Mission Statement

Here's an example of a "multimedia presentation" of information or facts.  It's well done with specific "concepts" highlighted.  Obviously very well done!  One additional component I am excited to see - that I know can be challenging - in your projects is how you will engage students within the class and allow your fellow classmates to interact or be involved in the presentation! 

Introduction

Hi everyone,
This is my introduction, my name is Jared Godbey. I am a Deaf/Hard of Hearing Education Major with a minor in American Sign Language and Dance. I am in EKU's Dance Theatre and Ballroom Dance Club. I am also involved in the Residence Life Council, as I am a ConneXtions Success Leader in the Residence Halls. I am looking into the field of Audiology for graduate school. I am a fun loving guy, who likes to be around friends and hangout. I am hard of hearing myself, and have been through the education accommodations and process that go along with it. Also, being Hard of Hearing I do somewhat consider myself part of the Deaf Community.

Children's Point of View vs. Case Manager or Teacher of the DHH

Hey everyone,
So I was wondering everyone's opinion on this subject. If a child is Deaf/Hard of Hearing and a Case Manager or Teacher of the DHH suggests accommodations such as notetakers or an FM System and the child doesn't really want to use those accommodations for personal reasons (whether it be they feel uncomfortable in class with it or what not). Do we as future educators press that upon them that this is the best option or do we search for other options?
I mean obviously accommodations are useless if they aren't going to be used and it isn't our job to make children feel uncomfortable.

I recently have came across this being Hard of Hearing and my Case Manager suggests things and accommodations that I necessarily don't like or am comfortable with.

What's your opinion?

Prepared to Present Projects

I am excited to see your projects this week!!  I've loved getting your texts, FB messages and emails.  I am ready to see what great information you have for us.  I know some of you are going to post your projects on YouTube and I am sooooooo super psyched about this.  I plan to link those on my Face Book as well with your permission!  I do hope all groups will do this but it is not a requirement.

As you are wrapping up your projects if you have questions that need my immediate attention the best way to grab that is either via text, FB inbox message (it shows up on my phone) or to call me.  I do have a couple of meetings Tues & Weds but will be able to get back with you within a couple of hours.

Feel free to post questions here as well if you want other groups input.

Is anyone else scared?

Hey all,

I was looking through the blog today, and I've made a couple comments on some posts, and have really enjoyed reading what other people have posted as well.

This is going to sound kind of silly, but I left a comment about how happy I am when I meet DHH majors, blah blah blah, and at the end I said I knew I was going to be a good teacher (not bragging, out of context that sounds really conceited, but I promise I'm not that full of myself), but then I got to thinking. I know that sounds terrible, but every once in a while I think about all the "What if?"'s our there and I am stricken with fear! What if I screw it all up? What if I fall flat on my face, and all my students don't learn anything? What if I wasn't meant to teach Deaf students? I think that is fairly normal to have moments of doubt, because we are human after all.

But I can say that no matter how scared I am, I can't imagine doing anything else. I love ASL, and Deafness way to much. Also, for whatever reason I have teaching on my heart, and I've decided that it is what I am going to do, no matter how scary it might be, or how hard it gets. I think the harder classes get, and the harder I have to work make me love it all even more, just because I get so excited about the future too. I can't wait to have my own classroom!

So to sum up: I'm terrified, and loving every minute of it!

Questions

Hey Everyone-

So I have gotten some requests for me to put a blog up that lets you guys ask me questions/feedback about my experience growing up in a deaf world, as a child of deaf parents! So, feel free to comment and ask any questions you are interested in knowing about-no worries, I have gotten so many crazy questions I'm up for anything :)

I love the deaf, being around the deaf. Being at college has "deprived" me of that because I am used to being around the deaf so many hours every day. This is why this class makes me excited because it brings out the "deafness" in me.

Post questions! I would love to see what you all are curious about the deaf community from an inside perspective :)
Melinda

Waiting on the world to Change

This is a video that I had to watch for part of an assignment when I went to UK. It was for my intro to Special Ed class and it is one of the major reasons that I fell in love with ASL and the deaf community. It's less than 4 minutes long and totally worth it!

Groups

Hey guys! :)
I was not in class last Wednesday night to choose groups.
Is there anyone else that does not have a group?
If so, just let me know and we can be group members!
Thanks
Katie
Katie_fitzpatrick3@eku.edu
606-669-5095

Class Tonight - 1-26 - Changed to Individual Group Meetings

Good afternoon!

I have received an email from Debbie Haydon, Dept Chair, encouraging those faculty who have night class tonight to move our class ONLINE!  So, we will NOT BE HAVING CLASS ON CAMPUS!

