficiency scale is a tricky transition for students, especially for older students. Talk about the language of the proficiency scale!
  • Digital brainstorming also written on charts or whiteboard to be visible-anchor charts are important!
  • Co-create rubrics and give examples so they know what is expected! Make a rubric where students can highlight and draw arrows, and they don’t have to write.
  • FLIPGRID-yes. Use this. I have used this before with grade 5 and it was awesome!
  • Stretch and strength-I like this language.
  • Media as differentiation allows for students to participate in different ways if they are not comfortable speaking up in class. This helps build confidence!
  • Would you rather questions for attendance!
  • Focus on competencies, content is a suggestion. Relevancy is key!
I thought this was funny…
Source: https://www.sammichespsychmeds.com/teachers-response-to-unhelpful-high-school-teacher-memes/

This was probably one of the most useful guest speakers we have had this year! I have always found that hearing directly from teachers themselves is where I learn the most, because nobody knows the experience or the content like they do! Not only did I find the presentation to be super engaging and informative, but it was really inspiring to see a teacher who is so passionate about teaching. I think during this pandemic and as we emerge into lifted restrictions, teachers seem to be quite burnt out and sometimes it is discouraging, so it was really awesome to hear Joanna speak with suck knowledge and enthusiasm. I can tell she loves her students and it has made me even more excited for practicum!


Fresh Grade and Android Science Journal

Fresh Grade looks like a cool way to accumulate a portfolio for kids! I would like to check this out and ask my mentor teacher if they use this at all. I would also be curious to know if my teacher uses it at all or if the focus is mainly on google classroom. It is good to know that it is a safer option for no data sharing. I would be curious to know how this compares with Seesaw (an app I used with students in the US).

Arduino Science Journal also looks like a great tool for measuring scientific data, cause and effect relationships, and could even be used in math for observing and learning about graphs! You can check out the two categories I tested out below. I think this would be fun to send kids off around the school to experiment with this.

A few things to consider would be…

-Appropriate age/grade level for using this software

-Access to technology, equity considerations

-How to apply it to the curriculum and navigate measuring data, if it is developmentally appropriate for the kids

-Privacy in downloads, permissions etc.


Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

Learning ASL-Week 10

As promised, I am starting with a reflection on the Netflix movie “Audible” (shoutout to Alex for the recommendation). Wow, this was an incredibly powerful film. From dealing with feelings of isolation in non-deaf society to processing trauma, this movie pulled at my heartstrings. It is all about the students at Maryland School for the Deaf and their experience in high-school losing a friend to suicide after he was incessantly bullied in the public school for being deaf. I highly recommend this film because it truly highlights the struggle in living as a deaf person in a hearing community. One of the scenes that struck me most was when the main character, Amaree, was sitting at the table with his whole family who were all chatting and laughing (but nobody was signing, although it should be mentioned that his mother knows some ASL). Amaree gets up and leaves the table and goes back to his room, where he signs how lonely it feels sometimes, being the only deaf person in the family. I can’t imagine what that would feel like.

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12771540/

Another takeaway I had from the movie was just seeing how tight-knit the school community and football team were. In the movie, they talk about how a lot of hearing teams don’t want to play their team because they don’t like losing to a deaf team (Maryland School for the Deaf has an incredible football team). This reminds me about earlier posts where one of the Ted Talk speakers spoke about the harmful misconception of deaf people being less capable than hearing people. Finally, my last takeaway was hearing about Amaree’s nerves for graduating high school and moving out into the hearing community. Even the football coach signed about how difficult he feared it would be for his players. I think it just further reinforced my reflecting and thinking about how in many ways, our world is not inclusive of the deaf, and how that needs to change.

Source: https://www.unusualverse.com/2022/01/audible-netflix-oscar-documentary.html

So where is Amaree now? The last I could find online, Amaree graduated from Maryland School for the Deaf in 2020 and lives in Indiana, attending the Community College of Baltimore County. Another interview I found with Amaree quotes him saying, “I want to say something to Black people. I want you to be yourself and find your own identity. Don’t follow other people… I’m trying not to say “the white system,” but don’t try so hard to fit in. Stay with your upbringing, where you came from, your environment, your hood, whether it is with the white community or the Black community, anything, just be yourself”.

