My Scary Vacation
By Angela Rios
ESL 0100
On the first day of class, a teacher came into the classroom and looked oddly at the other staff member sitting on a chair in front of a student. The teacher introduced himself/herself and was surprised to have a hearing impaired student in a classroom for the first time with a large of regular students. The “other” staff was a signing interpreter who was “signing the speech of a teacher or other speaker for a person who is deaf” (Heward, 375). Obviously, a mainstream teacher may be nervous that a deaf student can function better in a mainstream than a self-contained classroom.
Some hearing impaired students in the self-contained classroom become effective and have benefits. The self-contained classroom is a small group of all hearing impaired students with a sign language teacher. A teacher who is teaching impaired students must have a degree in special or deaf education with the knowledge of sign language; however, most of them do not get a second degree to teach a specific subject such as English, Math, and History. Thus, a high percentage of special educators have less expertise in subjects outside of deaf education. Sign language teachers help hearing impaired students pass the courses by reviewing the same lesson at least one or two days. Special educators are not planning to teach them everyday lesson, or they would most likely to become overwhelmed.
Special educators are very closed-minded and it is very difficult for the students to accept the teachers’ comments. Special education teachers have an annual meeting with a disabled student, parent(s), faculty, school psychologist and rarely principal could participate in this meeting in IEP (Individual Education Plan), which is a organization for any disabled student and his/her goals to achieve in the future before going to college.
I had this type of meeting annually, but in the junior year at my high school is something that I won’t forget. I had 4.0 on my grade point average since my freshman year, because self-contained class was really easy and I wanted to move on to another level. Suddenly, they refused and rejected my suggestion, because they thought that I could not make it. My grade point proved them that I was very motivated to move to next level in the mainstream classes. Special educators do not accept any proof.
The last disadvantage of this topic is the lack of education for the hearing impaired to learn. Most special education does not use textbooks, because in their opinion students will have a hard time understanding them. A special education teacher limits the work of the students on their books. When I was in self-contained classes, most of the times the teacher were using a projector to translate lower than 8th grade level concepts easily for them to understand. When a teacher gave out an assignment, students used their handouts so it was easier for them to do their homework. As a consequence, hearing impaired students will not be able to have challenge and brainstorm to do their homework.
The majority of disabled students in the mainstream classroom have benefits in education. In contrast, the regular classroom is not limited in the use of textbooks, because teacher encourages them to read more to improve their grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing skills. A teacher in a regular classroom expects the students to increase their effort by challenging them to do their homework and essays.
It is better for the hearing impaired students to participate in a large classroom than in self-contained. When I was in a large group of students in college, I did not participate in the class, because I was afraid that they would laugh at my answer. Now I know that I was wrong because it is fine to have a wrong answer, because we always learn from any mistake so the next time will be right. Hearing impaired students are nervous to stand up to do a speech in front of other people, but it is part of the participation. From my experience and study, most hearing impaired students have no experience in public speaking. The type of presentation in self-contained classroom consists in bringing a project for a short period of time like two minutes per presentation. In my opinion, students should be in a large classroom for public speaking so they will gain experience.
Although deaf students’ benefits from being mainstream classroom in many ways, they miss out on input from the teacher since they are observing the interpreter during the class. Obviously, most teachers in a regular class have no experience with the interpreters. When a teacher is lecturing and an interpreter signs what the teacher said, a teacher could feel weird because when a disabled student looks at his/her interpreter looks like if she or he is not paying attention in the class. From my experience with an interpreter in a regular classroom, I did not look at the interpreter in the whole period, because it was tiring and I wanted to stay focused on one person. I prefer to look at the teacher and the interpreter at the same time so I could be focused, but I have to hear the teacher’ voice and it takes time for my stubborn ears to get used to it. Of course, I missed some information and movements of body and facials expression by watching the interpreter.
As a result, hearing impaired students gain benefits in a mainstream classroom than in a self-contained. In a regular class, students will get experience in public speaking; they will increase their reading levels, vocabulary, and writing skills. Special educators were wrong putting me in a self-contained classroom ignoring the proof of my grade point average. What is the point to stay in a self-contained classroom and not see any challenge in schoolwork?