The Time Has Come

Yes, faithful readers, the time has finally come for the ASLTerp blog to insert a picture into a post. I was really just waiting for the perfect picture to find its way to me...and it finally has. This picture is from an episode of The Soup, a show on E! that I don't normally watch, but I saw a video clip of the show on the Internet and knew that I had to find a picture of Spaghetti Cat. I must say that Spaghetti Cat bears a strong resemblence to a certain cat of my sister's. Perhaps Gracie isn't just all fluff from her fur, maybe she's been getting her fill of carbs from large plates of spaghetti?

Anyway, check out the original The Soup clip that debuted Spaghetti Cat and then check out a follow-up clip when Spaghetti Cat makes a random guest appearance on the show. There's also a Spaghetti Cat rebuttal from The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet.

The Funny Thing About Deaf Kids...

is that they're deaf. Now, I realize to most of you that may seem like an obvious statement. Duh, they can't hear, they're DEAF! But the ability or inability to hear, as the case may be, is really interesting. There's this idea among some of the deaf students that hearing people know everything; and to them it seems as though we do. Think about all of the information you glean just by listening to ambient noise. You hear snatches of conversation at work, you listen to the news on the radio when you drive to work, you hear the kids in your class asking the same stupid question the deaf student might have, but is too embarrassed to ask, etc. I am continually surprised by what the students I work with know (as opposed to what they don't know) because for the deaf students, everything has to be directly taught. They can't pick up on the incidental learning that the hearing kids experience. I don't mean to say that the deaf students are stupid; they're not, they're actually quite bright, but none of the students with whom I currently work have families who know sign language. This means that when the student leaves school and arrives at home, he or she is no longer able to communicate fluently with anyone.

I remember sitting in class one year when the deaf student suddenly reached over and punched me in the arm. Now, it's not unusual for the students to touch me or tap on my arm or leg to get my attention (the two sixth graders I work with this year will actually grab my arm and hold on until I finish signing), but it IS unusual to be punched in the arm. So, this student punched me in the arm and I looked over and asked why the heck he was punching me. He just smiled and pointed to a picture of a VW Bug in the magazine he was reading. I was amazed that this kid knew what a "slug bug" was. Seriously, amazed. For a kid whose family doesn't even understand the simplest of signs, someone, somewhere was able to convey to him that when you see a VW Beetle, you punch someone in the arm for a "slug bug." Probably not a big deal to most of you, but I was fascinated.

One of the reasons why I haven't posted as often as I would like is because I'm pretty tired when I get home from school. Our school has three sixth-grade students who use interpreters and those three students are killing me. They're so out there. They're all very different and they're all very challenging. Typically clueless sixth-graders. The one little girl is incredibly argumentative. She is so stubborn that she will argue with me over sign choices in the middle of class. And normally, I'm all for the student's preferences and input on how I should best interpret in class, but this girl has learned a lot of incorrect signs. Or, sometimes there is more than one way to sign something (much like in English, there are synonyms) and she will not believe that there could be more than just her way of signing things. If she prefers me to use a specific sign (as long as it is the correct sign) fine, but I also want to expose her to more vocabulary and more choices for expressing herself.

One of the little sixth-grade boys also has CP and is in a wheelchair, which is a challenge for most of the staff at my school. They aren't quite sure how to deal with a student in a wheelchair who is also deaf. One of the special accommodations for this student is that he uses a specific restroom that is near the MH (MD if you prefer) room because it is specially outfitted for students in wheelchairs. It is also more private than the general student restrooms. The drawback is that this restroom has a heavy door that the student needs help opening.

Now, getting back to idea some of the students have that hearing people know everything...today as I held the door for the deaf student, I shocked him when he came out and I asked what he had been drinking in the bathroom. Apparently, he was unaware that opening a pop can makes enough noise for someone (me) standing at the doorway to hear. He was pretty astounded that I knew he had been drinking a pop in the restroom. I'm not omniscient, I just have better hearing than some.