Source: https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/audible-amaree-mckenstry-hall-true-story-48405786

Well, it’s a bit of a shorter post for me this week, but it is, unfortunately, the capacity I had! I truly loved this movie and did a lot of thinking about it. I also found out that it was an Oscar nominee for the best short documentary film! Go check it out on Netflix!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

Multi-Access/Blended/Flipped Learning

Today we had a presentation by Nicole Kent who talked to us about multi-access/blended/flipped learning and we had the opportunity to critically think about the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid learning and other modalities of online learning. One thing that wasn’t mentioned in our discussion in class was about the impact of covid/pandemic online learning on teachers. When everything went online, teacher’s jobs were made so much more difficult for many reasons, and one of those reasons was being held to the same expectations and outcomes for when they were teaching in-person. One of the downsides of the pandemic is that students fell behind, some by a whole year or more. So now, teachers have classes which have some students who were supported greatly during the pandemic and were able to keep up relatively well, and other students who are a whole grade level behind. So what is the answer to this? Is it the implementation of multi-age learning and grouping kids by development? At the very minimum, teachers should be given a break when it comes to data results and provincial exams. Most often the lack of reaching proficiency with online learning is that exact reason: online learning. I think a lack of support for struggling teachers through this process explains a lot of the mass exodus of teachers from the profession post-covid.

Photo by Edward Jenner from Pexels

Now, this isn’t to say that all of the online learning is negative. As we have learned in this class, there are so many productive uses for technology in the classroom. I do believe; however, that direct instruction through flipped learning is not the answer (might be a controversial opinion). In my opinion, students should have the opportunities to do hands-on learning whenever possible. Viewing the lesson through a screen is not the same as doing hands-on learning, and I think the video we watched lacks the consideration of the benefits of receiving direct instruction from the teacher in real time, as well as being given the chance to collaborate with other students in the class and share ideas. I would be interested to learn more about the video we watched in class-is it an American classroom where test scores are more highly valued? How is the proficiency data being collected? How can the teacher verify that students are developing number sense/comprehension and being given the opportunity to collaborate and talk with one another? I am skeptical…

Kelsey had a good idea in our discussion about introducing the videos after direct instruction has been given so that struggling students can re-watch the video at their own pace. I think I like this idea a lot more than watching the video before class because it is used more as a supportive tool rather than a direct support in the direct instruction.

3D Design Project with TinkerCad

We also had the chance to experiment with 3D printing and I went off the average path and made this nice scene! It’s not something I will get printed… but still fun to experiment with! I imagine this would be really fun for students to do!

I also made a keychain!

I also had a lot of fun making this keychain and I am excited to paint it once it is printed!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

ASL Week 9 – Continuing the Learning Journey

Thinking about the weekly topics I planned on doing in my first post compared to where my weekly topics have evolved is quite interesting! Last week, I kind of had the realization that I jumped straight into learning ASL signs before researching the context of deaf culture and learning from deaf people themselves. This week, I want to do more of a combination… since starting this inquiry project, the algorithms on my tech devices know that I am interested in deaf culture and learning ASL, so those kinds of videos have been appearing on my Tik Tok ‘for you’ page, my Youtube recommendations, and on my other social media platforms. In some cases, that tracking and listening that my phone does is quite creepy, but in this case it has actually been quite useful!

Get ready for a mish-mash of different things for my blog post this week… we’ve got Youtube videos, we’ve got a Netflix movie, and we are going back to learn helpful ASL signs for the classroom… let’s go!

@aslnook on GIPHY

First up, we have a video I found on Youtube by Sign Duo. This is a couple that both sign ASL, but the man is deaf and the woman can hear. I discovered one of their videos (that I will link below) that shows how they order at a drive-thru. It is one of those things that I would never have had a second-thought about… mostly because of my privilege to hear. All of these videos and research I have been doing have definitely raised my awareness of accessibility and what so many people deal with in an (at-times) inaccessible world. The couple start off by discussing an experience where they tried out ordering at a drive-thru window and were treated terribly. The workers did not believe the man was deaf and actually wouldn’t give him his food. It is quite heartbreaking to see how he is treated, but also really important to see what he goes though! In the video, he signs that this is the reason why he doesn’t like to go out in public by himself, because this is often typical treatment he receives. At the beginning of the video, he talks about how much easier everything would be for him if everyone knew even a few basic ASL signs-which is exactly what I aim to do! They also talk about Skillshare which I have heard of before, and I am considering signing up to see what it is all about! I am thinking that it might provide me with some more structure for learning ASL than what I have been doing online.

