Blog 25: Mentorship

    Literal
MENTORSHIP LOG

    Interpretive
The most important thing that I have gained from this experience was trying to meet the needs of the students. When I would work with a student one on one I found it very hard to explain what I was teaching. I know how to do the worksheet but I didn't know how to sign the explanation. It was the most difficult thing for me. I had to search how to sign certain words. Ask the deaf teachers and the interpreters how to sign a word or how they would explain this concept. I cant come up with an explanation on the spot but if I go home and thought how I would be able to sign instructions on how to solve a problem I could be able to do it now.  This is important because teachers need to be able to make sure that all of the students understand what is being taught. If the student doesn't know then the teacher has to figure out another way that they might understand, that is what I had to do in my mentorship.
    
   Applied
Being at South Hills and going to Mesa Elementary helped answer my EQ because I was able to see the teachers use two answers I found to answer my essential question in the classroom. My first answer: having a strong foundation in ASL, I saw that mostly when I went to Mesa. Christy Neria would have the students write a story in English but have them read it in ASL. I wrote a story of my own and was able to read (sign) it to the class. I also got to her technique in teaching Language Arts.
  

Baby Essie

This weekend my father was asked to come speak at a deaf rally in San Francisco and in San Jose. Its pretty hard to talk and sign at the same time. It is like listening to Spanish and English at the same time. You are not going to receive all of the information. I originally was not going to go due to school and the homework I had to do. But the ADAM (Advocating for Deaf Apostolic Ministry) called my father and asked if I was available to interpret for him. While I was up there I was able to see some old friends. Robin, the hearing lady next to me, is a fully certify interpreter. Next to her is her Deaf husband, Jan. And the baby is their daughter, Essie who is hearing. But seeing Essie who can't talk as much for her age right now, both of the parents talk to her in sign language. It's so cute seeing her dance to the music and when it stops, she stop dancing turns to her mom and signs to her "music". Now I know that my EQ targets elementary students who are deaf and baby Essie is neither of those. But she helps prove my best answer which is having a strong foundation in ASL. Both parents fully communicate with her in sign language and she gets it and is able to communicate back. Now she isn't signing these long sentences, that's crazy. But she is able to communicate back to her parents. It is cool being able to see by senior project being applied to real life.

Deaf community

 

The deaf community is, to me, so amazing. They are so close and always there supporting one another. South Hills, this year, was the host of the DHH prom. Yes, the deaf have their very own prom. I didn't know that either. Well there are a total of 20ish some deaf students in South Hills so few other schools who have deaf programs came together to have enough people to have a prom. It was pretty successful and much fun.

Deaf Expo

 

We went to Deaf expo. Deaf Expo is where all these Deaf organization come together. Here was a picture of me and Matt "the Hammer" Hamill. He is a deaf pro wrestler. He was so cool. And here is a little of Deaf Culture. 

 

 

RC

 These are some of the really amazing books that Christy Neria let me borrow for my I-search and research checks.

 

video

This is my 4th interview and though it is a video of my interview I thought it would be cool to share because Marie Lubman is a deaf teacher that works at my mentorship and you get to experience just a little bit of Deaf Culture. I hope you guys enjoy it :)

2nd time at Mesa

 All four pictures are when I went to Mesa the second time. The kids really wanted to show me a move that they made. This is there really awesome cool reading corner, there is Christy Neria in the red shirt and black hat in mid sentence. And in the last picture she slits the class in two and here is her half of the class in their math groups.

Mesa Elmentary School

This was my first day at Mesa Elementary School. I was able to go to Christy Neria class which her class had 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. For the first day she just had me observe the class, but I still enjoyed myself very much.

technology

In the first picture is of a video phone (vp). many Deaf people have this in their home. Just like how we have house phones, the vp is there house phone. on the screen of the tv is a camera and when some one is calling there is a flashing light to get there attention. When they turn on the vp it is like video chatting and they sign to each other. On the bottom picture you see a yellow light next to the clock. Well the deaf students cannot hear when the school bell goes off so in the deaf classes they have that light. so when the bell goes off the light turns on. Just some technology that the school uses to help the DDH program.

Going to different classes

 

Throughout mentorship with Mrs. Gough I was able to go to another class. To Mr. Cummins a DHH teacher who teaches English, so I was able to see different deaf classes.

 

First day of mentorship

 

First day of mentorship at South Hills High School. It was so scary. All my life I have been to small schools and coming to South Hills was a whole new experience for me.

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 hour check

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
I am doing my mentorship at South Hills High School.

2. Who is your contact?
Originally it was Michelle Benavides, who is an interpreter at the high school. But I have been working more closely with Mrs. Gough and she is in the area that I can benefit for my project.

3. How many total hours have you done 
32 hours 20 mins 

4. Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
Every time I go for my mentorship, Mrs. Gough has me do the same thing I do all the time. She allows me to work and help her deaf students with whatever they need help on, which is mostly math.
5. Email your house teacher the name of your contact and their phone number. 
Done.

Blog 1: Mentorship Summer Component

Assignment

Literal (Know)
Mentorship hours and contact info

Literal (Need to know)

• What qualifies a deaf student to be in a mainstream versus a special day classroom?
• What are the requirements for for interpreters?
• What are the qualifications neededto teach deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students?
• How does a relationship between an interpreter and a dhh student effect the educational outcome of the student?
• What are the preparations to accommodate a deaf student?

 Interpretive

When interacting in a deaf class and observing deaf students in a mainstream class, I learned that DHH students need the accommodation and support in order to succeed in their academic learning. It's apparent that their lack of hearing impedes their learning process. Such accommodations that are required are having DHH students sit up in the front of the class so that they are able to clearly see the teacher and the board. In addition, sitting up front allows them to see the interpreter and lip read the teacher's words.

Applied

I had always been involved with the deaf community, so deaf culture was just an idea for my senior project. But with my experience at Sout Hills High School, it reassured me that deaf culture was what I wanted to do for my senior project and to pursue my carreer in becoming a DHH teacher.