ASL Classroom Management

     I have always been fascinated by American Sign Language. It is something I have always wanted to learn, and something that has always clicked with me. In the fall of 2009, at the age of 37, my mom lost her hearing, and was completely deaf in both ears. I watched her struggle through having hearing aids, and through an eventual surgery, that has allowed her to get her hearing back. She always had a hard time, with reading peoples lips, because no one ever made eye contact or talked loud enough for her to get a general idea of what the person was saying to her. While my mother never learned ASL she was able to depend on lip reading and context clues, in order to communicate effectively with others, until she was able to hear again.
       My cousin Emily who is 2 years old, was born with hearing loss, for the first year of her life, Emily couldn't hear and the doctors believed she would never be able to hear again. Emily went into an intensive speech therapy program, because she wasn't making noises or developing her speech because she couldn't hear. The program that Emily was in actually was paid for a ASL teacher to come to their house once a week to teach sign language, as they believed it would be the only way to communicate with Emily. My aunt and uncle invited most of the family, and every week for about 3 months, they spent 2 hours a week learning ASL. While I was not able to attend because I was at school, my mom attended every class. She learned so much, and I remember seeing her on brakes and she would sign things for me and show me what she learned. She was so excited.
     Within the last 6 months, Emily had a turnaround. They put tubes in her ears, and she was able to hear again, but she still has some significant hearing loss. Her cleft palate will also make speech difficult for her, so she still sees a speech pathologist weekly.
   For my family learning ASL was important to us because it directly affected us. Over spring break I was thinking about ASL and being deaf and how it affected my family, and how one day it might affect me personally as well. As my mother's hearing loss was genetic, I have a good chance of developing it at a young age too. I thought about how I could incorporate this in my classroom. Was there a way that I could incorporate sign language into my every day lesson plan? Could I have a little power point with important vocab words of the day, and how to sign them? I decided to do a simple google search, to see what popped up. Within seconds, I was bombarded with links on how to use ASL as a effective classroom management technique.
    The articles talked about using, sign language, to sign things like bathroom, water fountain, or even things like I have a question, or I have a comment, in order to minimize disruptions in the classroom. It would be so easy to have my students just raise their hand with the sign for restroom, and I could easily, direct them, by signing yes or no, without stopping the class or disrupting an activity or lectures. Most of the teachers who wrote about ASL classroom management were elementary or middle school teachers. This is could also be an effective tool in high school, but I am apprehensive because it might not work as well for older students, who might find it petty. Is it too childish? Is it appropriate to use?
     ASL classroom management is an idea I would like to explore further, it seems like if used correctly it could be extremely effective. Not only does it help minimize distractions in my classroom, but it is also teaching my students a new language, that one day they could find useful or helpful in their life.

    Check out this link:
 Sign Language Classroom Management Posters

My beautiful cousin Emily