Thanksgiving Memories

Family gatherings are an integral part of our lives. The connections we have with our families are what make us thrive. They make us who we are. The relationships we build are paramount to every fiber of our being.  

Now, imagine attending family functions and not being able to hear your Uncle Bob talking about all the fish he caught the day before or your grandmother telling you how proud she is that you made the academic team. This is the life of many deaf children; they are part of families, but because almost 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, they are born into silence and isolation. Some parents learn sign language to communicate with their children, but not all do. This can make for lonely family gatherings.

Several years ago, while working at an elementary program that served deaf and hard of hearing students from multiple school districts, the students and I decided to write and perform a Thanksgiving play. We adapted the book A Turkey For Thanksgiving, by Eve Bunting, by adding in Deaf characters and elements of Deaf culture to create A Deaf Turkey For Thanksgiving.

To add to the excitement of performing a play in front of the school and the children's families, we decided to host a Deaf Thanksgiving feast. I secretly wanted my students to experience a language filled Thanksgiving family experience. Each child's family volunteered to bring a dish, and the teachers provided the turkey and ham. The amazing cafeteria workers graciously cooked the meats for us in between serving lunch to hundreds of children. The preschool class created placemats with photos of the students and cute hand printed Thanksgiving decorations. These would become souvenirs for everyone who attended. My class made the mashed potatoes from scratch. I'm not sure how germ free the final product was, but the students loved contributing to the meal.

        My classroom was transformed into a mini restaurant. Table and chairs occupied the entire floor space in my room as we received over 50 hungry guests. The preschool classroom held the buffet line full of hand cut meats and mouthwatering side dishes. A separate table was covered corner to corner in traditional holiday pies and cakes. We could have never anticipated the graciousness of all the families. Every child had at least three people attend with them. Central Office administration had come to show their support, including the superintendent and a School Board member. Even my husband was there along with my daughter. Sounds of laughter filled the air of families young and old. Parents and children chatted away as teachers and interpreters served as communication bridges when needed.  My classroom was no longer just a place for learning; it was a place for families making lasting memories together.

        The Deaf Thanksgiving play and feast became a tradition for those in the regional program, and we saw an increase in attendance each of the next eight years. We quickly outgrew my cramped classroom and had to take over a corner of the gymnasium to accommodate the 75 plus that attended each year. Not only were parents coming, but they were bringing siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents! Even more administrators from Central Office were coming to see what we were doing.

This tradition quickly transformed into a Deaf family reunion. Parents of Deaf children who moved on to middle school and high school checked them out of school early to come to our feast. Even families that had moved across the state came back to reunite with their Deaf family.

At some point new district policies no longer allowed for home cooked dishes to be brought into schools. This didn’t stop us; instead we collected money to order the side dishes from a local restaurant while the teachers and I still provided the turkey and ham.

        Four years ago, I left the regional program for another position in the district. My departure also meant the end of the Deaf Thanksgiving tradition. It took a while, but eventually the Deaf children and their families stopped asking when the next feast would be. However, the bonds that were made as a result of the Deaf Thanksgiving reunion still remain. Once a family is formed, especially one of respect and joy, those bonds can never truly be broken. I still talk to many of the parents of former students, and they still connect with each other. Part of my heart will forever belong to my second family. I am a better teacher because of them.

Spotlight on Deaf Education

The following are portions of an article recently published in the October 2015 edition of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Teacher Advisory Council Newsletter.

I share them here in hopes of continuing the conversations surrounding deaf education reform.
- Heidi

Spotlight on Deaf Education

An interview with Heidi Givens, by fellow TAC member Brooke Perry

“Over the past year, I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time connecting with Heidi over our mutual interest in teacher blogging. Heidi teaches students who are deaf or hard of hearing in Daviess County Public Schools, in Kentucky. My relationship with Heidi has opened my eyes to the unique learning needs of the students she works with, along with the importance and scope of her job as an educator—something I believe is worthy of sharing with our peers.” - Brooke Perry

What are the main differences you see in the ways that hearing students and deaf/hard of hearing students learn?

