I am a very relaxed teacher who wants you and your students to have fun! This class is almost straight lecture on the roots of American Sign Language and Deaf culture. The learners will interact with each other using the classroom messaging system that Outschool has provided. This class does not meet via live meeting, but I will be holding office hours if the students need me. The office hours will be posted every week. 

I will also do discussion posts every week asking about what they learned that stuck out to them, ask if they did any of their own research and post it, have them post some of the homework on the discussion board for everyone to read and discuss. Sometimes I will post a challenge for the students to find information on Deaf culture or other sign languages. 

I will be teaching this course in a mix of American Sign Language and English. I would prefer if the students all knew ASL, but I will be uploading videos in ASL and than writing a transcript in English. If your student is not fluent in English but is fluent in ASL, they may send videos to the teacher as a replacement for written homework. 

Here is what I will cover weekly, this is a six week course. 

Week one:
Introduce myself as a teacher and my qualifications 
Students introduce themselves to each other
The two earliest forms of Sign language in the US: Native American and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL)
Homework for students: Look up Martha's Vineyard and it's relation to ASL. 1-2 paragraphs 

Week Two:
Homework due by midnight on Monday
Where does ASL come from?: The French Origins, who introduced it to America, etc.
What sign languages share origins? (Russian, Mexican, etc)
Homework: Discuss the lecture. Due by Week three

Week Three:
Homework due by end of the day (Midnight) on Monday
The first school for the Deaf
Legends within the Deaf community: Civil War and Alice Cogswell.
Homework: Research a famous Deaf person and write 4 paragraphs about him/her. Send it to the teacher by week four. 

Week Four:
Homework due by the end of the day on Monday
The Milan Conference (Oralism conference)
Aftermath of the Milan Conference
The German Method
Research cued speech and write the pros and cons. 3 pros, 3 cons. Can be bullet points. 

Week Five:
Homework due by the end of the day on Monday
Alexander Graham Bell. What was his role?
The Struggle of ASL becoming Recognized as a Language (William Stoke)
Marlee Matlin: Oscar winner
Homework: Discuss everything learned up until this point. 

Week Six:
Homework due by end of the day on Monday
AG Bell Association: Pros and Cons
NAD (National Association of the Deaf)
Interpreter laws
Closing: Discuss what we learned and any further questions 

Throughout the week the students will be encouraged to interact with each other via discussion post. The teacher will be providing feedback and interacting with the students to provide a rich learning environment.