Today was an exciting start to the week. I was a little out of my depth this morning when working wth the kids who are deaf, who were much smarter than I expected. AJ and I collaborated and decided to use her lesson plan - involving matching and math - to assess their knowledge. They added the numbers we gave them and found matches to the cards very easily and with little difficulty or confusion. I was so impressed with how much they knew. We did these lessons in two classrooms and with eleven kids, and we got the same result both times. It was really humbling to leave the classrooms feeling so amazed at these kids and realizing how ignorant most able-bodied people are. We automatically assume that people with disabilities are lost causes, when really they are much smarter than we think they are and they have the potential to do great things, which is exactly what I saw in the classrooms for the deaf today.
Since it's a bit tedious to sign every letter of your name over and over every time you want to say it, the kids who are deaf come up with unique signs for each person, like a nickname. The signs consist of the first letter of your name and then one of your characteristics. For me, they signed the letter "N" and held it up to their eyebrow, which I thought was funny. I'll take it as a compliment!
One of my favorite kids was Yohana. She is a short and spunky girl who wore a black headband, and it was a pleasure to watch her in class. Another of my favorites was Tanya, who was probably the smartest girl in the class. She always raised her hand to tell the teacher the answer to whatever question was asked, and she would try to teach us words in sign language, which went over my head a bit. It's amazing how they remember all of this and can sign faster than you can imagine! I look forward to seeing both of them tomorrow.
At lunch time, I talked to a girl named Diana. She was very sweet, and I appreciated how patient she was with me and my Spanish skills. I learned that she and I are the same age, and that she lives in San Jorge, where the school is. I also met Zuelma and Maura, both of whom loved being picked up and getting kisses. They were also sweethearts, and it made me happy to be able to hug, kiss, and give them love.
In the final hours of the morning, I worked with Michele, Anthony, Levi, and Tatiana in Ana Marie's first grade room. These kids had no shortage of energy, and they kept me active the whole time. Tatiana especially ran around with me, and it was funny when I made her laugh by tickling her. I also helped Anthony, who had cerebral palsy, by stretching out his legs and helping him sit up. He had an adorable smile, and he would laugh every time I kissed him on the cheek. He was definitely another favorite of mine.
When the kids went home and we said our goodbyes, I thought about how lucky we are as Americans to have such good medical care and schools for kids with disabilities. In America, children like these are able to get the special education and medicine that they need to be healthy and live normal lives, but here it's very hard for the kids at Escuela Especial to learn the things that could get them a job in the future, on top of being looked down on by employers. This week, I hope we are able to change that. I think we can teach them so much, or at least inspire them enough to succeed. I'm ready to give it my all again tomorrow and make a difference!
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