Another video I watched created by the same couple shows a good experience they had while ordering at Starbucks. It was a good redemption video to the other viral video and restored some of my faith in humanity. I am going to put some of my key takeaways below.

Check-out Sign Duo on Youtube!
  • Drive-thru windows should have an accessibility button. In both videos, the man (Ryan) has to drive straight past the order window because there is no accessibility. Especially for these multi-million/billion corporations, this should be an easy fix.
  • There should be mandatory trainings for staff (not just at restaurants, but anywhere you interact with people) on accessibility and the procedure for when you encounter someone who may need accommodations.
  • Basic ASL should be taught in schools at all grade levels! If this was normalized, this would be a more comfortable and inclusive world for the deaf.
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Next up, we actually have a movie that Alex recommended to me after reading one of my blog posts! Shout out to Alex for not only making the movie recommendation but for also purchasing some of the accessible masks I wrote about in one of my previous posts! Now that the mask mandate has been lifted, I am waiting to see what the school environment will be like for practicum before buying masks. From what I gather, most educators are planning to continue wearing their masks, in which case I will definitely order some accessibility masks prior to starting my practicum! Anyways, the movie Alex recommended tome is on Netflix and it is called ‘Audible’, check out the trailer below!

So I haven’t quite had the time to actually watch the film yet (Wednesday came faster than I anticipated, but I plan on doing so over the next couple of days and will be writing about it in next week’s blog post). I am mostly putting it here for now in case others are interested, and I will be writing my reflection on this piece as soon as I watch it! I am excited! The trailer already makes me think about my last blog post and how in one of the Ted Talks, the man talks about going to public school and being excluded from sports teams because of being deaf. I am excited to see what I learn from watching this film!


Alright, so we are back this week to learning some more signs and re-learning some that I have been slacking on practicing. Something that I have noticed, though, is that I have been picking up different signs and words in ASL from just watching people sign and watching these Youtube videos! I mean it makes sense, the same thing happens when you are immersed in a different verbal language. I think that sometimes I separate ASL from other languages when this is wrong and not the case at all. As I have said before and learned, ASL is it’s own unique language with different syntax and culture behind it! Below I am going to put some of the resources I have found useful this week, and I will be encompassing many of these signs in a self-recorded video for next week. Thanks for following along!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

Coding and Computational Thinking!

Learning about coding in class today was a blast! It is cool to see how creative you can get with making games and learning resources when you begin to get a bit more familiar with coding!

For now, I started with baby steps by customizing the Flappy Bird game to make a ‘Swimmy Shark‘ game! Next, I want to try experimenting with creating something more unique! Developing this game was honestly very easy and fun to customize! I really like how the interface is so user-friendly and gives the step-by-step instructions so that anyone can participate-even if they are not well versed in coding. One thing is for certain: if I can do this, my grade 6 practicum students should be able to do it too!

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Hearing the story about the goat condo was a good reminder to implement a variety of different projects and subjects in a coding context. When students see the application in what they are learning, they are going to be able to grasp the concepts and be more interested in them! When I was in school, I never really saw the application in most math subjects, and it just goats to show (ha-ha) that with effective context math can not only be applicable for students, but engaging as well!

My Swimmy Shark game!