There are assumptions that deaf children are just hearing children who cannot hear. This could not be further from the truth. Deaf children receive and process information differently, and therefore learn differently than hearing children. They have different memory strengths; deaf children have stronger visual-spatial memory and hearing children have stronger sequential memory. These differences are related to how the two groups use their senses to access language and the world around them. Hearing children are bombarded with sound, especially in the classroom, where teachers and students are talking all the time. They process information in the order the words were heard: linearly. Our English language also functions in a linear manner. Deaf children, however, experience the world visually, which af­fects how they learn. With their wider and stronger peripheral visions, deaf children pick up on many small visual details that hearing children miss. They are more sensitive to slight changes in facial expressions or to the positioning of items on different pages in a book. They also process information within a larger context in order to understand how the concepts they’re learn­ing fit in visually with what they already know. It’s like getting information as a picture rather than a stream of words. For ex­ample, if we were to say, “The cup is on the table,” that’s a linear statement. But to draw that sentence, most people would not draw a cup floating there first. You’d draw the table first, and then you would draw the cup on top of the table. That’s how language works for visual-spatial learners. So, using the same teaching framework with deaf students that we use for hearing students just doesn’t work.

What do we need to know about the #DeafEd Twitter chat?

The chat began with a visiting professor and students at the Rochester Institute of Technology. I stumbled upon the chat on Twitter in 2014, and I knew I needed to learn more. The students had come up with questions and made videos to sign them. The level of professionalism and participation was so impressive, but since it was a culminating project for the college students, there wasn’t a plan to continue the chat. I asked the professor, TL (@talilalewis), if I could take over. We held the next #DeafEd chat in mid-April of this year, and it was a hit. Prior to the start of this chat, there really wasn’t a national platform for conversa­tions about deaf education. Our intent is to vary the topics each month and have prominent experts in the field serve as hosts. My hope is to encourage any teacher who is or could be working with deaf or hard of hearing students to participate. The title of the chat on October 1 was, “The Intersection of Education and Language of Deaf Students of Color,” and the November 5 chat, hosted by TL and students, will be about Deaf identity.

What are your hopes for the future of deaf education?

A bill was just introduced in the US Congress—H.R. 3535: The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act. It looks at the Indi­viduals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which falls short on students who are deaf, blind, or deaf-blind. The IDEA states that a student who has a disability should have the opportunity to be educated in the least restrictive environment. “Least re­strictive environment” is often interpreted to mean the regular education classroom, but for deaf children, that is often the most restrictive environment. Because of the way people interpret the law, deaf students have to be in the same classroom as hearing students, and often that’s a detriment to the children. A lack of direct access to communication and opportunities to be with similar peers has a harmful effect on many deaf and hard of hearing students. The Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act aims to ensure that the language needs of deaf and hard of hearing students are made a priority. If the bill passes, you’ll see more deaf children where they’re supposed to be, and that’s in a school for the deaf.

When Plain Video is Not Enough: How Educational Videos Fail Teachers of the DHH and their Students

The below post was originally published on the Redesign Challenge website July 9, 2015 and can be found here.

Where are the Professional Learning Videos for Teachers of DHH Students?

Use of video for professional learning is commonplace among teachers everywhere. With the focus on personalized learning, teachers are utilizing various websites and other media to find exactly what they need to grow professionally. However, as a teacher of students who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH), I often struggle to find videos that meet my needs. Sure, there are archived webinars or recordings of conference presentations specific for teachers of the DHH that appear sporadically online. However, if I wanted to learn how to teach DHH students to analyze an author’s point of view, I would be hard pressed to find a video. I do not have a one-stop shop of videos as my go-to for professional learning.

