The College American Sign Language class hosted an exciting day at Oyster Bay High School. As part of Foreign Language Month, Dr. Nicole Sisia’s ASL class hosted “ASL Day” in the OBHS library, inviting classes to attend and learn a little about the language and culture the students had been studying for the last three years.
“The students followed a multi-step approach to plan the day,” Sisia said. “First, they worked together to decide which topics they would teach and how they would plan their lesson. We then took it a step further and discussed how they would teach and differentiate instruction for the variety of student learners that would be attending throughout the day. This is a difficult task for a high school student and I was so proud to see how successful they were at completing this task. For so many of them who are considering becoming educators themselves, I felt this was an important lesson to practice. I’m happy to say it was a success.”
The College ASL students created five different learning centers and students had the opportunity to learn how to sign the alphabet, colors, family, food and animals.
“I wish we could do this every day,” Arcel Kabongo-Ngoy said. “I remember my first day of ASL learning the alphabet. I’ve come so far.”
Christina Masiakos added, “I’m going to miss this class so much next year when I’m in college.”
“I agree. We have become like a family,” said Francis Kalombo-Ngoy.
When asking the students who attended ASL Day to summarize their experience, Jayce Cody shared, “This is my favorite day of the whole year.”