Thinking about the application of math in the classroom and projects/problem solving, I wonder if I can start thinking of a year-long project that could be used for this purpose. I know I would need to get it approved by admin and probably others… but how cool would it be to create something over the course of a school year that incorporates a lot of different math concepts as well as modeling or coding? It makes me think about the documentary we watched earlier on the technology institute for high school students when they had long-term projects that they worked on to complete to show their families. I am going to put some brainstormed ideas below (these are just off the top of my head…)

  • School garden beds (area, perimeter, plant spacing etc.)
  • Wind vane (math and science concepts)
  • Class-made morning message games (customized wordle with science terms or terms for other subjects?)
  • Coding related to science dissections online

The other day, we were lucky to have Science Venture come to our science classroom to teach us about coding with micro bits and sphere robots! I thought it connected really closely to what we learned about when using scratch, and it showed another aspect of how to incorporate coding into the curriculum in subjects other than math! I thought this was really useful and I might try using microbits in my grade 6 practicum (if SD62 schools have them on-hand)! Coding has also been used to help with developing technology for voice-to-text and other areas of equitability and accessible technology, so I think that if this is discussed with students, it could be quite inspiring! I had a grade 6 student in my observation class do a bunch of coding on their google browser and little characters would start falling around the screen. Now, I have no idea how they did this, but it just shows the capability of thee students! This student in particular loved coding but had a general distaste for school, so when I told them that there are lots of career opportunities that involve coding, they seemed to really light up! I think sometimes coding is solely associated with video games which sometimes get a bad reputation from parents and teachers, but I have learned how much strategy is involved, and if a student develops their own? Even better!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

Accessibility for the Deaf and Deaf Culture

This week’s topic that I planned out since week 1 aligns well with the accessibility lesson from last week! Last week we focused on a broad scale of how to utilize accessible technology for neurodiverse students, and I want to know general ways to differentiate or make learning more accessible for deaf students in my classroom. As much as I love learning ASL and will continue to practice, I am nowhere near fluency (yet), and I want to be prepared for how to create an inclusive classroom for all students. Below, I am going to put some resources I have found/used as well as some of my key takeaways!

This Ted Talk is about deaf schooling and the lack of resources for deaf schools!

This Ted Talk by Nyle DiMarco is a really interesting insight into the experience of a deaf person who primarily attended deaf schools and his experience of attending public school for a year in grade 5. Nyle was born deaf, and talks about how he never knew anything different, and comes from a family with a history of deafness. Nyle talks about how he had a great experience in his deaf school growing up, but when he began attending public school, everything shifted for the worst. Not only was it difficult for him to interact socially with other students (who did not know how to sign), but teachers treated him differently and excluded him from activities and sports. This heartbreaking story illustrates the harm of isolating a student for any reason, or assuming they are not capable of achieving the same things as hearing students. Furthermore, Nyle talks about visiting deaf schools later on in life, and being shocked by the lack of resources and quality of education. Nyle urged the audience to advocate for better funding of deaf schooling, to better support the deaf community and provide accessibility to equal education.

One of my takeaways from this Ted Talk is another aspect of accessibility that I have not spent a lot of time thinking about. As much as I have learned and spent time thinking about accessibility of integrating students into the public school environment and advocating for accessible resources and tech use, I hadn’t really considered the importance of having other options for students when the public school environment is not beneficial for them. If there was better funding for deaf schools and they could hire great teachers to sign, is that not an equally as important form of accessibility? Obviously I agree that students should be welcomed and given the tools to achieve in any environment, but I do wonder what might accompany having more deaf schools and resources in that aspect available? Would deaf students receive a better quality education? Would this foster a more comfortable learning environment? Or could this potentially become isolating where deaf students and hearing students have minimal interaction? I am honestly curious to know because I do think the ideal situation is for a deaf student to have an interpreter and be given all of the resources the need and be held to the same standards as other students… but what if those resources don’t exist in the public school setting? I clearly have more research to do…

What if…
Some history about deaf community and culture

WOW! What an amazing talk by Glenna Cooper. Glenna has opened my eyes to the history of the deaf community and the systemic oppression they have faced (continuing to today). Glenna first gives some hilarious insight into deaf culture, specifically the bluntness of their speech. I have heard this before, but the ways she talks about it is too funny. She insists that hearing people are incredibly polite, and would never say something like “you’ve gained weight, are you okay??”. She also talks about how much deaf people like to talk and how they are a bunch of social butterflies with each other! This made me think back to my first post with the interpreter at the rap concert, and how fast that woman was able to sign. I know some people who talk incredibly fast, and I don’t think my hands could ever move that fast-even if I wasn’t signing anything!

