When you have a child in your class that's first
language is Sign, you try as hard as you can to integrate as much sign as you
can into everyday class life. This has been my goal this year along with
more Te-Reo. Although my student is hearing, both parents are deaf. I have
wanted to learn as much as I can so that when I meet them at parent interviews
I can at least greet them and 'try' to communicate a few things about their
son.
It's been interesting for me as Sign doesn't
fall under ESOL (correct me if I am wrong) because he was born in NZ yet
English is his second language. Which begs me to question what is there for
children (who hear) of deaf parents? L is quite capable but there are
noticeable differences in his phonics, blends and vocabulary.
An example of this was when he sat the Star test at the beginning of the year.
He was looking at the picture of the parachute and he was stuck. His comment to
me was, I know what it is but I don't know the word. I asked him to sign what
he thought it was and he did!
Spelling is also the other noticeable difference!
We started this year learning sign and following the lesson plans from Thumbs Up which
is on the TKI site. Although designed to be used for years 7-8 I found it quite
easy to use and so did the class. It may have been because we had an expert in
the class therefore we could be easily corrected.
What was great, was that I stopped
being the teacher and instead was the learner. The class saw that I was also
learning and making mistakes. Boy did I make mistakes! L has been a great
teacher and as a class we have embraced his knowledge. Sign Language Week was
one of those times.
I challenged the class to record
(on Seesaw) a few phrases about themselves. As we had completed Unit 1 of
Thumbs Up they were told they had to challenge themselves! They worked in pairs
and also used the NZSL online dictionary.
The class had a blast! It was also
lovely to embrace someone else language.
Millie and Mihana
The wonderful thing also was with the help of Seesaw I was able to share the students work with all their parents. I was able to also write a special 'Thank you' to L's mum and share with her how amazing L had been in teaching the whole class.
An example of this was when he sat the Star test at the beginning of the year. He was looking at the picture of the parachute and he was stuck. His comment to me was, I know what it is but I don't know the word. I asked him to sign what he thought it was and he did!
Spelling is also the other noticeable difference!
We started this year learning sign and following the lesson plans from Thumbs Up which is on the TKI site. Although designed to be used for years 7-8 I found it quite easy to use and so did the class. It may have been because we had an expert in the class therefore we could be easily corrected.
What was great, was that I stopped being the teacher and instead was the learner. The class saw that I was also learning and making mistakes. Boy did I make mistakes! L has been a great teacher and as a class we have embraced his knowledge. Sign Language Week was one of those times.
I challenged the class to record (on Seesaw) a few phrases about themselves. As we had completed Unit 1 of Thumbs Up they were told they had to challenge themselves! They worked in pairs and also used the NZSL online dictionary.
The class had a blast! It was also lovely to embrace someone else language.
Millie and Mihana
The wonderful thing also was with the help of Seesaw I was able to share the students work with all their parents. I was able to also write a special 'Thank you' to L's mum and share with her how amazing L had been in teaching the whole class.
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