We are now at the end of our learning project journey. As I reflect I realize the many changes I have made from the beginning and am proud of what I have accomplished. Below I have reflected on each week of this project:
Week 1–Beginning of my Learning ASL Journey
-I wanted to learn ASL so if I have a student who is hard of hearing or deaf I can at least have some basic knowledge of the language to communicate with them
-My only knowledge of ASL was the alphabet
-I made an account on the website Lingvano and an app called Ace ASL
-Plan was to follow along with the modules on Lingvano
Week 2–Things Don’t Always go as Planned…and that’s Ok!
-Found that “Lingvano” was not a website that I wanted to use anymore for my learning as it cost money to continue with the modules
-Started watching Youtube videos from Sign Language 101
-Learnt that people may sign words differently as every person has their own unique style of signing
-Learnt about iconic signs
Week 3–Screencastify and my ASL Journey
-Watched lesson 2 of Sign Language 101
-Used Screencastify to record a quiz from Sign Language 101 and then used the editing tools to document my answers
Week 4–Counting and Fingerspelling
-Watched lesson 3 of Sign Language 101
-I made a video of me signing numbers 1-30. I was pretty pumped that I was able to count that high in ASL
-Found the game Fingerspelling which I really enjoyed using to review the alphabet
-Made a video on how to use Fingerspelling
Week 5–New Addition to my Learning Resources
-Watched lesson 4 of Sign Language 101, however I realized that this was not the main resource I wanted to use to learn ASL anymore, it’s a great extra tool but was not working with my learning style as the main source
-Signed up for ASLConnect (and I still really enjoy using it)
-Using Screencastify, I made two videos of me practicing my signing on ASLConnect
Week 6–Deaf Culture
-I was so happy because I learnt how to have a basic introduction conversation with someone in sign, so I made a video of it
-Watched lesson 5 of Sign Language 101
-Learnt a fingerspelling practicing technique which is to fingerspell things in your house as you see them
-Talked a bit about deaf culture since my instructor in Sign Language 101 reminded me that learning about the culture in any language is important
What I learnt from this experience:
What I have found from my journey so far is that being able to practice after given small bits of information is key for my learning. I favorited resources that gave me time to practice versus the ones that didn’t, I found those ones went to quickly for me to be able to fully comprehend what I learnt. I only found one game online for ASL (I was hoping to find more) but it was so fun! I feel when you are learning something, playing a game that incorporates the knowledge always helps you to learn better.
Some key things I have learnt that I want to share:
-Facial expressions are key to interacting with someone through sign
-Just like any language, people have their own unique style of signing
-Even if you don’t know ASL, there are “iconic signs”-ones that are visually representative of the word (for example: anyone would be able to recognize the word ‘swim’). So really when you think about it, you do know some sign already!
-I have found it quite useful to see myself on the screen when practicing sign
After this class is over, I will continue on with my ASL journey. I am glad we have had the time to reflect on which resources we liked or didn’t like because now I know what works best for me. I’m looking forward to using this new skill in my classroom, whether it’s to communicate with a member of my school or just to teach my students so they have some basic knowledge of ASL.