This is actually an old "inside joke" from last year, I think, but I figured I should document it for posterity.
There was an argument (for which I wasn't present) regarding the label "hard-of-hearing". Someone complained about referring to some kids as deaf and some as hard-of-hearing, saying we should just call them all deaf.
Besides the fact that some of the kids call themselves hard-of-hearing -- and I'm not about to tell them their self-identity is wrong -- sometimes we need to differentiate which kids we're talking about. Essentially, we need a way of referring to kids who have some level of reliance on spoken English.
Around school, I sometimes refer to them as "talkers". But when I heard about this argument, part of which being that hard-of-hearing has some kind of negative connotation, I started thinking about a more "accurate" label for such individuals.
What I came up with was SHATSAFASEs -- Students Having Access To Sound Adequate For Acquiring Spoken English. And yes, if you say it fast enough, it sounds like "shut your faces". :-X
Is that better, or can I please say hard-of-hearing when I need to refer to kids in a deaf school who hear enough to understand spoken English?
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Another Year, Another Attempt to Blog
The mood has again struck me to try and keep up this blog. My theory for why I skipped the entire year of 2008 is that I had nothing interesting to say . . . unless anyone is interested in hearing about how one student still doesn't do his homework and none of them ever study for tests.
But the "English" part of me is feeling neglected, probably because I feel like I spend more time in ASL than English these days. Oh, and have I mentioned the bewildering fact that I continually have to teach my high-school-age students words like "steep" and "minus"? And these are the kids who are above an elementary reading level. Not complaining, really, just marveling.
So, I will endeavor to find something interesting to say. Or, if not interesting, at least informative.
Next week promises to be another mess of non-classroom time. Honestly, if there were a competition for which school could find the most excuses to take kids out of class, my school would win, hands-down. To be fair, Tuesday through Thursday isn't their fault -- we have to give the state competency exam, required for graduation. Friday, though, we're spending a couple hours celebrating MLK, Jr. Day (early due to scheduling conflicts).
I'm all for giving our students an enriched education full of cultural and historical significance. But even our brightest students are barely cutting it in mathematics, so I'm not for taking them out of math class to do it. Isn't that what social studies classes are for?
Being the miracle worker I'm supposed to be, though, I'm sure I'll find a way to make it work. :-P
A lot of people have been talking about New Year's Resolutions. My main one is to read more . . . I miss it. Since I now have a first period for the first time in a year and a half, it's a good excuse -- I have to read with them 20 minutes each morning anyway. And it's my calculus class, so they don't need my help to read their own books.
Downside . . . I have to find a way not to get so engrossed in a book that I spend all my time after school reading it instead of getting my work done. Any suggestions?
But the "English" part of me is feeling neglected, probably because I feel like I spend more time in ASL than English these days. Oh, and have I mentioned the bewildering fact that I continually have to teach my high-school-age students words like "steep" and "minus"? And these are the kids who are above an elementary reading level. Not complaining, really, just marveling.
So, I will endeavor to find something interesting to say. Or, if not interesting, at least informative.
Next week promises to be another mess of non-classroom time. Honestly, if there were a competition for which school could find the most excuses to take kids out of class, my school would win, hands-down. To be fair, Tuesday through Thursday isn't their fault -- we have to give the state competency exam, required for graduation. Friday, though, we're spending a couple hours celebrating MLK, Jr. Day (early due to scheduling conflicts).
I'm all for giving our students an enriched education full of cultural and historical significance. But even our brightest students are barely cutting it in mathematics, so I'm not for taking them out of math class to do it. Isn't that what social studies classes are for?
Being the miracle worker I'm supposed to be, though, I'm sure I'll find a way to make it work. :-P
A lot of people have been talking about New Year's Resolutions. My main one is to read more . . . I miss it. Since I now have a first period for the first time in a year and a half, it's a good excuse -- I have to read with them 20 minutes each morning anyway. And it's my calculus class, so they don't need my help to read their own books.
Downside . . . I have to find a way not to get so engrossed in a book that I spend all my time after school reading it instead of getting my work done. Any suggestions?
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