Glenna also talks about the dark history of oppression the deaf community has faced. She says that deaf schools and communicating were really normal many years ago but in 1880 there was a conference held that deemed oral education superior to signing and banned all sign language in schools. As a result, deaf students were forced to learn to lip read and make-do with the oral teachings in the schools. As you can imagine, this drastically reduced their education and deaf students were put at a complete disadvantage, and their resulting lack of education was devastating.

There are many things I learned from Glenna’s Ted Talk, but I will list a couple more below:

  • ASL is its own complete language with unique phrasing, syntax, and vocabulary. ASL is not based on English and should be thought of as its own completely unique language.
  • Long after the ban on ASL, researchers observed the patterns in how deaf people communicated with each other, and ‘discovered’ that they were communicating in their own unique language.

To conclude her Ted Talk, Glenna poses an interesting question: if the ban on ASL in schools in 1880 had never happened, would we all be able to communicate in ASL today? It was so normal and accessible, it makes me think of how it would be beneficial to have it be incorporated in schools as a language to learn, like French or Spanish!

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

To conclude the post for this week, I am going to link two YouTube videos in a series on how to teach deaf students in an inclusive classroom. I will link part 1 & part 2. Initially, I was a bit skeptical since the videos are 10 years old, but I did learn some important tips for creating a more inclusive classroom environment for deaf students.

  1. Address the student directly. Even if the student has an interpreter, it is so important that the teacher addresses the student and talks to them, not solely the interpreter. Don’t ask an interpreter, “can you tell them this…”, it belittles the student and isolates them. Just as we have learned time and time again… relationships, relationships, relationships!
  2. Hold deaf students to the same standard as other students. We have learned about this for students with neurodiversitites and how all students should be held to high expectations. Just because a student cannot hear, dow not mean they cannot learn! Deafness is not associated with being any less capable to learn.
  3. Get to know your student and their history. Do their parents/home-team use ASL with them at home? What kinds of things do they like? Connect with them!
  4. Face the student in the classroom and use facial expressions. Not all deaf students can lip read, but they can read your expressions! Before the school year starts, work with the student, their family, and their interpreter to find the best spot in the classroom for them to sit. It should likely be near the front but not too close, so they can see what is going on with other students in the class.
  5. Give think time! It may take a little time for the student to process what another student has said before responding. Don’t be in a rush to assume they do not understand-give them time!

Many of these seem like common sense, but I imagine that when dealing with 30 students, some of the mindfulness of giving the student what they need could be swept under the rug. I think it is a good reminder to take a breath and a moment to remind yourself of who you are in the classroom for and what the priorities should be (the wellbeing of your students)!

Finally, listening to these speakers has given me so much to think about and it makes me think that maybe I jumped into learning signs too quickly, and maybe I should have started with educating myself about deaf culture and the experiences of the deaf community. I feel like this has given me a deeper appreciation for what so many people go through and the struggle to receive the resources and support they need. I think moving forward in this inquiry and beyond, I would like to do a better job of integrating my learning of new signs with articles, Ted Talks, and videos from the deaf community so I can work towards having more mindfulness as I learn more ASL.

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

Accessible Learning

Accessible Photo Using Alt Text

Eleven children (about 11 years old) hold up a multicoloured parachute (red, yellow, blue, and green). The children are smiling and having fun with their parachute game in the field with forested mountains int he background and a bright blue sky.
Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash

This week in class we began to learn about accessible technologies and how to use it to create a more equitable learning environment for our students. We had a wonderful guest speaker, Tracy Humphreys who told us all about BC Ed Access and how to effectively integrate assistive technologies in the classroom. One of the most helpful things I took away from hearing Tracy speak was about her personal experience both as someone with ADHD on the autism spectrum, and being a mom to three children, one of whom also requires additional support through assistive technology. I found it to be so heartbreaking that Tracy had to pull her child from school because they were not getting the support they needed, and I am sure she is one of many parents who have had to do this. Hearing about her experience is definitely something I will take with me as I go into a classroom full of students with different needs!

