Chapter 7- Constructive Interpreting

Since a constructivist classroom would consist of more social interaction than lectures, it would be important for the student to be actively engaged in the classroom. As an interpreter, I would try my best to convey every possible idea that was spoken. This is hard to do when everyone in the class is talking all at once. The only thing I would ask the teacher, is to try and make everyone raise their hands. This would help to ensure that every message was being interpreted. Also, if this were in a younger classroom, such as lower elementary school, I would encourage the child to participate in the discussion. Because they might have a lower language, and think they are different, some deaf students need a lot of encouragement to participate in class. Since the constructivist classroom would more than likely consist of more hands on tasks and  group activities, this would give a great opportunity to the deaf student to interact with peers. Because the interpreter is usually the only one in the classroom who signs, they are usually the only ones who interact with that student. In this type of classroom, the students would probably be more inclined to learn how to  communicate with the one who is deaf. Also this would give good authentic experience to the deaf student on how to communicate with people who do not sign.
http://saskschoolboards.ca/research/instruction/97-07.htm

Chapter 6

As an interpreter, we play a big role in trying to the deaf children to better understand and store information in their long term memory. Liz and I were talking about how we could better use space and visual aids to help the deaf children. I would think that most of the deaf children are visual learners, since ASL is such a visual language. American Sign Language uses space as an aid to make it a visual language. The use of space in sign language is similar to a voice inflection of a spoken language. When Liz and I were talking about memory, and we reflected back on how we both learned in school, we could remember using mnemonic devices and songs a lot in elementary school. This could be an issue due to the fact that these are usually done in a sing-song type of voice with words that often rhyme. It is difficult for the deaf student to understand the rhymes because they are unable to hear the alliteration. I would think by maybe having a visual aid for the student, it would help not only the deaf student, but other students who might be a visual learner as well. If we make it accessible to one student, we make it accessible to all the students. Maybe the teacher and I could work together to make either a power point or poster to help as a visual aid. I remember the thing we used in high school to remember the order of mitosis was very hands on, I believe if interpreters could come up with more hands on mnemonic devices, deaf children might be able to store it better in the long term memory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PMXatafIXc

Chapter 14- Interpreting

Many problems could arise while working as an Educational Interpreter. There could many differences between the interpreter/student, teacher/student, or even the deaf student/ the other students. One of the major differences that I would assume to be different would be cultural differences. Depending on if the child identifies him/herself with the deaf culture or hearing culture would likely determine how that child acts and tries to communicate. For one, the Deaf community is a very abrupt culture. For example, Deaf people will tell you if they think something is ugly, or if someone has gained a lot of weight. Whereas in the hearing world, people would likely take offense to something that straightforward. Other differences, such as ethnic or socioeconomic issues might cause problems in communication. I have heard stories where a white female interpreter tries to interpret for a black male, and the messages can get misconstrued. Where some African Americans would use a different set of vocabulary than that of the white female interpreter. This can cause issues within the classroom if the student cannot connect with the interpreter. There have been instances in which a female interpreter has been placed with a male student in gym class, but the interpreter cannot go into the locker room with the boy, and this is where the coach would have meetings and discussions with the boys. Therefore, gender differences can play a key role in communication as well. 

In one of my classes a few years back, we watched this video on Deaf culture. It is somewhat long, but it gives great insight to the Deaf culture and what accompanies it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIxvaE_iIbI