This Is Not The End

Well, everyone, this is my last blog post for 20-Time... It's been an interesting journey and I've learned a lot! I'm thankful for this opportunity with 20-Time that has exposed me to a different way of learning.

Now a little more about my project. We recently had to fill out a reflection in class that had a series of questions on it so I'm going to share three questions with my responses with you now:

What did you intend to accomplish with your 20-Time project? What did you actually accomplish with your 20-Time project? 

I intended to learn enough sign language to be able to have a conversation with someone else in ASL and then revised my goal to learning common words and phrases in sign language, while also learning about deaf culture. I accomplished my second goal of learning words and phrases, but not my first one of having a conversation with someone in ASL.

Describe the impact of your project on yourself and others. How could you use what you learned to create a positive change in someone else or the community?

I learned a lot about the deaf community and how deaf people are portrayed in the hearing society. Most deaf people get frustrated with the hearing community because most people think that deaf people are impaired in some way, when in fact, they aren't. The only difference between hearing and deaf people, is that deaf people can’t hear, but they can function like any other person in society. I could use my new knowledge about ASL and the deaf community by creating awareness of the deaf and the issues they have in society.

What roadblocks did you run into? What were the areas of the project that were more difficult than you expected them to be?

I was phased with a serious lack of motivation. I’m a really busy person, and 20-Time added more stress into my already chaotic life, so I ended up not working on it as much as I probably should have. I completed all assignments, but did only the bare-minimum, nothing above and beyond, which is what I normally do for projects. My topic was way harder than I initially expected. Learning sign language is learning a new language, and takes a lot of time to master, and it’s time that I didn't really have time to dedicate during this busy time in my life. I love ASL and learning about deaf culture, and want to continue my journey with ASL when I have a little more time to dedicate to it.

Though my journey with 20-Time is coming to an end, my journey with ASL is not. I am going to continue pursuing knowledge about the deaf community and deaf culture. Also, I'm very interested in minoring in ASL when I go off to college (I'm almost officially a senior in high school! Where did all the time go?!?!). I really feel like having a background in sign language would set me apart from the average applicant when I go to apply for an actual job, too, especially because I am thinking about majoring in education or social work.

I am so very thankful for all that I have learned about sign language and the deaf community. I have a new found love and respect for deaf people and their culture and can't wait to go out into the deaf community!

So, for now, but hopefully not forever...

Shake It Off

Yay! I actually had time to watch Children of a Lesser God, and it was incredible! It was really cool being able to see things that I have read about in I'll Scream Later and relating them to the emotions I now know Marlee Matlin was feeling at the time she filmed the movie. It was also awesome to see actual sign language in conversation form, not just on the videos that I've been watching.

Kind of relating to watching movies, I just started to watch Switched at Birth on Netflix. If you don't know what this show is about, feel free to click the link, but all you really need to know for the purpose of my mentioning the show, is that one of the main characters, Daphne, is deaf. Because she is deaf, ASL is used in the show quite frequently. Daphne attends a deaf school and it's really cool to see the interactions between her and her classmates. Though I don't understand everything thing that they are signing without the subtitles, I have understood a couple signs and have been able to follow along! It's awesome seeing progress!

Sadly, I didn't have time to make a video, because, let me tell you, filming and editing videos actually takes a real long time... Instead of having a video of me signing, I'm going to post pictures of some of the signs I have recently learned:

I actually have a personal connection to this sign. I volunteer in a first grade classroom and if one of the students has to use the restroom, instead of disrupting the whole class by saying it, the teacher has them use this sign and will discretely dismiss them. I love that the teacher connects sign language into her classroom, and hopefully, if someday I become a teacher, I can too!

I don't have a connection to this sign, I just really love food and thought it would be a good sign to share with all of you. Also, you need food to survive, so if you're ever out in the deaf community and are hungry, this would come in handy. 

I'm a firm believer in the fact that "please" is the magic word, so this one doesn't really need an explanation as to why I chose to share it ;)

Along with the videos and movies/TV shows I've been watching, I made a board on Pinterest dedicated to ASL and my 20-Time project! Pinterest is kind of my favorite, and I love seeing all the things others have posted about sign language and the deaf community. While browsing, I found a Youtube channel of a husband and wife who sign the lyrics to popular songs, and I'm a bit obsessed with it. I've watched basically every video, because it's just so cool to see the signs and how they go in time with the music. Here's one of my favorite videos:

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)

Just Another Week

Well, the last time I posted was right before the Project Fair, and let me tell you, it went great! Everyone seemed really interested in what I had to say and how my project was going. I loved hearing all of the motivational advice and encouragement provided by the parents.

After the Project Fair, I had a lot of motivation to get stuff done. I've watched a couple more ASL videos and have been practicing some more common phrases! In my next post, I'll try to post another video of myself signing something!

This week, however, I've been super duper busy and am now completely exhausted, which is kind of reflecting in this blog post. With everything that's going on, my creativity has been at an all time low, so, sorry for that...

For my next post, like I stated earlier, I will post a video, and my goal is to also watch the movie Children of a Lesser God. The author of the book (I'll Scream Later by Marlee Matlin) I'm reading for our SSR time, is the star of the movie, and I can't wait to see her performance, after learning a little about her experience with the filming.

Here's the trailer for the movie:

I'll be sure to provide a review of the movie after I watch it, too!

Thanks for visiting!
Piper