The root of the problem is not that professional learning video providers are intentionally ignoring the needs of educators of this unique population. I would argue that it is not possible for them to ignore what they do not know. The fact is my students learn differently from students who can hear. For example, DHH children have stronger visual-spatial memories than hearing students (who tend to have stronger sequential memories). Therefore, I cannot just use strategies and curriculum for hearing students and present them in American Sign Language (ASL). Also, content teachers who learn ASL but teach the same way to DHH students as they do to hearing students, without pedagogical knowledge of DHH learning, may not achieve the desired results. A perfect example of this difference is when we look at prepositional phrases. In English, we would say “The cup is on the table.” The words must fall in this sequence in order to be grammatically correct and make sense. However, now think about how you would draw this sentence; you would first draw the table then the cup on the table. You would not have the cup floating in space then a table magically appearing. This is parallel to how this sentence would be signed in ASL; you establish the presence of the table, then place the cup on the table. Without knowing the distinction between prepositional phrases in both languages, teachers would not be using the appropriate strategies needed for DHH students to fully comprehend the concept in either language. This is a problem, and it is insidious because we cannot address it if we do not know a problem exists. The average person is not aware of these specific learning needs of DHH students. Consequently, it is imperative that teachers of DHH students take the lead in educating the public and advocating for their students. The Redesign Challenge has presented me the opportunity to do just that.

It’s Not Just About Teachers of DHH Students- The Problem is Universal.

Across the U.S. approximately 80% of all DHH students are educated in public school settings, spending at least part of their time in regular education classrooms surrounded by a sea of students and teachers who can hear. These teachers are not fully equipped to properly educate DHH students; they don’t understand that merely wearing a microphone does not provide the student with equal access to instructional content. DHH students learn differently! Even more troubling is that regular education teachers typically have little to no training in strategies that work for their DHH students. They may not even be aware that their best instructional moves are ineffective, at best, for DHH students.

Clearly, there is a great need to provide support to classroom teachers so that they have the necessary tools and skills to best meet the needs of DHH students academically and socially. I have spent countless hours searching for resources to help myself. I cannot imagine how difficult it is for teachers who are not trained in educating this population to develop the competencies in working with them. Therefore, there must be an avenue for them to learn how to effectively teach DHH students; videos that can demonstrate the strategies needed to effectively transform their teaching methods to reach all children, not just those who can hear. Additionally, DHH teachers in resource or classroom settings should also have equal opportunity to high quality videos so they too can hone their craft.

DHH teachers are not alone. This problem extends well beyond DHH contexts. There are teachers of other disability areas, related arts, world languages, early childhood, etc. that just don’t have video resources like those available to ELA and math K-12.

There is a huge push for increased professional learning videos in this country so that ALL educators are better equipped to teach today’s students. Teachers, regardless of the setting, must be provided the same opportunity and resources to learn how to best educate their students. The problem is now clear so where do we go from here?  How can the Redesign Challenge address this issue?

When I think about the lack of video resources for my own professional learning, it makes me wonder about the access to instructional content videos for my DHH students. There is a plethora of videos for students on a variety of subjects; however there again is a lack of similar resources for DHH students. Are video developers not targeting these students, or do they just not know that they should develop videos differently for them?

Video Captions Do Not Equal Access for DHH Students.

In today’s digital age, there are countless resources that focus on enhancing student learning. Classrooms around the country are transforming themselves into blended learning environments.  Teachers are creating their own videos or using ones from such places as Khan Academy or Crash Course. Students from the largest cities or the smallest rural towns can equally access all of these videos, via computers, laptops, tablets, or even smartphones.

As a teacher of DHH students, I look at all these amazing advancements in education and think to myself, “What about my students who can’t hear what is being said in these videos? How can my students who communicate in ASL and are learning English as a second language have equal access to the high quality videos that all other children can access?”