Photo by Monica Flores on Unsplash

I started experimenting with closed captions CC on videos I have uploaded to Youtube. Something that Emmanuel taught me is that once you turn on CC on Youtube, they will stay on for any other videos you play-which is really cool! I also experimented with the translation feature on Youtube and it seems to be quite accurate! I can speak Spanish as a second language (not totally fluently), but I was able to understand the translation and verify that it matched up with the English we were speaking in the video. I didn’t know this was a feature, it is so useful!

This is a science experiment video we made for our Science Pedagogy course!

While learning about accessibility this week, it reminded me of other platforms that make accessibility a key feature. As I have been learning ASL for my free inquiry, I feel like I have a heightened awareness of my privilege and how to use my privilege to support others, like advocating for more assistive technology in the public school system. This experience from this week made me think of Tik Tok and how nearly all of the videos have closed captions on them, and if there are videos without closed captioning, people in the comments are quick to hold the creator accountable. I think this is fantastic because it really demonstrates how large of a community there is for supporting those who need other avenues of experiencing or creating.

When I started looking into Tik Tok and their accessibility features, I found more than I even knew existed! Tik Tok has photosensitive warnings, text to speech, auto captions, and animated thumbnails! You can read more about Tik Tok’s accessibility HERE.

Week 4-Social Emotional Learning

Woohoo! I have been really looking forward to this week because I LOVE social emotional learning (SEL) and believe it needs to be integrated in every classroom. I think that so many problems and behavioral issues in the classroom can be solved or even prevented with the use of social emotional learning. With SEL, students learn to communicate their feelings in a variety of ways, and so often student’s feelings (regardless of being deaf or not) are communicated through body language. A lot of the research I have come across shows that integrating ASL into early childhood education or early elementary schools “promotes early communication, reduces frustration and temper tantrums, develops gross and fine motor skills, encourages early decision making, develops the brain, and increases processing skills” (Education and Behavior, 2020). It made me wonder (as I go into practicum with grade 6), will middle schoolers be willing to take on using some ASL to communicate if I initiate and model it in the classroom myself? I guess there is one way to find out…

For my resource video, I am returning to Meredith from last week because, well, she’s awesome!

So many great signs in this video!

Learning these signs was a little bit of a challenge because there are so many, and some use similar gestures! I am really excited to be learning to use them though, because (as I say in my video), I think these signs will be very useful for not only me understanding the feelings of deaf students, but to try and encourage nonverbal students or any students to use these symbols. I have an idea to try and use this in the morning as a check-in to see how students are doing… I think it could work!

  • Good
  • Bad
  • Sad
  • Mad
  • OK
  • So-so
  • Confused
  • Frustrated
  • Happy
  • Proud
  • Excited
  • Busy
  • Tired
  • Exhausted
  • Nervous
  • Worried
  • Surprised
  • Bored (nervous to introduce this one to middle schoolers-haha!)
I apologize for the vertical video! The file was too large to upload on its own so I had to go for Youtube. Next time will be horizontal I promise!

I found a cool photo I wanted to share below of a way some people have made masks that are more friendly for signing or generally expressing emotion. I have mentioned a few times in my videos that facial expressions are so important when signing, and these incredible homemade masks are a way to ‘differentiate’ if you will to suit the needs of the deaf and young children who rely on facial expressions for learning SEL.

Here is an Etsy site selling clear face masks. I wonder how many teachers were able to get their hands on some of these (especially those working with the deaf community or young children). It is a shame they are so expensive!

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

Finally, I came across another great video about the Dos and Don’ts of interacting with the deaf community by Chrissy.TruBiz! One thing it has really given me to think about is not to act as a teacher of ASL when I am absolutely a student. I was never going to try and do this, but it has made me even more mindful that if I (optionally) integrate any ASL symbols into my class, that I should make a disclaimer about myself learning ASL and also provide resources from the deaf community for my students if they are interested in learning more. It is so true that the deaf community has a long history of being oppressed and I would never want to appropriate deaf culture or diminish their experiences through my own privilege of being able to hear. This is such an important topic and I think I will do some more research and chat about it more in my next post!

Thank you for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Ms. J

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