Socialization and Communication

Students who are DHH often have difficult socializing and making friends with their peers. How can you address this within your classroom.

There are a few things I would do in my classroom to help with socialization. The first would be having the DHH student inform the class about their hearing loss. Just a quick here is what it is and maybe a fun fact or myth about hearing loss that many hearing individuals believe. I would then include a hearing loss mini lesson for the whole class. Just teaching them the basics depending on age to educate them more fully what a hearing loss is. If the DHH student used sign language I would then spend time each week teach the students some signs to help them communicate with one another. I feel it is important to inform the regular students about what hearing loss and share the language with them so the DHH student doesn’t feel so ‘alone’.

 

Communicating with parents is very important. What are some ways you can communicate with parents and is there a better way than another?

I feel at the beginning of the year it is important to find out from the parents the best way to communicate with them is: text, email, call, letter, etc. Then use that communication mode the most. I feel that email would be the easiest and fastest way. I can send them daily or weekly updates depending on the student’s situation. I hope to also send out a monthly newsletter if I have a large enough class. The parents are busy working and being a parent so I want to provide them with information on their student’s progress the easiest way possible.

Strategies for Science and Social Studies

What are some ways you can teach the vocabulary presented within science and social studies?

The vocabulary within the subjects of science and social studies are much larger and or more words for each unit. It is important for the students to understand the vocabulary-by understanding the vocabulary the students can then comprehend the lesson that goes with it. One of the best ways to learn vocabulary is by creating flash cards. Flash cards are a fast and easy way to learn new words: it also allows the student identify the word when given the definition or identify the definition when given the word. Another way to learn vocabulary is to have the student look up the words in a dictionary then completing a worksheet; they use the word in a sentence, describe the word in their own words, or draw a picture representing the word. There are many other ways to teach vocabulary these are just two strong ways. It’s important to figure out what works best for the student.

How can you prepare to teach both of these subject areas?

There are a few ways to prepare for these subject areas. The first is researching strategies to help implement the lesson. Another is to understand the subject area it’s and further be able to complete the activity you are asking the students to complete. This puts you in the frame of mind of the student. You can also work through any ‘kinks’ that may happen with that activity. As an educator it is not enough just to teach a lesson you also must understand the subject area. Makes for a more full rounded educator.

Moving from same/differences to creating metaphors and creating analogies

This concept can be hard for our DHH students. One way to help them is by modeling metaphors and analogies. Model through speech but also visual examples well. Also putting the student in a language rich environment will help as well.

Lag in the Development of Mathematics Concepts

The authors noted the lag in development of mathematics concepts is due to delays in language development, lack of exposure to life-based problem-solving and inadequate pre-service teacher preparation in the area of mathematics. Do you agree or disagree?

I do agree with the authors. Language is huge and can cause so many delays for students. I feel this is especially true for our DHH students. We know from statistics and research that it is crucial to get language to the child as soon as possible. This may be through sign or auditory which means the child has hearing aids or cochlear implants. This is where our students fall behind which then leads them to fall behind in academic areas because they do not have the language nor understand the language. Math is a hard subject to begin with. There are many different terms for all of the different operations. If the student doesn’t even understand or know the simplest term how will they keep up with all of the other more difficult names. These students also have a delay due to the lack of exposure to real-life applications of mathematics. They are missing out when their mom is making cookies and is talking about adding one cup of this and ¾ of that. Or when at the grocery store and dad is adding up to see what the total bill may be. Since the student can’t hear they are missing out on these incidental learning moments.

Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research

CAEBER stands for the Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research. CAEBER is an amazing program that hosts four courses over a summer session for two teachers, one hearing and one Deaf, to come and train to be proficient in ASL/English Bilingual Professional Development . These select few individuals take the courses then go back to their home districts and teach everything they now know on this area to others; spreading the technique and knowledge. Until this journal post, I had never heard of this program and I am thankful for this journal post. This program seems like a great resource and experience. I honestly would love to take these courses and be able to teach others in the field. I can only imagine how this could benefit my students and my growth as a deaf educator.

This can be a key strategy to use with students who are deaf and hard of hearing, especially those students who sign language is their main mode of communication. These courses and provide me with better teaching strategies to help me teach these students English. If the students are able to learn English better their academic levels can raise and be more on the same level as their peers.