To truly personalize the blended learning environment for DHH students, there needs to be instructional content videos presented in ASL readily available for ANY teacher of DHH students to use in their classroom. These videos must be produced in a way that capitalizes on how DHH students learn best. Remember, experts in deaf education know that DHH children have stronger visual-spatial memories than hearing students (who tend to have stronger sequential memories). Using the same curriculum and strategies designed for students who can hear with DHH students may not have the desired results. Plus, closed captioning is not enough since many DHH students are not reading fluently at the speaker’s rate and do not have enough academic English vernacular to fully comprehend closed captioned messages. An entire video library would have to be created that illustrates the desired content in a way in which DHH children’s brains process information.

Having such videos could benefit ALL students in unforeseen ways:

• Since many DHH classrooms include students from multiple grade and ability levels, the videos would allow for more individualized learning
• Using instructional videos that are presented by fluent ASL users from around the U.S. will increase the amount of language models to which students have access
• In regular education classrooms, DHH students can freely collaborate quickly and easily with their hearing peers, on the same video project, by EVERYONE adding closed captioning and voice-overs to each ASL video
• Hearing peers will have opportunities to learn ASL from the videos and the DHH students to increase their English skills from viewing the captions. This could have positive outcomes of reduced social isolation of the DHH students in mainstream settings.
• DHH students can view these at home while doing their homework for relearning of content or enrichment.
• Parents of DHH children can use the videos as a tool to better learn how to communicate with their children

I have no doubt that teachers of world languages, early childhood, other disability areas are in the same conundrum as me. They could easily craft a similar proposal of instructional content videos for their population of students or specialty area.

The parallel problems shared by students and teachers are alarming. With the abundance of online resources available to today’s teachers, there has to be a way to make 21st century learning more available to students who find themselves “in the margins” of the mainstream public school setting. Have you found a solution in your school? If you have any ideas of how to do so, I would love to hear them.

Learning About Teachers' Voices Through Blogging

Teachers are sharing strategies with their school professional learning communities.
Teachers are sitting at the table with principals to create new ideas to improve the school.
Teachers are speaking at school board meetings to address district-wide concerns.
Teachers are attending legislative sessions to ensure teacher voice is present in decision making.
Teachers are using blogs to reflect and share their thoughts on the state of education today.

Teachers tend to believe that no one listens to them, that only parents have the power to make change. They may feel that way, but teacher voice is EVERYWHERE!!!

Blogging is an avenue that many teachers are using to record their reflections, thoughts, feelings, and voice, whether privately or publicly. Some teachers want to share new strategies they have tried in their classroom or their thoughts on a book they just read or a video they just watched. Teachers commonly maintain a blog site as a form of communication with their students and parents. Some blog as a way to bring awareness to public policy. There is really no limit to the reasons why teachers blog. I have been blogging for a few years now but only became more active this past year. I write when I feel inspired or something drives me to write, and I've been inspired and driven a lot this year.

Chris Bronke, an amazing teacher leader from Chicago, recently wrote this post about blogging. I encourage you to read it to understand "why the educational narrative needs more teacher writers".

As I continue my journey of professional growth, I find myself reading blogs about different topics that are expanding my horizons beyond deaf education. However, to best serve my students I do need to learn about the latest research, strategies, curriculum etc for teaching DHH students. I like to see other teachers reflect on their teaching by reading other DHH teacher blogs. It gives me other perspectives on the state of deaf education beyond my own.

Since the August #DeafEd Twitter chat is focusing on professional learning, I wanted to create a list of the different DHH teacher blogs out there. I found several through Google and through solicitation via social media, some of which I read. I encourage all DHH teachers to read each other's blogs, reflect on what they have to say then make comments. Bloggers appreciate feedback and continued discussion on what was written; I know I do.

Let's see if we can make a concerted effort to increase our own professional learning by learning from each other through blogs!

