Clearly cold weather is soon upon us. We all know the warning:
Keep your hands as warm as possible.
Here are some suggestions for doing so.
1. Wear mittens (best because each finger warms the one next to it)
2. Wear warm gloves (i.e. those with fur or cashmere lining)
3. Purchase hand warmers (i.e. some are chemically activated and designed for hunters)
4. Warm your hands by holding a hot cup of water or other beverage.
5. Hold your hands under warm running water.
6. Dip your hands in a warm wax machine, if available.
7. Warm-up by performing some gentle exercises.
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Thursday
Friday
Tip of the week 4
Students are always asking me how to improve receptive fingerspelling skills. My favorite?
Play "Wheel of Fortune" as often as possible.
Knowing the topic, the approximate number of letters and a few of those letters is often all we catch the first time around a word is fingerspelled. This program helps develop closure skills which will prove useful in filling in the gaps while reading fingerspelling.
Besides, it is still fun to watch after all these years.
Play "Wheel of Fortune" as often as possible.
Knowing the topic, the approximate number of letters and a few of those letters is often all we catch the first time around a word is fingerspelled. This program helps develop closure skills which will prove useful in filling in the gaps while reading fingerspelling.
Besides, it is still fun to watch after all these years.
Tip of the week
Access some current events every day.
Read a newspaper, surf the web, follow network news or the Headline News Network. Being familiar with who, and what is in the news provides invaluable schema for personal interaction in various settings. Once I worked with a woman who did not read the paper or watch television for religious reasons. She was stunned to enter an assignment and learn for the first time of the horror that as the Columbine shootings. We need to be prepared for any topic at any time and the only way to do that is to stay caught up and read-read-read!
Read a newspaper, surf the web, follow network news or the Headline News Network. Being familiar with who, and what is in the news provides invaluable schema for personal interaction in various settings. Once I worked with a woman who did not read the paper or watch television for religious reasons. She was stunned to enter an assignment and learn for the first time of the horror that as the Columbine shootings. We need to be prepared for any topic at any time and the only way to do that is to stay caught up and read-read-read!
Monday
Tips and Tricks 2
Tip:
Sign to yourself in a mirror.
Once your body gets used to doing the movements required of ASL, non-native users will develop bad habits. Anything from brushing hair out of the face to thrusting your hand forward forcibly when fingerspelling, if it distracts you in the mirror, it probably distracts your clients. By the way, I've done both of those examples smile. Everyone develops bad habits. The goal is to find them and change them.
Sign to yourself in a mirror.
Once your body gets used to doing the movements required of ASL, non-native users will develop bad habits. Anything from brushing hair out of the face to thrusting your hand forward forcibly when fingerspelling, if it distracts you in the mirror, it probably distracts your clients. By the way, I've done both of those examples smile. Everyone develops bad habits. The goal is to find them and change them.
Thursday
Idioms Thursday
I don't know when I started doing Idioms on Thursday, but whenever I do blogs, Thursday seems the day.
So here we are.
One of my favorite idioms of all time is "batting a thousand: To have a perfect record, good or bad. From baseball scoring system, 1.000 being a perfect batting average."
In my family it usually is meant disparagingly...like "When it comes to driving tests, John is batting a thousand."
And here is how I would sign that sentence, if you are interested.
See you Monday with another tip or trick!
PS: some people are having trouble getting the file to open in internet explorer. It is an mp4, so quicktime should open it. If ie doesn't have the plug in try Firefox. It works great there.
So here we are.
One of my favorite idioms of all time is "batting a thousand: To have a perfect record, good or bad. From baseball scoring system, 1.000 being a perfect batting average."
In my family it usually is meant disparagingly...like "When it comes to driving tests, John is batting a thousand."
And here is how I would sign that sentence, if you are interested.
See you Monday with another tip or trick!
PS: some people are having trouble getting the file to open in internet explorer. It is an mp4, so quicktime should open it. If ie doesn't have the plug in try Firefox. It works great there.
Monday
Tips and Tricks revisited
Some of you may remember an on line blog we kept several years ago which we converted into a cd called Tips and Tricks.
We have decided to update it.
The goal is to re-introduce some books we thought were valuable, some ideas for suggestions to keep you in the business and an English idiom with its translation to add to your "bag of tricks." Tips will be posted on Monday, and idioms on Thursday.
We hope you enjoy these updates as much as we do.
The first Tip:
Fingerspell road signs and billboards.
Just as riding a bicycle required one's body to become accustomed to balance, a non-native's hand must become accustomed to the movements from one letter to another in a wide variety of patterns. Please remember to drive safely: only fingerspell at stop signs and lights or while another is driving.
We have decided to update it.
The goal is to re-introduce some books we thought were valuable, some ideas for suggestions to keep you in the business and an English idiom with its translation to add to your "bag of tricks." Tips will be posted on Monday, and idioms on Thursday.
We hope you enjoy these updates as much as we do.
The first Tip:
Fingerspell road signs and billboards.
Just as riding a bicycle required one's body to become accustomed to balance, a non-native's hand must become accustomed to the movements from one letter to another in a wide variety of patterns. Please remember to drive safely: only fingerspell at stop signs and lights or while another is driving.
Tuesday
Deaf In the News
Extreme Makeover: Home edition is going to help the Oregon School for the Deaf build their Halloween Fundraiser called the Nightmare Factory.
The Seabeck Conference Center, in Seabeck Washington, is hosting an annual Deaf-Blind Retreat and expects participants from all over the World, including Japan and Holland.
The University of Washington is developing ASL friendly software to reduce the band width needed to video chat over mobile phones.
The Seabeck Conference Center, in Seabeck Washington, is hosting an annual Deaf-Blind Retreat and expects participants from all over the World, including Japan and Holland.
The University of Washington is developing ASL friendly software to reduce the band width needed to video chat over mobile phones.
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