Banned Books Week

If you're familiar with my Sis's blog, you're aware that this week, September 27 to October 4, is National Banned Books Week. It's no secret that I am enthusiastic about reading. Some of my favorite things about school when I was growing up were RIF (a free book to take home? Awesome!) and Book-It (free pizza just for reading some books? Sign me up!). Yes, I did read an entire social studies textbook in one sitting after coming home from the first day of school (second grade, I think). When Grandpa Farr died and the aunts and uncles were cleaning out Grandma and Grandpa's house before Grandma moved east, what was the one thing that Sis and I really wanted from their house, to remember them by? Their set of Little House on the Prairie books. When visiting their other set of grandparents in South Dakota, who has their picture in front of Ma and Pa Ingalls's house in DeSmet, and out in front of some historical marker on the Ingalls's homestead? Two little identical girls obsessed with reading books. We probably read books nonstop on the two-day drive out to South Dakota (scenic Iowa, anyone?).

Were you aware that at one time Laura Ingalls Wilder's books were criticized as "fueling the fire of racism" for their depictions of Native Americans? Attempts were actually made to ban the Little House on the Prairie books. Instead of looking at books like the Little House series and even classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from a historical perspective and with respect to the author's frame of reference, some people apparently feel that books should be all lightness and fluff. Those people also believe that books that may be offensive to a few should be banned for all. Those people are an affront to the work of patriots like Patrick Henry, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson who guaranteed our right to read whatever we darn well please by promising authors the freedom of speech and the press in the Bill of Rights.

I work in a middle school filled with nothing but impressionable children. Do I believe that there are books inappropriate for those students to be reading? Yes, at times. Unfortunately, the books that the students should be reading are often frowned upon, while the books that the students should not be reading go unnoticed. True story: a sixth grade student in the study skills class I interpret in had a Nora Roberts book in her possession. I have never read a Nora Roberts book, but I do know where her books are shelved at the public library and I can assume that the subject matter is not appropriate for a sixth grade student. A deaf student with whom I work was reading Mildred D. Taylor's book Mississippi Bridge and was told to return the book to the library because her mother felt that the racial subject matter was inappropriate. Mildred D. Taylor, for those of you unfamiliar with her work, is one of the best children's authors out there. Her work is culturally and historically pertinent, not to mention beautifully written and full of stories about families that aren't dysfunctional.

My point is that reading is a wonderful gift. Books are to be treasured. Realistically, I can't travel the entire world, talk to someone from every culture, inspect every plant and animal, go back in time to meet the pioneers of the American West, etc. I depend on books to gain knowledge and insights into the human experience. Banning books because of fear and hatred isn't the answer.

Check out the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books from 2000 to 2007.

Widgets!

Check out my new discovery! I was on the Goodreads site when I discovered that I could use a "widget" to give a sneak peek at my Goodreads Books Read bookshelf. I'm completely un-technically savvy, so I was excited to figure out how to add the html, etc. Hooray!

No School Again!

Yesterday and today I haven't had to go to work/school because of power outages. Yesterday, the entire district cancelled school; today, my building was one of three or four buildings that was closed. It was pretty awesome to wake up Monday morning and not have to go to school. It was even better today to wake up and not have to go. Even better, I get paid on calamity days (aka "snow days"). So, I'm pretty much getting paid to sit around home, surf the 'net, and watch television (yesterday's activities). Today I actually went out and about. I had to go downtown to the administration building to get my paycheck from last Friday fixed. I get paid by paper check and the checks that the treasurer sent out last Friday had "invalid" signatures, which on my check meant that there was no signature. I'm not authorized to sign my own check, so I had to drive into the admin. building and they stamped my check so I could deposit it. Then I went to the bank, the library, and Target...all while being paid. I love it!

