CAEBER
The Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research is a fantastic program that hosts four courses over a summer session for two teachers, one hearing and one Deaf, to come and train to be, "on-site ASL/English Bilingual Professional Development (AEBPD) mentors at their respective schools/programs serving students who are deaf or hard of hearing, including students with cochlear implants."
I feel like this is an amazing program that really shows an effort to help teachers who work with students who are Deaf or hard of hearing in their language. Just yesterday I had my midterm evaluation at my practicum site and that is one of the things that I was told to work on. I need to make sure that my signing is truly, conceptually accurate. And that is something that I really appreciate coming from my supervisors because the language is one of the main reasons I was so attracted to this field so I am very glad that they are continuing to push me in that area of my teaching.
These techniques can be incorporated in almost any classroom. And really it should not just stop at the deaf educator and the deaf ed. classroom, the people that participate in the CAEBER program train to be able to help other professionals in the school to use both ASL and English effectively and I think that should be spread district wide. I think something that we could do to help our districts work on this is have a professional development session focused on the two languages and how to use them, as well as attend any workshops on the subject as possible.
As far as my classroom specifically I fell that it is very important for students who use sign language to have a basic understanding of both languages. Those who are strong ASL users will benefit from using English for reading and writing, and those who are very English focused will benefit from ASL for the visual component as well as the cultural ties to the language.
Overall I am really excited to hear that there are programs like this out there! Sometimes I fear that my sign skills will dwindle over time but it is fantastic to hear there are programs out there helping us to keep at it!
I like how you mentioned that using this method can be beneficial to the understanding of both languages. ASL users would definitely benefit greatly by using English when it comes to reading and writing. I also feel that learning the English structure would help them have a better understanding of reading comprehension and written expression. That is awesome that our teachers are still pushing you to be successful with your signing. That is one skill I know I still need tremendous work on. It is good to know that out supervisors are still pushing us to be successful with it. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love that you mention that this is a good resource for us as signers because the truth is "if you don't use it you lose it". One of the most important components of our job is language. It is imperative that we are skilled in not only the English language but sign language as well. It is great to know that our supervisors and pushing us in this direction even though it makes me a little nervous for my midterm evaluation! Loved your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteCaitlyn, Your sign skills can only increase the more you use it and practice it. I sometimes fear that my sign skills have lapsed over the summer time, but I quickly remember and have really never experienced my skill decreasing. One of the things that may help you improve is to practice what you might say in your lesson before going, especially if it is a book or topic. Think ahead of signs that may come up and research them. If you need websites to look for sign vocabulary, let me know.
ReplyDeleteAs for ASL/English approach, what are some strategies that you could take from this to use in your classroom. Kansas School for the Deaf is a CAEBER program. Its interesting to go and see their set up and what they do to help students transfer skills from one language to another. Let's discuss this in class tomorrow night.