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My name is Bridget Donnell, I am a native English language speaker. I have good knowledge in Spanish and I am fluent in American Sign Language. When I was a small girl, I began to take interest in other languages like Spanish, and American Sign Language. I began listening to Spanish radio and watching Spanish speaking shows as a young girl. My mother can speak Spanish very well because she was a nurse and needed to communicate with all of her patients. She helped along the way. Now, I am able to understand Spanish pretty well but can speak it minimally. I am fluent in American Sign Language though and I would be able to communicate with a Deaf or Hard of hearing person with confidence. While ASL is an unspoken language I do feel it is an essential language. the syntax is also similar to Spanish. In my video I discuss my language learning experience as well as my Language Philosophy. I do believe in order to promote a safe and healthy classroom environment you have to promote equity. And one of the ways we can do that is by acknowledging and respecting different cultures and their languages. Also, by trying to bridge the gaps for our English Language Learners, or ELL’s. Before I discuss strategies to help support our ELL’s, I would like to make a connection to our text. Wright mentions how the label can be limiting with a focus on English. I love the alternative term “emergent bilingual” and how it is becoming more popular. I think it is more positive and focuses on the students strengths… which is knowing MULTIPLE languages. Now, there are many strategies that facilitate this and encourage ELL students while they journey through and work hard in our education system and classrooms. As our Common Core Standards and TEKS both do have specific and explicit expectations. I look forward to discussing those more in depth as we progress through the course.
Hey Bridget! I really love how you have took an interest in learning Spanish at such a young age. I also think that we often forget about ASL as a language because it does not involve spoken words, but language is simply communication at its very core. Unspoken language such as ASL and body language can certainly communicate the same things that spoken words can. All teachers, even teachers who are not certified in ELA, will have to understand and teach language in the classroom (Wright, 2019, 61). Classroom management and community both involve communicating expectations, and if a teacher cannot effectively communicate or teach students how to effectively communicate, then there will not be harmony in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about Sign Language being a forgotten language because it is not a spoken language. Often times people in the Deaf community do not feel as connected to the world and feel isolated because hearing people will not try to make an effort to communicate. Which brings me to your correlation to the text, we shouldn't feel defeated if we aren't effectively communicating, but instead we must persevere and try to bridge the language gaps as much as possible, and however that looks. If it is drawing pictures to help build vocabulary then it needs to be done! Also noting that body language is a huge part of all communication.
DeleteHi Bridget! I loved hearing about your experience with language. I think it is really great that you took the initiative to start to teach your Spanish and worked to be able to start that communication. I am like you, though, I can understand Spanish a lot better than I can speak it and I would love to be able to speak Spanish fluently. I think that is an important language to learn here in Houston, Texas. I also think it is so amazing that you are fluent in ASL. Like Morgan said above me, we do often forget about ASL because it is not a spoken language. I would love the learn the basics of many languages so I can communicate with as many students and their families as possible, and you definitely seem to have a solid base for that.
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying I have a solid base. That made me think about how all teachers should probably be taking some basic "foreign" language courses. For example, a lot of the romantic languages have given us our English language and being able to make the connections to the original roots can help us connect to our spanish speakers.
DeleteHi Bridget- Your connection of ASL and Spanish is very intriguing. I appreciate your student-centered approach and asset-based pedagogy towards working with ELs.
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