We all know that literacy is a huge part of success in the classroom, right? Students are more likely to transfer literacy learning to real life and the future if they are engaged in relevant learning opportunities (Morrow and Gambrell). One way that we can blend literacy opportunities with meaningful content while also building up our deaf and hard of hearing students’ self identity, advocacy, and awareness, is by including books with deaf characters into our sessions and sharing these resources with families. This is especially important for our students that may be more isolated in schools or programs without deaf peers, or who live at home with family members that are all hearing or maybe don’t use ASL like they do. 

A few years ago, I started my Amazon wishlist, as many other teachers did, and I filled my list with books with deaf characters after discovering Taylor Thomas and Emily Manson’s really comprehensive Google Sheet filled with books,...

It's the end of the school year!  Not to mention, Better Speech and Hearing Month......

It's the end of the school year!  This is the time of the year when it's tricky to pull students from their classes to work on any skills with them.   I'm competing with beautiful weather, movie days, concert practice, fun end-of-the-year projects and other activities.  Planning my sessions with students this time of the year takes careful coordination with teachers to make sure I'm not overlapping a field trip or other special classroom activity.

To keep their time with me motivating and fun, this is the perfect opportunity to reinforce ear anatomy through my Edible Ear Lesson.  My students LOVE this activity!  I never get a complaint about pulling them when this is the plan for the day.

For schools that house multiple students on my caseload, this is the perfect end-of-the-year party.  I can easily pull multiple students from a variety of grades to do...

Did you know that the brain has a powerful need to finish what it starts?   When it can't finish something, your brain makes a mental sticky note to finish it. Thoughts about what we could not finish lingers in the back of our minds as a way to remind us that something still needs to be completed.   Although this natural mechanism exists to help us remember our “to do” list, it can also overwhelm us when that list is unending.  (James and Kendell, 1997).   

 Do you ever feel like the list of things you need to do to support your DHH child/student is unending?  This is because you can never mentally “check off” that you have completed the task of meeting their needs.  I know we are not supposed to use words like “always” or “never.”  But in this case, the situation really is NEVER.  As soon as you check something off your list, something new gets added.  It's...

When I started as an itinerant teacher my schedule was awful.  I felt scattered all the time.  I was literally driving in circles every week with more windshield time than time with my students.  I had students I would drive more than an hour to see, so that I could spend 30 minutes with them.   Is your schedule crazy like this?

I was frustrated.  I felt unorganized and unbalanced.  

I finally recognized that my schedule was controlling me.  I needed to turn things around so that I controlled it.  

Having domain over my schedule and having ongoing, easily accessible, materials at my fingertips for all students lightened my load and completely changed how I delivered services - and increased the impact I had.  

Let me give you the 5 steps I took, and you can take, to control of your schedule.

5 STEPS TO TAKE DOMAIN OF YOUR SCHEDULE:

1. Group kids in a similar area on the same day 
2. ...

Establishing Foundations for Success in the Gen Ed Classroom

What will lead to the success of a deaf and hard of hearing student in the general education classroom? There are many factors to consider, including the mutual understanding and  interpersonal dynamics between the general and special educators, as well as time for instructional planning.   Below are a few tips to help establish some foundations that will allow for success for a child with hearing loss.

Tip 1: Keep away from assumptions. If you’re a general education teacher who will be working with a student with hearing loss, you may be entering this year with some assumptions about your new student.  These assumptions may be based on a past student you’ve had with hearing loss, or from things you’ve heard from others, or even from what you’ve seen on TV.  Be aware that students with hearing loss are just as diverse as students without hearing loss and it’s very likely...

Is your Deaf or Hard of Hearing student REALLY ready for the mainstream classroom?

This blog post will help you confirm this placement and help align your student for success. 

Why this post?  Providing you with a way to get  data-based and needs-specific information for student placement will ensure your student will be in a classroom and environment that caters to their specific needs. Not only will your student have access to their mainstream education through this tailored learning, but they will also be better equipped in social situations and communicating with their peers. 

Why prepare?  Isn’t what’s in place already good enough? Nearly 90% of DHH students in the US are mainstreamed in public school programs. And, of those students, about half are in a general education classroom with the support of a DHH itinerant teacher. That is a large number of DHH students in a general education setting needing support. This means that...

Are you an Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing?   This job can be tough!  There isn’t a lot of training out there on how to be an ITINERANT Teacher of the Deaf.  And, yet, this role is VERY different from a classroom Teacher of the Deaf position.  To add to the challenge of not having formal training on how to do the job, many times as an itinerant, you are just given the job, without much direction, support or resources.  This is because the person who gives you the job usually has no experience as an itinerant and you may be the only itinerant teacher in the district.

As the Founder of the Online Itinerant, I connect with literally hundreds of itinerant teachers regularly and hear their frustrations and their challenges.  You are feeling frustrated in this role, you are not alone!  And, if you are new to the role, I have some tips to offer to help you.

Below are, in my opinion, the biggest mistakes that...

People often ask me, "What Does an Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Do, anyway?  How is this different from any other Teacher of the Deaf?

An ITINERANT TEACHER OF THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING is a traveling teacher that works with students who have hearing loss.  Other names for this role include “Teacher of the Hearing Impaired”, (which, in general, is no longer considered politically correct), or a “Hearing Teacher,” probably because “Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing” is such a mouthful!  You may also see DHH (Deaf/Hard of Hearing) Teacher  or ITDHH (Itinerant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.)  From here on out, if you see the letters DHH, that stands for Deaf or Hard of Hearing.  You will see this frequently when talking about Deaf/Hard of Hearing students.

Where Did She Come From?

Historically, students who had a hearing loss and needed an IEP either attended...

What is an itinerant teacher?  That word, I-TIN-ER-ANT,  it’s hard to say let alone explain what it is.  

In a nutshell, an ITINERANT TEACHER is a traveling teacher.  You will most often see this type of teacher for students who have hearing loss or vision loss.  For the purpose of this post, we’re going to focus on Itinerant Teachers of the Deaf or Hard of Hearing.  We’ll discuss where this role came from and how it differs from a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing who is NOT itinerant.

Where did the Itinerant Teacher come from?

These days, the majority of Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing are itinerant teachers.  It didn’t used to be that way.  This is actually a fairly new concept in deaf education.  

The delivery of services from a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing have been impacted by a number of things, including evolving legislation, the Newborn Hearing Screening, Early...