musizen

[musizen]

Spaced Teaching/Learning

[musizen]

Interactive Activities: Color By Numbers/Are you available?

Interactive activities allow students to use what they have learned with each other.  During this time, the teacher can facilitate learning with feedback or additional guidance.  It also provides the teacher the opportunity to see how students are progressing in using the ASL.  Color by Numbers is a simple activity for ASL 1 students to put into practice signing and reading both numbers and colors.  One manner of doing this is through online color by number worksheets that the teacher can print.  Both students will have the same worksheets.  However, only one will know the colors which matches the numbers.  This student, will sign the numbers and colors, while the other student does the coloring.  They student can reverse roles with a different worksheet. There are several Color-by-numbers apps that students can download.  However, I have not been able to see how to use this in a paired or group setting.   Another alternative is color the square.  Students are provided with a template with squares.  Students can direct which square to color a specific color. 

Another activity is an agenda/calendar activity.  Students are given a two week calendar.  Students should complete the calendar with chores or activities.   Four to five days should be left available.  Students will ask each other when they are available to do a certain activity.  Once they are free, the students will add each other’s name and activity to their calendar.  They will repeat this until all the days are filled. 

 https://www.nureva.com/blog/education/15-active-learning-activities-to-energize-your-next-college-class

https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/teaching-resources/classroom-practices/active-learning/interactive

[musizen]

Teachers are seeking ways to bring the gap between teaching and learning.  They are seeking ways to engage students.  How can a teacher create a positive learning experience for each student, each day they are in the classroom?  There are numerous teaching strategies that a teacher can implement into their lessons that would allow for the dissemination and retention of the material taught.  One strategy that I have found quite productive is the use of humor, which can take many forms.   Students easily remember a funny quote, television scene, comic strip, or character; they especially can recall a funny teacher.   Humor doesn’t always come from the teacher.  It can come from the students themselves. The humor can appear spontaneously or planned.  The former often occurs in my class, rather than the latter.  In one example, students frequently laugh at themselves while signing.  They make mistakes or confuse a sign with another sign.  This, they find humorous.  Most recently I was teaching students the sign for FEW.  I demonstrated how to sign FEW.  I encouraged students to mirror me as I signed, or I stood next to students and showed them the sign.  Many started to appear frustrated as their sign did not resemble mine.  I thought to myself, “Let me teach them a different way to sign it.”  They found the second version much easier and the whole class laughed.  They remembered their “struggle” which turned into an “achievement” accompanied by laughter.  In this instance, they learned through the result of humor from within themselves.

           In planning to incorporate humor, ways that I do this is through including a comic strip (Matt Daigle “The Deaf Guy”) on my PowerPoint slide or showing students a video (Deafies in Drag).  With humor, the instructor should be cautious of humor that demean, insults, discriminate, or is crude.  The instructor should make clear that this sort of humor is not tolerated in class.  However, the instructor can also include disparaging humor as an example of what not to do such as Deaf/Death jokes. Again, the teacher should tread lightly and with caution, when presenting such humor.      

             Deaf comedy is growing.  Yet, there is not enough resources to use in an ASL classroom.  Comedic resources for children, especially for Deaf children are scant.   There are few television shows geared to Deaf children, if any.  (I believe there was one Canada).   It is my hope, that this will change.  

              Daigle, M. (2010-2019). That Deaf Guy.  Retrieved from: http://www.thatdeafguy.com.

[musizen]

Teaching Strategies

Teaching Strategies are tools and techniques instructors can incorporate in their courses to engage students, further learning, and diversify instruction.  There are multiple teaching strategies and practices.  A teacher does not need to adhere to one practice.  Rather, a teacher can incorporate multiple practices and activities that which is applicable to the course.  One example of teaching strategy is technology, which has numerous benefits.  Students today are the technology embracers. They are open to the the engagement that technology brings with learning. 

Spot the difference. People Magazine.  Retrieved from https://www.peoplemagazine.co.za/puzzles/spot-difference-daily/

[musizen]

Collaborative Teaching Method

Photo by NESA by Makers on Unsplash

A teaching method is a belief, method, or strategy that a teacher espouses and uses in the classroom to stimulate learning. There is not one absolute teaching method that works for all students, classrooms, teachers, or subjects.  Teachers can use more than one teaching method.  In the past, teaching methods were more standardized and less student-focused.  The teaching methods of the past resembled this picture: teacher lecturing for a large portion of the class, student writing notes, doing classwork, and then homework, with the occasional quizzes and tests. There was little deviation from this regardless of the subject.  Today, teachers are teaching beyond this lecture-focused style.  Rather, they are incorporating more technology and relevant instruction that is more varied and dynamic.

An instructional method that engages students with the material and each other is Collaborative Learning.  The students work in groups on a project or assignment.  In this, they are collective supporting each other to reach a common goal: Complete the assignment. The collaborative work can occur during the class time.  There are many benefits from collaborative learning, but there are also some disadvantages.  In collaborative learning, the teacher must still be present to provide direction, support, and feedback to students.  The teacher scaffolds learning.  However, this can also be a disadvantage to collaborative learning.  As a disadvantage, the teacher cannot be at every group simultaneously.  Thus, students may become off-task while waiting for the teacher to visit their group(s).

