thomsen.

Teaching any subjects in elementary, middle, high school and even in college, while it is looked upon as an positive experience, does come with some downside. I cannot emphasize enough that this cannot be ignored because for the rookie teacher, what you learn in school, will never prepare you for what you will experience in a real teaching environment. Teaching American Sign Language (ASL) is not any different than teaching Math, Science, History or any other subject(s), however, it is significantly different in how the mind conveys what it is learning. The process of how we communicate information to our students in other subjects can be done through the mouth, throat, and vocal cords as our dominant form of communication. However, with ASL, we can use some form of that communication, but most of the communication is done using our hands and body movements. 

One of the conflicts you will find when it comes to teaching ASL, regardless of the grade of the student, is that you will find that these students have different needs. It is extremely rare to find a classroom, in which, you will have eight to twelve perfect students in your classroom. 

Within your classroom, you will find three kinds of students: Elite Students, Average Students, and Learning Difficulty Students. 

The elite students can be defined in the following ways: these are students who are can easily understand the concept of spacial area and recognition of receptive skills that is needed to understand American Sign Language. These are students who also has a significant understanding of how facial expression, body language, conversational and presentation skills works. Yes, these student will typically be some of your best students, but it does not mean that their behaviors will be outstanding. 

The average student can be defined in the following ways: these students have somewhat a basic understanding of the concept of spacial area and recognition of receptive skills needed to understand American Sign Language. These are students who also has an average understanding of facial expression, body language, conversational and presentational skills.These students typically see American Sign Language as a fun language to learn and as an alternative to other foreign language. Of course, these students tend to be extremely well-behaved, however, there will be few who might need some behavior management. 

Lastly, the learning difficulty students can be defined in the following ways: these students concept of spacial area is very good, however, recognition of receptive skills needs improvement and constant repetitive discipline until they have a clear understanding. These are students which varies, from student to student, but these students has a lack of understanding in one or more of these areas in: facial expression, body language, conversational and presentational skills. Now there can be exceptions to this case, however, these students tend to need the most attention in your classroom when it comes to learning American Sign Language. 

There is never a perfect answer. Only you can determine what will work for you and what works for your classroom. As we continue to learn within time, knowing that within our classroom we have particular students who have needs and possibility need more special attention than other students, by adhering to this structure, we can minimize conflict within our classrooms.