Category Archives: Hot Topics
This came from a Monroe staff member, Molly Hammans, and I appreciated how clearly it spells out the difference between modification and accommodation (-BB):
Modified grades would apply for any student who has been receiving modified assignments or tests in an attempt to make the curriculum more at their ability level.
Modifications would be assignments that are below grade level, assessing students below grade level or grading students on standards that are below grade level. You would be modifying the curriculum to their ability level.
Accommodations allow students to demonstrate grade level skills in different ways. This would mean shortening assignments, testing them in alternate ways, providing extended time for assignments, etc. They do not lessen the rigor by using “below grade level” curriculum. Students who use accommodations, but complete grade level work should not be given a modified grade. They are able to demonstrate grade level skills and meet benchmarks for grade level standards. You do not need to indicate that a student has a modified grade if they are only given accommodations.
It is very important to understand the difference!
Action Alert: Modernize Access to 9-1-1
Have an emergency? Better dust off the TTY if you want immediate and direct assistance. No TTY? No direct connection to 9-1-1. Get in line to wait for the next available relay operator.
Right now, the only way a deaf or hard of hearing person can directly call 9-1-1 is through a TTY. We are unable to use our pagers or videophones to directly call 9-1-1 when a life is at stake.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking comments from the public – that’s you – on modernizing its regulations on how we can access 9-1-1 services. The government is beginning efforts to move 9-1-1 call centers from analog technology to Next Generation 9-1-1 service (NG 9-1-1), which can handle voice, text, or video messages directly.
Read More:
http://www.nad.org/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=18187&qid=1205013
The future of telephone captioning?
www.clearcaptions.com
Here is the website for the new WOU-created interpreter blog.
The current thread is asking people to post how they got their 10,000 hours of experience (concept from Malcolm Gladwell book Outliers) to master interpreting.
http://exploringinterpreting.blogspot.com/
Helpful for those considering the profession or wanting additional resources. -Emily
www.discoverinterpreting.com
OIC Movies is a great place to catch up on the major news stories of the week while flexing your visual/receptive muscles! I’ll also place a link on the “ASL Videos” page of the blog.
You must have an account to watch their movies. If you would prefer not to open your own, here’s a general log in that should work for all:
user name: LRP
password: 4j
www.oicmovies.com
DEAFLYMPICS SET FOR 2015 IN VANCOUVER AND WHISTLER
They won’t be as big as the Olympics, or even the Paralympics. And they certainly won’t be loud, at least among the competitors. But Vancouver and Whistler will have another go at an Olympic-style event in February 2015 with the Deaflympic Winter Games. Once called the Silent Games, the Deaflympics have been around since 1924, when the first Summer Games were held in Paris.
Vancouver Observer Newspaper Article Announcing Deaf Olympics
Here are the iMovie & YouTube instructions from Nikole for filming yourself for professional development.
How to film yourself
Here is a copy of the graph Katherine Swem shared with us at the FM/assistive listening device training.
FM Use Graph
President Obama’s State of the Union Address – 2/1/2010
Here is a link to an ASL summarization of the recent State of the Union Address by President Obama. (You have to join the site in order to view – but it’s very simple. The site, OIC, has many other great topics for viewing)