A S L

Creating inclusive learning experiences for my students is very important to me. Working in my final practicum I was able to take this passion of mine to help create a Languages unit specifically designed to support the needs of a student with exceptionalities in my class. This student has down syndrome and is def, making it hard for them to communicate with fellow classmates and making it hard for their classmates to communicate with them. So as I was tasked to facilitate a second language lesson, I was inspired to instead design learning that would better serve the diverse needs of this class. Therefore I created a unit on American Sign Language. I was so excited by this challenge as I was also now learning ASL alongside my students. I was fortunate enough to have an ELA in the room that had a very good understanding of ASL to use as an additional resource. Through various lessons we learned how to sign things such as the alphabet, our own names, days of the week, emotions, and colours. We also learned how to say simple sentences and ask questions such as; What is your name? My name is ____. How are you? Thank you. Sorry. Wait. Please. To name a few. We also learned how to sing and sign “Happy Birthday” for social occasions. This unit proved to be an exceptionally fun learning experience for all, including myself. Students loved learning to communicate in a new way, and I was extremely happy to see them using their learning to communicate with their fellow def classmate. The result of this ASL unit in this class allowed me to see first hand the incredibly powerful affects of inclusive education that reaches the abilities of all students while also fostering a community of learning.