ASL ADVISORY BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 29, 2007
6-8 pm
at Everett High
B-230
Attendees: Nick Le Fors, Peggy Lee Le Fors, Linda Bontrager, Susan Tapert, Meredith McGahan, Carl Fender and Ellen Carpentier
6:00 Ellen welcomed the deaf & hearing advisors, and Peggy Lee as a new advisor to the meeting. Ellen then introduced the board to Carl Fender. Food was provided from a local Teriyaki restaurant that is Nick’s favorite. Peggy Lee will be selecting the food for the next advisory meeting. Minutes from the previous board meeting were not read as they were none taken due to the Advisory Board Kick Off event.
~6:30 Articulation Agreement & Comparison of Assessments:
Ellen, Susan and Meredith shared assessments and curriculum goals for CTE Sign Language Interpretation following the expectations of OSPI at the state level. Ellen showed her website that is used by the students to assess homework and assignments. Since she only has one class copy of the textbook “Signing Naturally” and other reference books she uses to “send home” with the students. Linda asked Carl why there was only a class copy for the students to use as the textbook is set up for individual use. Carl stated that due to finical concerns most of the CTE courses are provided with a class copy.
Linda had some reservations at attempting to compare skills of high school students with college level students. All in attendance were in agreement that the goal of any ASL course is to teach students a new language and culture. However the advisors from EvCC were not convinced that what the students to learn in ASL 1 & 2 within Everett School District is equivalent to Everett Community College ASL 101 & 102.
Peggy Lee stated that they now have a test for students who want to challenge ASL 101 & 102. Ellen agreed that any student wishing to enroll at EvCC should be tested first, especially since there is no articulation agreement between the two schools. The deaf advisors have concerns about articulation and were not sure if Tech Prep credit was available at EvCC for high school students or who the exact advisor is. With their permission Carl is contacting EvCC Tech Prep coordinator to discuss the possibility of articulation. Nick felt that it would be ok to accept students from the high school into EvCC’s future articulation agreement with Everett Public Schools. Peggy Lee was undecided, but willing to discuss it. Linda had concerns about hearing teachers teaching ASL to high school students that they might not be “culturally deaf” enough to teach the course fluently, and that from her experience high school students may not be mature enough. Linda and Peggy Lee and Nick were concerned with the size of the classes as compared with college level classes. They were not sure how the teachers handle classroom management with such large classes. The teachers (Ellen, Susan & Meredith) assured them that with the training and experiences they have had any classroom management is easily handled as we learn as we go, just as they may have done in their first few years of teaching.
Nick, Peggy Lee and Linda gave us some feedback on how to teach ASL from their personal experiences. They encouraged us to go to the training offered through the authors of our textbook, Signing Naturally. Peggy Lee recently attended the training and found the “cognitive” (?) method of presenting the material was very intuitive.
~7:00 Upcoming events
The board discussed what events will be happening in the near future. We hoped that Nick, Peggy Lee and Linda would be able to attend and offer a deaf cultural experience to the students who will attend. EvCC students were invited too.
-Silent Games at North at Cascade High in April
-ASL Bowl in May (Ellen’s students will be attending at ShCC)
-Bill Seago’s workshop at Everett High’s Little Theater on Feb. 23rd 8:30 to 10:30.
| 7:25
| Set dates for next meetings. |
March meeting changed to April 23rd due to travel plans for Nick and Linda to Gallaudet University in March. The April meeting will be at Cascade High School, in Susan Tapert’s room, 6-7:30pm. Susan will provide the “snacks” from the restaurant of Peggy Lee’s choosing. The last meeting will be in May or June. The exact date will be decided at the April meeting. The spring meeting will be at JHS in Meredith’s room.
7:30 Adjourn
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