The first part of class we were going to be working in our Multimedia Projects.  The second half of class we were going to be working in groups on a "Timeline Scramble" activity.

Instead of meeting ONLINE as a WHOLE class tonight I am going to ask you to meet with your group PRIOR to next week to complete your multimedia project and tonight's class activity.  If you have questions or needs regarding it - post them to the blog.  I'm sure others will be having questions, too.  You're welcome to text or call me at 859-338-4822.

NOTE your "project group" needs to complete the Timeline Scramble as well in order for everyone to get credit for class attendance for tonight.  The Timeline Scramble was attached to the email you received.  Directions will be available in Blackboard in a folder in the Chapter Resources area.   Questions?  Text, Call or Blog!
 

No class on campus in 346 tonight.  No whole group class together online.  Get with your group to complete:
1.  Your multimedia project
2.  Timeline scramble activity

Be warm!  Be safe!
Mrs. White

The Mayonnaise Jar

This kind of doesn't relate...but I think it's a good life lesson to remember about priorities.

The Mayonnaise Jar

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and start to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full.They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured it into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded With an unanimous ‘yes.’ The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed. ‘Now,’ said the professor, as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family,children, health, friends, and favorite passions Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car.. The sand is everything else — The small stuff. ‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued,’there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. So… Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap. ‘Take care of the golf balls first — The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. ’I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend

Interesting Quote

I was watching the movie Fame the other week and I wrote this quote down.

“There are some things success is not. It’s not fame, it’s not money, or power. Success IS waking up in the morning waking up in the morning SO excited about what you have to do that you literally fly out the door. It’s getting to work with people you love. Success is connecting with the world and making people feel. It’s finding a way to bind together people who have nothing in common but a dream. It’s falling asleep at night knowing you did the best job you could. Success is joy, and freedom, and friendship. And success is love.”

For me, I'm going to be a teacher. I'm not sure where that will be or what I will do, but I want to teach. Learning excites me. Yeah, weird, I know. But I love learning and I love the process of learning. I try to even have fun in things I don't typically like. You know the most exciting thing for me? I'm going to succeed at my major and then I'll be a lifelong learner. That excited me to the point of giddiness when I was telling a friend that I'm NEVER going to stop learning.

I will have success in life because I'll be working with people I love and helping others reach their dreams. I know I will have done the best job I could have when the day is done. Will you be successful?

Adoption

Have any of you ever thought of adopting a deaf child? That's how I actually got interested in sign (the second time). There was a lady at my church that wanted to make a difference and adopted two young deaf girls. At the time, this lady was a single parent, but it meant THAT much to her that she provide a loving home for these kids that not many others wanted because they couldn't speak to them. That's why I started learning sign. I wanted to adopt a deaf child. Now, I'm seeing so many things open up for me as I sign. Such an interesting language and culture. I'm far from being there, but I love learning about it.

So what if . . .

your historical project was also posted to YouTube?  TeacherTube?  iTunesU?

Beethoven's Nightmare: The World's Only ALL DEAF Rock Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw0ue44JZJk ALL DEAF Rock Band

This is a link to Beethoven's Nightmare; ALL the members are deaf (except the singer) and the band began at Gallaudet twenty years ago or so. They are absolutely awesome and perform a number of well-known hits plus some original creations. Enjoy!

Steff

ABC News: Person of the Week!

Hi Guys!

Just wanted to share an extremely amazing thing I saw on television last night. It sort of relates to our conversation of including the music in our power point presentations, but overall it just stood out to me while I was flipping through the channels on T.V. I ran across the ABC news person of the week and it was a girl named Allyson Townsend. Some of you may have already heard of her but I thought what she is doing is truly amazing so I checked into it even farther. Allyson Townsend is a 2nd grade Deaf Education Teacher. She does not have any deaf people in her family, she does have a Deaf friend though and of course her students are Deaf also. She has a strong passion for signing. She signs many of todays songs on her youtube account and she signs them with passion and meaning behind them. Here is the link to the interview with Diane Sawyer:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/sign-language-opens-music-world-deaf-citizens-person-of-the-week-pow-allyson-townsend-youtube-features-12734730. In the interview it explains that 15,350 viewers have viewed her videos of all these different songs. In the interview it also shows her doing music and signing with students in her classroom and I think that is extremely important. I explored the youtube site and it amazed me! The link for that is: http://www.youtube.com/user/allyballybabe#p/u. She states that people should contact her if she is doing a sign wrong and she gives complete credit to the Deaf and their culture. She states that she gets one hundred request for new songs weekly and it is not possible for her to keep up with but she does try her best. It is an awesome site to visit because the Deaf are able to comment on the videos and enjoy watching her, while I also saw Deaf Education teachers comment on videos explaining how inspiring her videos are!

