College teacher dilemma

Just a question as a hearie. I know it was wrong for the teacher to single you out as a deaf person, but J how do you understand what the teacher is saying when you aren't looking at the interpreter? I understand depending on how old you are it's your choice not to pay attention in class, but I was just interested if you really could understand without watching the interpreter all the time.
 
igimaster said:
Just a question as a hearie. I know it was wrong for the teacher to single you out as a deaf person, but J how do you understand what the teacher is saying when you aren't looking at the interpreter? I understand depending on how old you are it's your choice not to pay attention in class, but I was just interested if you really could understand without watching the interpreter all the time.
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No, nothing at all. Her lip movement was not very sharp and I did not understand one single word out of her mouth. Meh. She also kept moving around in the classroom as she was doing the lecture.

Ok, my turn to ask you a question. Let's suppose you're deaf and you have a class that is 2 hours long and you have an interpreter to interpret for you. Will you be able to watch the interpreter for 2 straight hours or 120 straight minutes?
 
J'explique said:
No, nothing at all. Her lip movement was not very sharp and I did not understand one single word out of her mouth. Meh. She also kept moving around in the classroom as she was doing the lecture.

Ok, my turn to ask you a question. Let's suppose you're deaf and you have a class that is 2 hours long and you have an interpreter to interpret for you. Will you be able to watch the interpreter for 2 straight hours or 120 straight minutes?
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Excellent question.
 
I'm far from a perfect instructor, but I have serious problems with some "instructors" described here. Where I learned to teach (for high school, college, and graduate students, as well) a 50-minute lecture without break was discouraged, much less longer classes. To both hearies and deafies, lecture of more than 20 minutes was considered cruel and unusual punishment, not to mention a waste of both teacher and student time and energy.

Any effective lecture should be as brief as possible and always accompanied by printed or graphic materials. Supporting activities and free time should intersperse even the most gifted lecturer's presentations. Teachers who say "I don't have time for all that. There's too much material. I have to lecture to present it all" are absolutely the poorest teachers. In fact, they don't teach; they confuse and frustrate.

In Montana, because of weather and distance, many college night classes were once-a-week for three-hours. Those required the greatest ingenuity to offer good learning opportunities, but many good teachers succeeded.

I'm sorry so many here have had bad experiences, and I hope those are few and far between.
 
Chase said:
I'm far from a perfect instructor, but I have serious problems with some "instructors" described here. Where I learned to teach (for high school, college, and graduate students, as well) a 50-minute lecture without break was discouraged, much less longer classes. To both hearies and deafies, lecture of more than 20 minutes was considered cruel and unusual punishment, not to mention a waste of both teacher and student time and energy.

Any effective lecture should be as brief as possible and always accompanied by printed or graphic materials. Supporting activities and free time should intersperse even the most gifted lecturer's presentations. Teachers who say "I don't have time for all that. There's too much material. I have to lecture to present it all" are absolutely the poorest teachers. In fact, they don't teach; they confuse and frustrate.

In Montana, because of weather and distance, many college night classes were once-a-week for three-hours. Those required the greatest ingenuity to offer good learning opportunities, but many good teachers succeeded.

I'm sorry so many here have had bad experiences, and I hope those are few and far between.
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I am in total agreement with your teaching philosophies.
 
igimaster said:
Just a question as a hearie. I know it was wrong for the teacher to single you out as a deaf person, but J how do you understand what the teacher is saying when you aren't looking at the interpreter? I understand depending on how old you are it's your choice not to pay attention in class, but I was just interested if you really could understand without watching the interpreter all the time.
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Without an interpreter, it would be impossible for me to follow a lecture because I cant keep my eyes glued at people's mouths at all times. However, with a interpreter, my eyes dont need to be totally glued to the person signing to be able to follow the lecture. It is hard to explain but it has been so much easier on me mentally with an interpreter there and I would rather use my mental energy for the content of the lecture than just for the sake of lipreading or listening alone.
 
In Montana, because of weather and distance, many college night classes were once-a-week for three-hours. Those required the greatest ingenuity to offer good learning opportunities, but many good teachers succeeded.
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i go to an art school in British Columbia and ALL of the classes are once a week for three hours. I have to tell you, three hour lectures kill, especially for a deaf student trying to hear/lipread what's being said. We do get a 15-minute break halfway through. I don't even pay attention nowadays; I bring my laptop to my Art History lectures and just chat with friends on MSN. I have to agree with what you're saying about lectures; of course the case is different for art school because our workload consists mostly of art!
 
I didn't realize the class was 2 hours. I know sign language breaks down over extended time due to eye fatigue especially if you're a newbie. I guess if you get no break it would also be to your advantage to a transcript taken from a recording.

Yes understand it now thanks J.

