EN - Sign Language

There is a site called DonorsChoose.org.
There, public school teachers can post classroom project requests, and donors choose which project to support.

I created a project request for materials to teach my students American Sign Langauge this past November with help of a great friend, Jennifer Oberg who is not only a talented dress maker but also a very active and mighty community contributor of Maui.

Unfortunately, the project didn't receive any donation for awhile.

I was thinking to let it go this time (you can't have your request on-line forever; there is a deadline to receive a full amount requested). Then, a surprise came in when I was sleeping in bed with coughs, runny nose, and a minor fever. I received an email.

The email let me know that I received $50 from someone who had come across my project!!!

Wow... it was an exciting moment.

There were $122 more to go to make this wish come true, so I decided to share it on my social media site. Initially, I did not want to ask my friends for financial help even if it was for my students. I realized hat I would waste this generous person's $50 if I don't act upon it.

Then, within a day, three more people donated, and it was fully funded.

Here is what I wrote on this project request. (There were word limits, so it's not that long.)

"'Words are only painted fire; a look is the fire itself,' said Mark Twain. If so, sign language will be able to deliver the fire to you. My students and I are very eager to learn it. We love to communicate and share stories, thoughts, and feelings. Please help us to become even better communicators.

I have 25 students, between ages 6 and 8. I have 5 bilingual children who speak Portuguese, Italian, French, Spanish, and Japanese. The reason Haiku has many children from different parts of the world is due, in part, to the world famous surfing just off of our coastline. Their parents move here to experience it. Different languages are part of these children's lives. The bilingual children were born on Maui, but at least one of their parents is from another country.

While the children speak English fluently, they speak their parent's or parents' native language(s) at home. This makes for a very enriching classroom experience for all of our students. Our school is a small, rural school on the North Shore of Maui. We have 500 children and over 60% of our students are on free and reduced lunch programs.

Since my students are used to hearing different languages in my classroom and at home, I thought it would be good to teach them another language they all could use and don'™t know - American Sign Language. It does not require pronunciation and is visual and develops fine motor skills. My students now know 100+ ASL words (actually as of today, they know more than 200).

My goal is for them to be able to make sentences and have conversations with each other. Having DVD will help us to attain this goal. The ASL teachers in the video have excellent facial expressions, and my students will be able to see conversations between people. We are already using ASL daily. We use it for spelling words. I incorporate ASL letters into my daily instructions. For instance, instead of raising their hands for certain things, they can sign it to me. I answer them in ASL. We use sign language outside of the classroom as well, such as field trips and fire drills where I cannot talk too loud but want to communicate with them.

Learning a different language broadens anyone's perspective about and the world. ASL will also expand their understanding of people with disabilities and different physical issues. When they use ASL, it is a link of expression to movement and can be a deeper meaning than just verbal words, which helps them to understand body language and facial expressions. Most importantly, children develop compassion and tolerance for differences in the world when they can communicate with others."

And here is what I wrote to thank the donors.

"Thank you very much for your generosity.
My request has been fully funded because of you.

I am thrilled to use the materials in my classroom to continue on our already embarked sign language journey to better understand one another and to better serve the world.

I am confident that my students will be able to help people with hard of hearing if they see them on the street. They would be able to comfort them. They will understand that there are people with many different sorts of needs in this world, and they would use their attained knowledge and creative mind to meet these needs.

Who knows? One of them might propose to her or his loved one using sign language someday. Some may use it to communicate with friends standing across the platform at a train station where voice would not reach. Some may become a sign language interpreter or teacher.

You just planted these wonderful seeds in them with your generous gift.

With gratitude,

Ms. Ueoka"