I found it to be an awesome thing and just wanted to share with the class!!

Impressed, Energized & Excited - YOUR EXIT SLIPS!

As I read your "Exit Slips" last night I was blown away by your "connections," "extensions" and "challenges."  What you already know because of your other classes is simply exciting.  Yet, as many of you were honest and shared because of your personal experiences or previous classes you come already holding a "specific viewpoint."  I am energized because of how you are "challenging" yourselves to explore and "open my mind" to learn more about various topics and to understand different perspectives!  That is all one can ask of a PROFESSIONAL, to be open-minded and consider ALL sides!!!  I nearly cried as I read some of your papers!  I am humbled to have the opportunity to learn with you and to teach you this semester!

The "big hitters" that appeared repeatedly that people really want to understand more about or I realize we need much more clarity around will resurface in other chapters.  It was affirming to me that these important ideas were important to you, too.  I will definitely make a point to highlight them in a variety of ways in our upcoming classes.  Some of them I am going to introduce as topics for discussion here on the blog as well.  I invite YOU to share links, experiences, anything you would like from your wealth of expereince related to these topics as well.  Post away!

Here were the "big hitters" that were still puzzling us and causing us challenges:  modes of communication, methods of instruction, identification/definition of Deaf/Hard of Hearing, The Deaf Community/Deaf Culture, IEPs, legislation,

example

this is an example.

Question for Everybody

Here is a question: do you think that reading is visual? While it is true we use our eyes, we are also relying on our ability to "hear" the sound the word would make if we were to read aloud. What do you guys think?

Thinking Visually

1. How do you believe this type of thinking and activity can influence your learning in SED337?

Honestly, I am not entirely sure. Most of the time I believe that I am not, but I have found that if my world is visually "busy" I get distracted easily and cannot concentrate. There are a few concepts, particularly in science, that are best presented visually, but overall I do not believe I am visual. Well, I take that back: would reading count as visual? It's an interesting question because it is certainly different from something such as math. What do you guys think?

2. How do you believe it could impact the learning of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?

In my classes with psychology, we have learned that the brain makes sense of what we hear and what we see. Taking away one aspect of this and leaving only one may make things especially difficult for some Deaf students. In my own personal experience, I know sometimes I can look at a math problem and say "what on earth am I looking at?" Since ASL and various sign methods can be dramatically different from English, explanations and definitions may become mixed up and difficult to understand.

Visible thinking

As I read the article and read through several other comments, I too am a visual learner. This may be a way everyone can participate and have other classmates to learn more about each other. The instructor may also have a chance to understand their class which will possibly make every semester different in teaching methods for the instructor. I like interacting with other classmates. Sure hope this is a way to enhance my knowledge of the Deaf Community.

Visible Thinking

1. How do you believe this type of thinking and activity can influence your learning in SED337?

I am a visual learner.  I enjoy being able to see things and make connections and discussing my thoughts out loud.  With that in mind, this kind of thinking and activity would be ideal for my learning experience in this class. 

This article was really amazing because it opened up the concept of visible thinking and learning and made it clear of how it can effect students individually and the classroom culture.

      2.  How do you believe it could impact the learning of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?

I personally think that for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students that use the visual language of signed language to communicate that they probably learn very similar to the way I learn in which is visually.  For Deaf and hard of hearing students that this is true for, thinking and learning this way would be ideal for best results in their education.  There are exceptions to every rule.  So for the students who don't learn best visually I still think this would be an amazing tool that would positively effect their lives because this concepts effects the classroom culture and challenges the students that thinking is valued and challenges the students to think because that is the learning environment that they are in.  THat is amazing.

Visible Thinking Article

How do you believe this type of thinking and activity can influence your learning in SED337?

This article described teaching methods that really allowed room for student involvement and discussion on issues relating the material that they were covering. Rather than a teacher simply lecturing and requiring the students to retain the information, the teacher actively engaged them in the learning process by challenging them to tell what they already knew and build upon the ideas of others. I think this style of learning can be greatly influential in my learning of the material in SED 337. Once I see others thoughts and opinions, I can form or change my own based on the new ideas and concepts that I see. This is a really smart way to help students teach each other. What I may be too shy to ask aloud in class may be an idea or question that someone else had. This way I can subtly see what the answer was or help form my own answer, all the while learning in a style and comfort zone that is best for me. Awesome article!

How do you believe it could impact the learning of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?

