At Your Fingertips: June 2021

At Your Fingertips

June 2021 | Issue 4

Deaf History

As subscribers to ASLdeafined (thank you, again) you are hopefully well aware of the information focusing on Deaf culture and history within our program. We are committed to adding even more relevant content and activities in this area to keep our curriculum current.

To that end, you may recall a blog entry in a previous newsletter on the topic of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the time of Covid. We will also be providing a similar article on the experience of D&HH individuals during the 9/11 attack in time for you to include it in your class work should you choose.

Meanwhile, we realized recently that we were overdue on including something specifically about the Deaf President Now protest. Although our biography of former Gallaudet President I. King Jordan touches on this incident, we felt it was time to dig a bit deeper. During a time when marches have become more common again, this is an important historical event that deserves its own spotlight.

Subsequently, we are making this article (below) available to the public as well, and hope that it is shared and read widely to raise awareness about this key Civil Rights event.

DEAF PRESIDENT NOW

Feel free to save this new graphic to display when you want students to quietly

work on warm-ups.

ASL Video Game!

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away called Canada, a sign language board game was created named SIGN IT. Nothing similar has appeared on the horizon since, and it is somewhat difficult and expensive to track down a copy...

UNTIL

a team of University of Toledo College of Engineering students, Nikki, Liz, Jacob and Josh, took that idea and ran with it. They decided to build an ONLINE ASL GAME inspired by this obsolete board game, and reached out to ASLdeafined to make it happen.

These motivated seniors had a successful virtual DESIGN EXPO that our Director of Communications, Holly, was luckily able to attend (see our newest staff member, her rescue dog Cha-Cha, enjoying the presentation above). It was an impressive show of teamwork and creativity!

We are beyond thrilled to announce that the group is so motivated to complete the game that they will be continuing to work on it following their graduation. Not only that, their partnership with ASLdeafined is poised to result in the game being permanently hosted on our website for subscribers to enjoy! We will of course keep you posted on developments, and are so thankful for the intelligence and comradery of this young generation of creators.

Oh, and one more thing, the game is currently unnamed. The term "SIGN IT" is unavailable, so if you have a clever idea of what to call it, please reach out to us and we'll give you a shoutout for your contribution!

Calling All Teachers

In our last newsletter (April) we reached out to teachers to assist with spreading the word about our student survey. Thanks to your kind intervention, we had over 700 responses to guide us in developing future plans. The information we gathered was very helpful, and we are deeply grateful for your assistance in encouraging our biggest group of users to provide input.

Well... now it's YOUR turn to have a say!

We hope you take a moment to click below and respond to a dozen quick questions to help us learn how we can serve you better. Thank you in advance for being the best subscribers any program could ask for, and please don't be shy! We look forward to your honest responses.

CLICK HERE for the TEACHER SURVEY

As with our student survey and website, ASLdeafined is not interested in collecting and storing personal data. Subsequently, you are not required to submit any identifying information, and the responses are anonymous.

Teachery Stuff to send you into summer...

!! SOUND THE TRUMPETS !!

We are extremely excited to announce that we are currently in the process of setting up our program to accommodate GRADEBOOK INTEGRATION!

Our hope is to have this up and running soon, allowing for you to sync the scoring with a variety of grading platforms. Watch this space for developments!

Meanwhile, in July, plan to ZOOM into some MEET-UPS with some of our team members for a handful of half hour information sessions covering different site features and allowing time for your questions. Even if you feel you are aware of all there is to see at ASLdeafined, we hope you will join us for some or all of these casual, friendly sessions to connect and learn. Keep your eyes peeled on our social media sites for more details when the months gets closer. A good way to ensure that you do not miss this and other opportunities is to join the ASLdeafinED Lounge Facebook Group!

... and #ICYMI, look right to see how great

we think you are.