This is just a short list of which I hope will expand. If you have a blog or know of any, please leave it in the comment section below and I will add it to this list! Here is the list, in alphabetical order.

http://clarkemainstream.blogspot.com/
http://edtechdhh.edublogs.org/
http://www.ehwhathuh.com/
http://www.hearingourway.com/#!teaching-our-way/c1idx
http://heidideafed.blogspot.com/
http://pajka.blogspot.com/
https://tcsamaripa.wordpress.com/
https://m.facebook.com/wendancesresourcestpt?ref=bookmarks
http://vandeveldesnews.blogspot.com/ - new

If you don't blog but wish to begin, I encourage you to reach out to the National Blogging Collaborative, that Chris Bronke co-founded and discusses in his blog. This amazing group of teacher leaders from around the U.S. will help you every step of the way!

Soaring High: My ECET2 Seattle Experience

Soaring high!

Physically, that is where I am as I write this: 30,000 feet in the air.

Emotionally, that is how I feel after leaving Seattle.

You see, I just experienced another mind blowing Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers convening, or ECET2 as we like to call it. It is described as a convening instead of a conference because it is like no other professional learning experience you have ever had.

I've previously blogged about my ECET2 experiences in New Orleans and in Kentucky; however this time I am soaring higher than I ever have before. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation attempts to raise the bar each time they plan an ECET2, and this one was no exception. There were surprises everywhere. The Seattle All-Star marching band performed for us. We had a reception at the Seattle Aquarium that was reserved just for us; those otters and harbor seals were so cute! MELINDA GATES spent one hour talking to us not only about the foundation's work but about herself, her family, and her values. We were given t-shirts and booklets. We had the opportunity to share #WhyITeach at a photo booth. We were inspired by the power of teacher stories by listening to keynote presentations. We learned how to elevate our voice and improve our practice through various breakout sessions. We addressed and developed solutions to issues through Colleagues Circles and Problems of Practice. A special SHOUTOUT to the fabulous new members of my PLN from Table 47!!!

I was fortunate to participate in a post ECET2 session on social media learning how to increase our presence. I received many ideas on how I can strengthen the #DeafEd Twitter chat and to increase the traffic to my blog. I received so many suggestions on how to use visual storytelling to advocate for my students. These ideas are running around in my mind, just waiting for me to get started.

Yes, this ECET2 was the best I have ever experienced, but it was not only because of everything I listed above. There was a special teacher who was given the chance to tell her story and the story of a people. Lauren Maucere (@LaurenMaucere), a teacher from Los Angeles, stood on stage and told the story of the Deaf. As a Deaf woman, she shared the history of the oppression of Deaf people in education to 450 attendees. She shared the struggle that Deaf children face as they navigate school. She told about the case of Jose Garcia who was denied an appropriate education for 14 years; that didn't happened decades ago, the ruling was handed down last week! Lauren shared how her students have the right to learn about Shakespeare just as all students do; however, they just have to access it differently. She let every teacher in the audience know Deaf can and will!

As I watched Lauren give her keynote, I kept thinking "YES! YES! She is sharing the story of my students. She is giving a first hand account of everything I write about and for which I advocate!" Teachers and Foundation staff that I know and respect experienced first hand what I ramble on about whenever I get the chance.

I knew ahead of time that Lauren would be a keynote presenter, and I reached out to her before the convening to introduce myself. We spent time getting to know each other Friday evening and instantly connected. The entire 3 days I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could; we were kindred spirits; she was my new west coast sister! I am excited about our new found friendship and where it will lead. Who knows, you may see us present together at a future ECET2 or even co-write a book!

As you can tell, this ECET2 experience meant so much more to me on so many levels. There was FINALLY someone there speaking my teacher language, someone who teaches in the same field as I do. Someone who cares as much as (or even more) than I do about Deaf and Hard of Hearing children. Connections are a key ingredient to ECET2, and I have made many in my ECET2 experiences. However, I made the most powerful connection to date with Lauren!

If you want to view the keynote address by Lauren Maucere, you can view it here!