This style of learning would greatly impact the learning of Deaf or Hard of Hearing students. They are visual learners anyway and this style of teaching allows students to write or draw out their ideas and then other students can walk around the room and, in a sense, collaborate with their peers to come up with a final answer or thought. Not only does this build interpersonal relationships, but it inspires a healthy attitude toward research and seeing other students perspectives.

Emily Bruner

Introduction to Deafness

Hi!

My name is Natalie Hatfield and I am a sophomore at EKU. I am an Deaf Education major, and I hope to teach at the elementary school level, hopefully fourth or fifth grade level.
My life right now is not exactly the most exciting to talk about, since my life consists of going to school and working myself into the ground to excel in my classes, and then working my way through the summer at my two jobs (Sales Associate at Gordon Food Service Market Place and Clerk at Heitzmens Traditional Bakery and Deli), but I'm not complaining. I love every minute of it! I love my classes I have taken so far, and I am really excited about my classes in the future. The more I learn the more I love my major.
I am a very family oriented person. My family is very important to me, and I would do anything for my family. I have two brothers and two sisters and I live with my dad in Louisville during the summers. The most exciting news is our new edition to our family! My older sister just had a baby on the 1st of January! So I am a brand new aunt of a beautiful girl named Kailyn Ann! I miss her like crazy, because my sister lives up in Lansing, because she is a student at Michigan State University for elementary education.
Well.... that's all I can think of! I am really excited about this class, and I hope to learn a lot!

Natalie Hatfield

Intorduction

Hi My name is Erica Estes. I'm graduating in December. I've been married for 15 months, we are expecting our first child; her name is Zoei Marie. I'm 31 weeks pregnant due March 21st. We just bought our first house this last Friday. I'm a police studies major with a minor in ASL.

Visible Thinking

1. How do you believe this type of thinking and activity can influence your learning in SED337?

This type of thinking and activity can greatly improve the way that we learn and practice the things that we learn in the class. Visible thinking allows us to really investigate what we know about the topic and how we can explain it back related to many different areas. I think visible thinking is great because it is a great way to "see" how everyone has learned the topic and gives others a chance to explain to others about the topics and concepts that they do not understand.

1. How do you believe it could impact the learning of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?

In the world of the deaf and hard of hearing, this way of learning works wonders. Deaf and hard of hearing are visible learners and to allow them to see what they are learning and to write responses/questions allows them to see and *pah!* understand what they are trying to learn. Only verbally/signing a topic or concept will not go anywhere with them, but rather visualizing what they need to know in their mind is a way that they see and organize their work and thoughts. Being a CODA, visible learning is key to getting anywhere with new knowledge with the deaf. Just explaining won't get them anywhere, but rather showing them the knowledge is best.

-Melinda Wright

response to Visible Thinking

1. How do you believe this type of thinking and activity can influence your learning in SED337?

- I think that it is very essential to letting everyone be able to voice opinions and not be judged. I also think that it is helpful to being able to express the ideas that the class wants and still be able to agree to disagree. I like the idea of sharing thoughts and different perspectives.

2. How do you believe it could impact the learning of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?

- For the Deaf and Hard of Hearing students it could include them more in the discussion because they would feel just as important and included as everyone else. Everyone would have the same exposure to the activity in the class. Those students would have equal opportunity and feel connected and therefore have the opportunity to learn better.

Visible Thinking Questions

1. How do you believe this type of thinking and activity can influence your learning in SED337?
Personally, I am more of a visual learner. To do these types of activities with putting the information on the wall for me to look at would help me greatly. If the information is on the wall for me to look at, there is a greater chance that I would look at the information more, than if it were in the text book where I had to look it up. I think we should do more of these kinds of activities to help my learning.
2. How do you believe it could impact the learning of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?
The language within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing culture is a visual language. To put the information up on the wall for them to look at and comment or ask questions on would be a wonderful thing to do. This would have them interacting with each other asking questions while also gaining more knowledge on the topic being discussed.

Visible Thinking Questions

1. How do you believe this type of thinking and activity can influence your learning in SED337?
Personally, I am more of a visual learner. To do these types of activities with putting the information on the wall for me to look at would help me greatly. If the information is on the wall for me to look at, there is a greater chance that I would look at the information more, than if it were in the text book where I had to look it up. I think we should do more of these kinds of activities to help my learning.
2. How do you believe it could impact the learning of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing?
The language within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing culture is a visual language. To put the information up on the wall for them to look at and comment or ask questions on would be a wonderful thing to do. This would have them interacting with each other asking questions while also gaining more knowledge on the topic being discussed.