Saturday, March 26, 2011

SCSDB-Wednesday, March 23, 2011-Field Trip and Kickball

To start off the day, we got ready to go on our field trip to attend a music program held at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Cory, being the only second-grader in our class, had to stay behind since only pre-school to first grade deaf and blind students were allowed to go. Instead of going on the field trip with us, Cory responded to the email that his pen pal sent him the other day. He was definitely missed, as almost every one of his classmates asked for him or mentioned that they missed him.

The program held by Learning Station was an interactive music program that made its audience get up and dance to some music. It was a funny sight since only some of the students could see the dancing but could not hear the music, while others could not see the dancing but could hear the music. Our group was also treated differently. For one, the first few rows were reserved for us so that the vision-impaired could see as much as they could. We also got more help from the USC students to and from our bus. Lastly, we definitely received many stares from the crowd. Not only were we a group that had a bunch of small children which made us stick out on a college campus, we also had kids with hearing aids or walking canes. I thought that most people would just look away or ignore us, but many people could not stop staring which definitely made me feel uncomfortable and slightly angry. I agree that we were definitely a sight to see; however, I do not believe that we were a group to be gawked at.

One of the funniest moments of the day happened when I was trying to wake up and cheer up some of my tired students. During the whole way journey to the USC Upstate, Landon complained that he would rather play in the classroom than go somewhere to sit the whole time. After doing a few dances, Landon complained that he was too tired to dance. When I mentioned that we were having lunch at McDonald’s and that there would be a playground in there, he was immediately energized, showing the brightest smile and dancing like crazy. Fortunately, the teachers allowed the kids to play on the playground after lunch. It was the funniest thing to see them all in there with everyone running around each other. When it was time to go, I knew how to get my students to get out of the playground, but I had to learn some signing to tell the deaf students that it was time to go. After many confusions as to which pairs of shoes belonged to which student and an emergency door alarm going off, we got back on the bus to go back to SCSDB.

My day ended with a game of kickball with the deaf middle and high school students! Because I have not played a game of kickball in almost six years, I was really excited to get into the game. Walking into the gym, you could not hear anything but the sound of the ball hitting the ground and the squeaking of shoes. It was oddly silent for a kickball game. When I got in to play, I realized that no one could hear or would pay attention to my congratulatory or encouraging yells. It was so much fun! Knowing that I would probably never experience anything like that again, I knew that this was a game of kickball that I will definitely never forget.

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