Note to self: when you want your students to be on their best behavior, just introduce them to sign language. While my day started out as a Tuesday (our version of Monday’s out here in PIP), it quickly turned around when I introduced my kids to a handful of ASL signs. Honestly, when I was getting my sign language posters ready last week I thought it would be like pulling teeth to get them introduced to the class. My kids are always so focused on what their old routines were, that it can be incredibly challenging to get them into new routines (emphasis on the incredibly).
Today, however, they blew me away with their ability to adapt to something new. I had put up about 12 signs on the wall and was planning to introduce them slowly, but my students picked them all up in a matter of ten minutes. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! There were so many times that I caught them practicing their signs throughout the day and it made for another proud teacher moment! I’m still in shock over how well they got into the routine of using a new language. Before, the only sign that they’d known was to ask to go to the bathroom.
After today, however, they each left the room able to to share with me their classroom needs (“I have a question”, “I have an answer”, “I have a comment”, etc). They were even asking me to bring in my ASL flashcards so they can learn more signs! Little do they know that this is a major part of my classroom management for them (shh we’ll keep that one a secret). It never ceases to amaze me what my students will respond to and how excited they get when they’ve mastered something. Happy Monday:)
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