Hello SignWriting list,
I would like to introduce myself. My name is Deborah Holden. I am
a Teacher of the Deaf in a school district in New York State. I read
the Silent News article over breakfast on April 7 and since then my
world has been spinning with SignWriting and the possibilities for some
of my Deaf students. I work in 6 different buildings. I travel to four
or five buildings daily. I spend approximately one and a half hours a
day in the middle school. After I read the article, I went to the web
site and emailed for more information. Once the packet was sent I
showed it to my students. To my surprise, the students were able to
read SignWriting without any instruction. Some of the students wanted
to keep the papers and would not let me have them back until I promised
to make them a copy of it! When I asked them if they would like to
learn SignWriting they all said "YEAH!". I am in the process of getting
the administration to agree to allows us to participate in the Literacy
Project in the fall.
I have a some questions and would like your input. How much time will I
need to prepare myself in order to teach SignWriting? How much time
will the students need? Daily? Also I'm not a native signer. My
students do not have strong ASL skills. Some came from programs that
used signed English. I am hoping that SignWriting will be a good
language model for them. What happens if my students produce
SignWriting that is not perfect ASL? What if teacher want to
participate but do not know sign? I really appreciate your help. This
information will give me a better picture of what I and proposing to the
administration. I look forward to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Deborah Holden
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