ASL Poetry

For the past few days I've been working on my Honors Option, creating a multicultural poetry anthology. The anthology is supposed to include insider poets from minority groups that are often absent or underrepresented in children's and adolescent literature. I easily made my text selections based on references found in our course readings and class discussions. Overall, I'm just about done with the project, but I still feel like my anthology is missing representation from a culture that I have a special interest in--Deaf culture.
Most Deaf poets compose their work in American Sign Language, or ASL. There is no written component of ASL, so poetry in this language must either be enjoyed in person or through video. I considered including links to online videos in my anthology, but I felt like posting a blog would be a more appropriate venue for sharing such information. Even if you don't know sign language, experiencing ASL poetry by Deaf poets is a sight to behold. Anyone can recognize the passion and sometimes even humor infused in this unique form of poetry simply watching the poet perform their personal work.

One well known Deaf poet is Peter Cook. The following link will take you to the Flying Words Project website which was a project lead by Peter Cook and his hearing cohort, Kenny Lerner. The two worked together to promote the growing field of ASL performance, including poetry.
http://web.mac.com/peterscook1/Site/Flying_Words_Project.html
Take some time to explore the website especially link to Excerpts from FWP Performance.

Other well known Deaf poets include Clayton Valli and Ella Mae Lentz. The following link will take you to a youtube video of Clayton Valli reciting his poem, Dandelions in ASL.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GmhbuGZJyJA

Some people consider number or alphabet stories to be a form of ASL poetry. A story is signed using the number or alphabet handshapes in numerical or alphabetical order. In these stories, the various handshapes do not represent the number or letter themselves. Number or alphabet stories are usually fun and capture a tradition within Deaf culture. The following link will take you to a youtube video featuring a number story.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SZGj-mMEjrs&feature=related

I hope you take a moment to explore this rich form of poetry and expose yourself to Deaf poets.

Who Can Write a Review?

This past week in class we were asked, "Do you feel qualified to write a literary review?" No one confidently raised their hand and confirmed that they were qualified to write an appropriate review of multicultural children's literature. I didn't expect anyone to, but this question has been on my mind since. What does qualify someone to write a literacy review? As Yamate pointed out, there is no formal reviewing process or qualifications. This concerns me. I actually feel more lost about selecting quality children's literature than ever before. Every time I turn around there seems to be another thing to consider. Not only do you have to think about the author and the actual piece of literature, but you must also critically consider anyone who reviews the book. As Yamate mentioned, one review does not qualify a piece of literature as "good" or "bad." The perspective of the reviewer must be taken into consideration. A review from an outside perspective my interpret a piece of literature very differently from someone who has an inside perspective. It always seems to come back to the great insider vs. outside debate.

While collecting pieces of literature for me text set, I have become more aware of how to choose quality pieces of literature. This is not to say I don't still second guess myself. Until I become much more knowledgeable about children's literature, I think I will always have this nagging concern about whether or not my selections are truly quality. I can however recognize some personal growth in the matter since taking this course. I own the picture book, The Deaf Musicians, by Pete Seeger. I received this book about 2 years ago as a gift. While doing research for my final project I found out that this book as won the Schneider Family Book Award. Even though I enjoy the book, I caught myself from automatically assuming it is a quality piece of literature simply because it has won an award. Even though this book has won an award for children's literature that portrays disability, I am not including it in my text set for one important reason. At the end of the book there is an author's note by Pete Seeger. He basically says that he's never actually worked with any Deaf musicians. The closest he's come is having sign language interpreters at some of his concerts. Seeger really has no insider experience with the culture of people he chose to write about. Now, don't get me wrong, The Deaf Musicians, is a good book that positively portrays the Deaf culture, but I also know now that it is important to consider the author's insider experience or lack thereof. I don't think this will stop me from someday using this book, but it will encourage me to address this point of concern with my students to help them grow as more critical readers.

Personal Philosophy

I've always been interested in children's literature and after taking TE 348, I realized I still had a lot to learn about this rich and vast world of books for kids. At first, one may think children's literature is just a simplified version of writing that doesn't take nearly as much commitment or talent to produce. Boy, are they wrong! In a way I think children's literature is even more difficult to write and illustrate considering the tender age and experience of its intended audience. Adults may be able to read a book through various lenses to better understand the author's message, but children don't necessarily have the ability to fully comprehend this yet. It is extremely important to consciously think about all the subtle and not-so-subtle messages a piece of children's literature conveys. This course has helped me to really think critically about literature selections, especially when it comes to addressing multicultural issues.
It is easy to say, "I want my personal library to reflect all my students' experiences as well as go beyond what's familiar." Actually building this type of library is another story. All too often I think people assume that simply because a book features a White kid, a Black kid and an Asian kid, surely it is multicultural. but there is so much more to consider! I want my future students to be exposed to a wide variety of issues and cultures on a regular basis when engaging with the text I feature in my classroom. In order to accomplish this, I know I must critically consider each piece of literature I use in my classroom. My ultimate goal would be to seamlessly integrate a wide spectrum of multicultural literature so that all of my students can see various aspects of their personal selves reflected on a regular basis.
Even though this course does not focus on issues of pedagogy, I constantly find myself thinking about how I could use each piece of literature in a classroom setting. I think how you use literature is just as important as the literature you use. This certainly ties in with my thoughts and ideas about multicultural education. I want to be able to lead my students through lesson plans and literacy units that reflect multicultural principles as well as multicultural literature. This includes providing them with various outlets in which to complete work such as assignments that include oral components, dramatic movement, creativity and more. Reaching every type of learner through the way I teach is just as important to me as reaching them through the literature I select.
My biggest concern is accomplishing all my goals. I know I need to keep in mind that it takes time. While I can always be striving to design better lessons and use quality pieces of literature, I believe I will naturally develop this with the more teaching experience I procure. I look forward to the challenge, but I also know I have plenty more to learn myself.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

I really enjoyed reading Al Caponse Does My Shirts and discussing the issues surrounding people with dissabilities. As someone studying Deaf Education, I have a real passion for learning as much as I can about people with disabilities through reading scholarly articles, literature and discussion. Not only did I enjoy this past week's novel, but I also found the Linton article to be especially pertinent and important to discuss. Linton's focus on language and public percpetion of people with disabilities was really interesting. As future educators, I think it is especially important that we engage in discussion about dissability to better understand our future students. With the popularity of mainstreaming, it is inevitable that everyone will be responsible to educate special needs students.
I really enjoyed the historical fiction element of Al Capone Does My Shirts. I think engaging in a discussion about the differences in attitudes and language of the 1930s and today is a productive way to learn more about the topics and issues at hand. My Questioning the Text Paper revolved around looking at the historical attitude towards dissability, particularly autism, and how it has or has not changed over the years. I think positive changes had developed, but I also think there are things that are very much the same. For example, the Flannagan family was always searching for a cure for Natalie. At first it may seem like this attitude has changed in the last 75 years, but I'm not so sure it has. I think the same "something needs to be fixed" attitude is still prevelant especially with the medical advances of today. If this weren't true, cochlear implant technology for the deaf would not be nearly as prevelant as it is.
This past week's class has really inspired me for my final project. I chose the topic of dissabilities to focus on for my text set. I look forward to researching more about the literature available and analyzing the attitudes this literature portrays. As I mentioned in class the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon is an fascinating book written from the voice of an austistic teenaged boy. I've already begun rereading it, inspired by the video we watched in class. I hope to develop a well rounded personal library that definetly includes an extensive collection of literature that focuses on people with dissabilities.