Igimaster
 
Chase said:
I'm far from a perfect instructor, but I have serious problems with some "instructors" described here. Where I learned to teach (for high school, college, and graduate students, as well) a 50-minute lecture without break was discouraged, much less longer classes. To both hearies and deafies, lecture of more than 20 minutes was considered cruel and unusual punishment, not to mention a waste of both teacher and student time and energy.

Any effective lecture should be as brief as possible and always accompanied by printed or graphic materials. Supporting activities and free time should intersperse even the most gifted lecturer's presentations. Teachers who say "I don't have time for all that. There's too much material. I have to lecture to present it all" are absolutely the poorest teachers. In fact, they don't teach; they confuse and frustrate.

In Montana, because of weather and distance, many college night classes were once-a-week for three-hours. Those required the greatest ingenuity to offer good learning opportunities, but many good teachers succeeded.

I'm sorry so many here have had bad experiences, and I hope those are few and far between.
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Absolutely right. Blah, blah, blah does not equate teaching.

I've interpreted some college classes that go over two hours without a break (oh, my poor brain, hands, and bladder). From my vantage point, I can see the hearing students zoning out then nodding off. It's certainly no shock to me when the deaf students begin to nod. I've even caught myself beginning to doze while my hands were still popping out the signs! Oooh, bad!

So, how much do those long-winded instructors think the students retain after all that? Ha!
 
Reba said:
Absolutely right. Blah, blah, blah does not equate teaching.

I've interpreted some college classes that go over two hours without a break (oh, my poor brain, hands, and bladder). From my vantage point, I can see the hearing students zoning out then nodding off. It's certainly no shock to me when the deaf students begin to nod. I've even caught myself beginning to doze while my hands were still popping out the signs! Oooh, bad!

So, how much do those long-winded instructors think the students retain after all that? Ha!
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Exactly. Event he hearing students do not get all of the information being conveyed by the instructor when students are forced to keep up that level of concentration for an extended time. Most professors at my college will give breaks even for the classes that only run 1 hour and 50 minutes. Usually, 10-15 minutes about hal way through, because they realize that their teaching is not effective otherwise.
 
Yep, it's happened to me. It brings me back to remembering my one teacher, Home Ec teacher in 9th grade. I had an awesome 'terp who I loved dearly, the look on her face when she had to sign ">my name<, don't rely on the interpreter to talk for you, stand up and talk to the class and tell us what you think" The 'terp told the teacher "Even though she is hard of hearing, she prefers to sign and have me voice for her while in class, outside of class she'll do what she feels comfortable doing wheter it be speaking or signing or both." The terp has known me for awhile and knew I was hard of hearing. The teacher would not accept that so I had to stand up and surprise my whole class that I could speak. Most of them hadn't ever heard talk until that day. After that, I walked out of the class room and went straight to one of the teachers for the Deaf and talked about the situation then went to the office to let them know then together, we all went and talked to the Home Ec. teacher, she was shocked that I did just that and she never again did that to me. =] The teacher said that she had heard me talking outside of class with another student & also had heard m calling my friend's who was down the hall to "come here!" perfectly clear & that shocked her, that was the 1st time she ever heard me talk after being in her class for like 2 mos? lol. I remember the day that I did that as it was right outside her classroom after class ended but I had no idea she was still nearby and overheard me. So she told us "So since I heard her talking, I thought hey that girl isn't really deaf, just a little bit deaf or something & she talks beautifully!" Grr. I hate it when people do that too. How the hell am I supposed to respond to that each and every time I hear that?! "Gee thanks, but thank my parents & speech teacher for my ability to talk!" lol. My parents wanted me to talk at home and sign & talk at school which is why I was put in Total Communication and that worked out the best for me. :]

Sorry for rambling :]
 
Just curious- has anyone here ever had lazy 'terps who would just sign "blah blah blah" like telling us the teacher is going on talking about nothing important. That always bugged me, I didn't care if it was important or not - I wanted everything to be signed regardless of how well I could hear & pick up bits and pieces whenever teachers aren't walking all over the room. heh.
 
Shel90: I completely understand. While growing up, I could hear quite well with my hearing aids but always preferred having 'terps because it's just so much easier watching the 'terp signs rather than having my eyes follow wherever the teacher is to watch the teacher's lips at all times. That was just wayyyyy to dang tiring!!!

shel90 said:
Without an interpreter, it would be impossible for me to follow a lecture because I cant keep my eyes glued at people's mouths at all times. However, with a interpreter, my eyes dont need to be totally glued to the person signing to be able to follow the lecture. It is hard to explain but it has been so much easier on me mentally with an interpreter there and I would rather use my mental energy for the content of the lecture than just for the sake of lipreading or listening alone.
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Reba said:
Absolutely right. Blah, blah, blah does not equate teaching.