           Planning is essential in collaborative learning.  The teacher must create an activity that coincides with the current material and objectives of the unit.  The activity must be substantial and transparent.  Students must see how the activity relates to the subject matter.  Instructions and goals should be clear.  If instructions are unclear, students may delay in doing the work or inadequately apply themselves.  The teacher should be cognizant of the diversity of the students such as learning styles, economic background, cultural background, and linguistic background among others.  

         Collaborative learning can be implemented in an ASL classroom in multiple ways. It encourages signing among students, but can also encourage talking in L1, if students struggle with the signs for that unit or do not have sufficient vocabulary to do the assignment in a group capacity.  For placing students in groups, the instructor can be creative to facilitate students use of ASL.  Usually, the instructor count-off students.  It is better if the students count themselves. The teach can determine if student are signing the numbers using the correct form. Another option is to sort students by colors.  The teacher provides students with colored cards indicating their group.  Student must find other students with the matching color.   They should sign the color on their card, not show the card to their classmates.  

         The goals of the group activity should incorporate the ASL signs, grammar, and concepts students are learning.  Suppose the class activity is related to a unit on animals/pets. Students will create a pet shop.  Students will describe the pets in the pet shop, color, and age. Students should have already learned the signs.  Thus, they should be able to sign this effectively in their groups. Then, the group will share their “pet shop” with the class.

        The benefits of collaborative learning allow students to demonstrate to each other what they know in ASL.  They learn from each other though exchanging ideas and providing feedback.

References:

MacDonald, K. (2019). Teaching methods and strategies: The complete guide. Retrieved from: https://www.educationcorner.com/teaching-methods-strategies.html.

Clifford, M. (2018, June 28) 20 Collaborative learning tips and strategies for teachers. teachthought.  Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/20-collaborative-learning-tips-and-strategies/

[musizen]

TEACHING ASSESSMENT TOOLS

An assessment tool is used to examine students’ progress.  What have they learned?  What do they know?  What do they don’t know?  Are students meeting the outcomes in the unit/course?

These tools can be formal or informal.  Some examples of assessment tools are homework, rubrics, projects, and/or group activities.  They provide both teachers and students with evidence of students’ learning.   In my ASL Course, I have students do a project titled: Deaf School Presentation, where students do a brief presentation on a Deaf School.  The content is an accumulation of what students have been learning in the course.  Students are required to sign questions provided by the instructor and create one more piece of information in a question/answer format.  The instructor grades the students on their signed presentation with particular emphasis on correct grammar.  The instructor utilizes a rubric to determine if students have met the assignment requisites. The instructor models what she expects to see from students such as signing who, what, where, and when. Students are expected to hold the final sign briefly before moving onto the next question/statement. There is minimal research involved with students researching their schools to obtain information about their schools.  Students present to the class on selected calendar days.

This is a student-centered activity, with some teacher’s guidance.   Students take initiative in creating their presentation, practicing their signs, and asking questions for clarification.  Students also learn new signs such as the signs for states and specific schools’ mascots.  The instructor gives informal feedback during various activities, which occur prior to student’s presentation.  After the presentation, students will receive their grade.  The instructor follows the rubric in assigning the student’s grade. Then, the instructor will provide essential feedback based on the grade given and student’s performance.   

Deaf School Presentation

Rubric

  #assessment #ASL752Fall2019

[musizen]

 Interactive Teaching Methods and Activities

      As a teacher, I am also a student.  In one aspect in being in the role of a student, I am learning what works for my class and what doesn’t.  With interactive activities, I can see the outcome of my lesson planning. One activity that I have used is the survey/tally activity where students take surveys of their classmates favorite foods and activities. Watching the students ask each other questions and seeing the responses was especially thrilling for me! They had to ask me too!  When asking me, I can take an informal assessment of their signs, structure, and expressions.  Then, offer brief feedback. Seeing students interact, especially in using the target language, added a different energy to the lesson.  Although the activity appeared to work, I would like to find ways to tweak it.   I like the idea of the JigSaw Puzzle Method.  In this, I would create centers for learning food signs, beverage signs, activities signs, number signs, and like-love-favorite-prefer signs.  Each center would be responsible for teaching the other center the signs of their center.  Then, I can review some signs and answer students questions.  This will then lead up to the Tally Activity.

Article on Interactive Learning:

I found this great article on interactive learning.  I can make bullet points of important facts from the articles that will remind me on what is important when developing interactive activities. 

Cult of Pedagogy.  (2015, April 15). The jigsaw method  [Video file].  Retrieved from https://youtu.be/euhtXUgBEts.

Yakovleva, N. & Yakovle, E. (2014).  Interactive teaching  methods in contemporary higher education. Pacific Science Review. Volume 16 (2). Pages 75-80.

           https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1229545014000175#cebib0010

[musizen]

We die. That may be the meaning of life.  But we do language.  That may be the meaning of our lives.

Toni Morrison.  

Author, Nobel Laureate, Professor, Storyteller, Sage, and Literary Angel.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/books/toni-morrison-death.html

[musizen]

Band, ASL, & Classroom Management

[musizen]

American Sign Language enters my soul through my eyes. #eyesriseforsign