You know what's even better? The fact that I don't have to go to work because my building has no power but I still have electricity here at home. I probably wouldn't be as chipper about the whole power outage scenario if I myself were without power. Like Ma back home. She called me late yesterday afternoon...from her car. Apparently the power at home went out Sunday afternoon and Ma's not sure when it's coming back on. Because Mom and Dad have well water, this also means that the pump is out, so Mom doesn't have any water. Dad, fortunately, is out of town this week and doesn't have to deal with the lack of electricity. Sorry, Mom!

Mom said that she is probably going to have to throw out everything that's currently in the refrigerator and depending on how long the power is out, everything that she has downstairs in the big freezer. Thank goodness my first anniversary has come and gone, otherwise my leftover wedding cake would be a goner (unbelievably, it was still tasty after a year in deep freeze!!). Mom also said that one of the trees at home, the ash tree (she tells me, as if I seriously know which of the fifty million trees at home is the ash tree), broke in half and will have to be chopped down. The house also suffered some minor wind damage; shingles were blown off of the roof and there is some siding that has come loose. Freakiest of all the damage is that one of the big pillars out front was almost blown off of the concrete porch! Yikes!

I'm not sure if I'll have school tomorrow or not...but after two days off, I'm so prepared to stay home again. I'm also not sure if today's school closure will count towards the state's allotted five calamity days. Yesterday obviously will, but since the entire district was not closed today, just a few buildings, I'm not sure if it counts toward the total or not. I'm hoping not, just in case we're closed more this week, and in case we have a lot of snow later this year.

What? It's September already? When did that happen?

Yikes, I can't believe it's already the second of September! What happened to the months of June, July, and August? More importantly, what happened to my summer vacation? It's gone...over...done...finished...*sob*

Now, before I give any of my readers the wrong impression, I actually do enjoy my job. You readers out there only get to hear about the wonky crap that goes on...teachers who don't know when the World Wars occurred, kids who think I'm speaking Spanish, middle school mayhem, etc. But those topics are what make the best kind of stories. I don't blog about the cool stuff I get to do, like making language possible for students who otherwise would have no means of communication with the world at large, teaching sign language to parents and teachers, interpreting for soccer practice, etc. Not that that stuff isn't fun or inspiring, it's just that I prefer to turn the frustrating situations I face everyday into stories that you can enjoy.

Happy August to You!

Well, it's been awhile...

Good news: Time Warner came out Saturday and fixed our cable and Internet woes...for the time being.

Bad news (for Time Warner): I still hate you.

I had been unable to post here at home for roughly two weeks, and I was out of town for about half a week, attending an interpreting conference, hence the dry spell.

Not having Internet and cable basically means that I read about fifteen books in the last two weeks. I've already surpassed my book totals for 2006 and 2007, and I'm two away from equaling my total books read for 2005 (a nice even 60). The downside to all this reading is that sometimes I will pick up a book that I've read even just a year or two ago and find that I've no idea what happened as far as plot and characters go. Although, if the book was any good, I usually have a good idea of the plotline, even years later. Well, maybe I shouldn't say if the book was any good, because there are some pretty lousy books that have been seared into my memory. Funny how that works, I can't remember a blessed thing from Wuthering Heights, but I do remember parts of Brave New World, and I can't say that I liked either book.

Memory is funny...the whole reason I started writing down all the books I've read is because of something my brother said to me once. We were talking about all of the Agatha Christie mysteries I'd read and he wanted to know exactly how many I'd read (or something like that) and I told him that I wasn't sure because sometimes the titles are different for the British editions than they are for the American ones, or newer editions sometimes have different titles, etc. Also, I'd read so many of them that sometimes I would pick one up and start reading it, only to find that I had already read it. He suggested writing down all of the ones I'd read (he's a clever one!) and thus the lists of books I've read was born. Usually, though, if I've already read such and such Agatha Christie, I can go ahead and read it again, because I've forgotten whodunit. Plus, I find that I appreciate her books more now that I'm older (I started reading her books in fifth grade and a lot of that British stuff just went over my head). I remember how a few of them turn out, but for the most part I can still enjoy the story.