I've interpreted some college classes that go over two hours without a break (oh, my poor brain, hands, and bladder). From my vantage point, I can see the hearing students zoning out then nodding off. It's certainly no shock to me when the deaf students begin to nod. I've even caught myself beginning to doze while my hands were still popping out the signs! Oooh, bad!

So, how much do those long-winded instructors think the students retain after all that? Ha!
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I agree which is why I like classes that break up into lectures, discussions and hands on activities. I retain information better that way.
 
deafmama78 said:
Just curious- has anyone here ever had lazy 'terps who would just sign "blah blah blah" like telling us the teacher is going on talking about nothing important. That always bugged me, I didn't care if it was important or not - I wanted everything to be signed regardless of how well I could hear & pick up bits and pieces whenever teachers aren't walking all over the room. heh.
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Even if the teacher is talking "blah, blah, blah", I sign whatever the teacher actually says. I don't need to tell the deaf student that it's "blah, blah"; the student recognizes "blah, blah" when he/she sees it. :lol:

The student has the option to pay attention to the "blah, blah", roll eyes, read a book, take a nap, or do whatever. That's not my responsibility.
 
You bet. Exactly the professionalism I'd want in an interpreter.
 
Chase said:
I'm far from a perfect instructor, but I have serious problems with some "instructors" described here. Where I learned to teach (for high school, college, and graduate students, as well) a 50-minute lecture without break was discouraged, much less longer classes. To both hearies and deafies, lecture of more than 20 minutes was considered cruel and unusual punishment, not to mention a waste of both teacher and student time and energy.

Any effective lecture should be as brief as possible and always accompanied by printed or graphic materials. Supporting activities and free time should intersperse even the most gifted lecturer's presentations. Teachers who say "I don't have time for all that. There's too much material. I have to lecture to present it all" are absolutely the poorest teachers. In fact, they don't teach; they confuse and frustrate.

In Montana, because of weather and distance, many college night classes were once-a-week for three-hours. Those required the greatest ingenuity to offer good learning opportunities, but many good teachers succeeded.

I'm sorry so many here have had bad experiences, and I hope those are few and far between.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I completely agree. When I lecture, I keep it to less than 30 minutes. Peoples' minds turn off if you lecture longer than that. For a two hour class, I usually mix the lecture with some kind of group activity or individual assignment.

Rule #1 as an instructor: Make sure the students know you care about their education.
Rule #2: No lecture longer than 30 minutes.
Rule #3: Don't date students.
Rule #4: Be flexible, but set high expectations.
Rule #5: Education is supposed to be personal and experiential. Try, as best as you can, to develop a working relationship with each student. If you cannot, at least create an environment where they can work together to build relationships with each other.
Rule #6: There are no firm rules except rule #1.


Seems like the OP's instructor violated at least 1, 2, 4, and 5. Strong indication of a bad teacher, deaf students or hearing, either way.

When I go to staff development meetings, I've noticed that it's often the older instructors who can't get it through their minds that lecture is boring and often doesn't work. Either they're burned out, or that's just how teaching was done 40 years ago, and they won't let go of it. They always drag out the "too much to cover" argument, which is a total cop out. Who said you're supposed to cover every single chapter of what some author decided to put in a particular textbook? Very few subjects are that cut-and-dry.
 
Reba said:
...I've even caught myself beginning to doze while my hands were still popping out the signs...
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That's kind of freaky the first time it happens, isn't it? My wife had that happen a few weeks ago for the first time -- I was watching her sign, and I noticed a sort of "glazed over" look on her face. Then I caught her mis-sign a word, and substitute a very similar sounding word.... it was "spirit" instead of "experience" or something like that. I waved my hands and caught her attention. Right away I saw her face change when her brain re-engaged. Afterwards I said "Hey, what happened?" She said "It was the strangest thing... my hands were going, and I could still hear the words and sentences, but the part of my brain that actually concentrates and does real translation was out to lunch. I didn't even know I could do that."
 
Calphool said:
I've noticed that it's often the older instructors who can't get it through their minds that lecture is boring and often doesn't work. Either they're burned out, or that's just how teaching was done 40 years ago, and they won't let go of it.
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It's true. I've seen veteran teachers burn out and tend to ramble on, but my experience has been the opposite with regard to age. Many less seasoned teachers know the material, but lack the experience to "stand and deliver" with any degree of confidence. Others are making their ways through unfamiliar territory. Sadly, both tend to fall back on lecture that's little more than paraphrase of the text. Few of those call on all students, often ignoring hands of those who ask hard questions, or welcoming being drawn off on tangents having little to do with the subject at hand.

To me, the number one rule for an instructor is to strive to know the material forward, backward, and sideways--know it so thoroughly that his or her so-called lecture is really an engaging Socratic give and take involving every member of the class. If the teacher is doing a fair to middling job, students are hardly aware when lecture becomes practice or when study develops ideas of a student's own. For the most part, that's how I remember it being done forty years back when I rode my dinosaur to school.
 
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