American Sign Language

I will be opening you up to the world of the Deaf community, learning about Deaf history, and getting educated about devices the Deaf community use in everyday life through my courses. Students will learn about the different types of jobs and places you could use sign language by doing a research project on these. We will learn about famous Deaf people, I will invite Deaf guest to classes to be able to interview and meet real life Deaf adults. You will be learning a vast array of signs to be able to competently introduce yourself and converse with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community along with your hearing peers in and out of class!

We will be playing a ton of games to reinforce the language learning standards that are important to learning a new language, watch a few movies and short clips through out the year and I hope, at the end of the year, to get you all to fall in love with the culture and language like I have! Please bring an open mind, a yearn to learn and excitement to learn this visual language offered at the only school in the district! With that said, this makes this program and all the students in this class even more unique and special! We will use in-class participation to increase our use of sign language, and present as small groups to the whole class.

In class we will have "NO VOICE" days a few days a week. ASL 1-2 we will concentrate on Fingerspelling, and Numbers along with the building of vocabulary to have a simple conversation with a Deaf or hard of hearing person. In ASL 3-4 there will be more long form signing, deeper conversations and higher level signing bordering on interpretation with music, stories, etc!

It is of the upmost importance to learning a new language to get your brain to retain the new language that we use signing as often as possible and we really want to build that part of our memory, so this will be an important part of showing up and participating in classes! So show up ready to go, make sure you get plenty of food and rest, and practice practice practice. The saying is very true with this language, "If you don't use it, you lose it!"

I look forward to increasing your knowledge, exposure to the community that I am a part of and we will all learn, grow and have fun together! Giant oak trees start from a little seed and with help of the elements around it, will grow and provide to those plants, animals, and humans around it. My goal is to provide you all with what you need to grow into the best possible, strong Oak Tree you can become! Take these skills you learn and continue to use in the future where ever you end up!  

Welcome to American Sign Language at Deer Valley High School by Mr. Cromer!!!