Morning announcements? Bah!

Every morning your school has announcements. Students in class talk so loud you can't hear the announcements, the announcements are repetative and they often don't apply to your kids. You ask your students if they want to "hear" the announcents and they say not to bother. You no longer interpret the announcements.

-Is it ok to ignore the announcements? They are posted in the office.
-during announcements your kids either continue with their work or socialize. It's better to do that than to force the to watch you, no?
-how about if you interpret applicable announcements?
-who decides 'applicable announcements' anyway?

ASL? Try JSL

You are interpreting an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Testing. The student being tested has a good command on sign language but the differences between Jamaican signs and American signs poses additional communication challenges. You explain the communication struggles to the tester. You also suggest strategies for communication.

--Is it ok to suggest communication strategies on an IEP test? Or an IQ test? Does that influence the results?
--how do you tell the test giver you are working on communication?
--do you request a team?

Is this the right answer?

Your student is completing an open book work sheet in class while the teacher is absent. He asks if he got the first question right. You read his answer and see he got it wrong so you sign, "look back in the text to see if you can find the answer." He finds the right answer, underlines it and corrects the answer.

-is what you did ok? It wasn't interpreting.
-should you instead called the substitute teacher over?

Missed Vocabulary

You are interpreting English class for a pretty savvy student. While she is writing her in class assignment the teacher reviews a vocabulary word. You decide to let her write, rather than interrupt her thinking process as the work is due in a few minutes.

After the teacher is done talking, she roams the class looking at student work. When she reads your student's work, your student asks about the same vocabulary word that was just discussed.

Do you:
-own up to the fact you didn't interpret that discussion?
-interpret the current conversation and not worry about the past?
-what are other options?


Amber

Are you here?

You sub with a regular interpreter for a college class. When the professor takes attendance, the regular interpreter listens for the Deaf students' names and calls "here" at the appropriate time.

Should the interpreter do that? Should the students have the opportunity to call their own attendance?

You and your team are interpreting at a job training school. The students are doing their work so there isn't any interpreting happening. You chat and read. Finally your team says, "the big boss isn't even here. Let's leave and go get coffee.". You could certainly use a cup. What do you do?

Interpreting Tests

You are interpreting a statewide high school test.  The teacher reads each question out loud and you interpret what he says.  You also have a test booklet so you can read the questions yourself.

A student asks you to repeat number 32, but the teacher is talking with someone else.  You go ahead and read the question, and interpret it from the booklet.

--Did you cross an interpreting boundary?
--Did you assume too much control over the teacher's classroom?
--Or, were you efficiently getting the information interpreted so the students could move onto the next question?