Reading Right Side Up

The Little Things
Reading Right Side Up It has been almost one year since I last wrote. Last October, an emotional upheaval, of which is a private family matter and will not be explained here, brought me to a complete halt in any attempts to express myself, be it writing letters, professional papers, or even in this blog.  It was all I [...]
Mon, Oct 18 2010

A Tribute to Dave Aberdeen
Reading Right Side Up As a young second-grader, he was Mr. Aberdeen.  As a student teacher, he was Dr. Aberdeen.  When we met again two years ago, he was Dave.  No matter what I called him, he held a thoughtful and dear presence over my lifetime.  When I was a child of seven, Dave accepted me into his school [...]
Sat, Apr 24 2010

A Second-Grade Otolaryngologist
Reading Right Side Up One of the delights of working with young children is listening to some of the darnest things they say or share.  Today, a talkative 2nd grader, who I had just met, sat down with me to begin her reading session.  As always, I explained that I am deaf, which means I do not hear at [...]
Thu, Sep 17 2009

Chocolate and Zucchini=Warmth and Joy
Reading Right Side Up Interestingly, no one ever gave much thought as to whether I can cook or not.  Everyone needs to eat, including people with deafness; so surely, everyone can cook. While I do have a kitchen timer (either setting it on my thigh when I sit down to feel its ring or otherwise keeping a close eye [...]
Tue, Sep 15 2009

Communication, Trust, and the Challenge Program
Reading Right Side Up It’s a gorgeous fall-like day and I am a wee bit ashamed to admit that I’m hiding out in my screened-in porch writing this blog.  What am I hiding from?  The entire staff at my school is at a University of Michigan Challenge Program for the afternoon.  It's purpose is to build communication and trust [...]
Tue, Sep 01 2009

A Deaf Summer Cottage Week
Reading Right Side Up Every year in August, my husband and his two brothers rent three cottages side-by-side, always on a lake, somewhere “Up North” in Leelanau for their families.  A pleasant time is had by all:  dunes to climb, cherries to eat (and pits to spit the farthest), great lake waves to romp around in, corn-on-the cob to [...]
Sun, Aug 23 2009

Quadriplegics running track…deaf persons on juries…huh?
Reading Right Side Up All of us sometime say things we don’t mean to say.  Or more likely, we say something when we are not thinking straight for whatever reasons, being tired, frustrated, uneasy, or even ignorant.  On the other hand, we can be misinterpreted, misunderstood, and even misquoted when we say something we do mean.  President Obama apparently [...]
Mon, Jul 27 2009

The Rampageous Noise of Pokemon
Reading Right Side Up Recently, I had an opportunity to spectate a PokeMonday Tournament in the dark, deep basement of the local district library with two of our nephews, PokemonBoy and SoccerBoy.  PokemonBoy took this event quite seriously and ultimately did win, but unfortunately SoccerBoy and I did not stick around long enough to give well-earned applause.  After all, [...]
Wed, Jul 22 2009

Life Itself Is…Dangerous
Reading Right Side Up One of the pitfalls of being literate, for sure in media literacy, is that life itself begins to be seen as highly dangerous.  This viewpoint is particularly exacerbated among parents of young children.  When I was a child, we rode bikes without helmets, rode in cars in excess of 70mph without seatbelts, had exposure to second [...]
Thu, Jul 16 2009

Snap, Crackle, Pop!
Reading Right Side Up Question:  In regards to the snap, crackle, pop that is supposedly heard in Rice Krispies, are these three different sounds in a bowl of cereal, —or are they three different ways to describe one sound heard in that bowl of cereal?  I understand that these words, snap, crackle, and pop contain different sets of phonemes and [...]
Mon, Jul 13 2009

OMG! Text Talk and Metalinguistic Awareness
Reading Right Side Up According to my literacy dictionary, the definition of metalinguistic awareness is “a conscious awareness on the part of a language user of language as an object in itself.”  Metalinguistic awareness is somewhat related to metacognition, which is thinking about thinking.  Therefore, it is knowing when and how to use thinking strategies in order to learn [...]
Tue, Jun 30 2009

A Short Postscript to “A Deaf T.G.I.F.”
Reading Right Side Up We are now nearing the end of the school year, which means I’ve been very busy wrapping up projects, progress reports, and tons of paperwork.  Last week, the school had their final lock-down drill, of which I missed the announcement for.  I sent along three young boys, a second grader and two fourth graders, back [...]
Tue, Jun 30 2009

A Deaf T.G.I.F.
Reading Right Side Up To begin with, when a person is deaf, several logistics need to be in place for that person to function fully in a hearing world.  And usually when something—anything—goes wrong, or even becomes a hilarious situation, several preceding factors have fallen into place to create that incident.  Combine all of these elements; it can make [...]
Tue, Jun 30 2009

Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility...
Reading Right Side Up Last fall, a historic day unfolded with the inauguration of Obama as our nation’s first African-American president.  While millions of people made the journey to Washington DC, millions more worldwide, including thousands of classrooms containing children of all ages, made sure to observe the proceedings and Obama’s speech either through the internet or on television....
Tue, Jun 30 2009

Meta-Acoustics and Garbage Cans
Reading Right Side Up As an anecdote to empty-nest syndrome, I bought a lightweight Kevlar solo canoe, one that I can carry onto and off the car all by myself.  This spring, I was out canoeing one evening just before sundown. The lake at that point was very peaceful and calm.  The flat, mirror-like water made for gorgeous reflections [...]
Tue, Jun 30 2009