1. Strive for the impossible and be extraordinary!
Welcome to Mrs. Novak’s class
Arizona College Prep
Erie Campus
Strive for the impossible and be extraordinary!

2. First, we need to get acquainted…
My name is Mrs. Novak…
This is my 18th year of teaching. I taught in California for 2 years and this is my 16th year in Chandler. I taught 4th grade for 10 years and then decided to move up grade levels to teach History and Sign Language. My Bachelor’s degree is in Deaf Studies from CSUN. My Master’s degree is from ASU.
I enjoy all kinds of music and my passion is theater. I love to travel, read books and watch movies. My husband and I are empty-nesters with two children in the Pacific Northwest. We keep busy with two Yorkie dogs.

3. American Sign Language 1
My background: I have a degree from California State University, Northridge in Deaf Studies. I also worked for over a year at the National Center on Deafness at CSUN. I then continued to work as a job trainer with young deaf adults in Hollywood, California.

4. American Sign Language 1
My next endeavor expanded my exposure to all disabilities while I worked for GTE, distributing and training Deaf and Disabled individuals on telephone equipment provided by the state of California. The experiences and occupations I have had are invaluable and allows me to share with the hearing world awareness of the Deaf culture and their language.

5. Statistics about Deafness and ASL
According to the National Center for Health Statistics estimates that "28 million Americans (about 10% of the population) have some degree of hearing loss. About 2 million of these 28 million people are classified as Deaf (they can't hear everyday sounds or speech even with a hearing aid). The natural language of around 500,000 deaf people in the US and Canada is American Sign Language (ASL). A recent estimate claims that around 13 million people have some level of proficiency in sign language. That makes American Sign Language the third most commonly used language in the US!" (

6. Class Expectations
1. Come to class! This is a visual language. You need to be here to learn it. Chronic absences will have a negative effect on your grade.
2. Be prepared. If you do not know your vocabulary or we have an assignment to practice and you are not ready, you cannot participate this makes it difficult for your partner to participate. Know your vocabulary!
3. Be respectful to each other. I am the only sign language teacher here so we will spend a few years together. We become a family of sorts--treat each other well.
Supplies include a composition book for notes on Book
Study, a folder to hold vocabulary and grammar pages.

7. Survival Skills
We will have “No Talk Tuesday”, which means NO VOICE. You are asked to sign with a partner frequently during class. You must practice expressive skills (signing) and receptive skills (receiving signs). This time is meant to be taken seriously and I expect you to practice--not socialize.
There is not a written English component to ASL. We write the language (called glossing) only to learn the sign order of the language. The language itself is made up of signs and non-manual signals. You will learn over 2, 000 signs and how to fingerspell , and count up to 1000 as well as how to sign ordinal numbers and number combinations. This takes a lot of practice. Participate.
Fingerspelling is a big component of ASL. Names and proper nouns are fingerspelled, and some signs that are abstract require fingerspelling for clarification. We do not want to rely on fingerspelling when a concept has a sign, rather we use it as the "fall back" when you aren't sure how to sign something.
We take fingerspelling quizzes on FRIDAY.
Students use the first 10 minutes of class to practice fingerspelling. The expectation is that they enter the room in silence, find their partner and start spelling. They are to use the vocabulary they know to function during this activity with no voice. For example: AGAIN, SLOW, YOUR-TURN, MY-TURN. If students are talking during this activity they will be asked to wait outside until we are finished practicing.

8. Resources www.aslpro.com www.signsavvy.com
Optional:
Buy a copy of the Master ASL Vocabulary and Dialogue DVD to practice at home.
item number mast06
cost $19.95

9. Dual Enrollment for ASL 1 (SLG 101 and SLG 102)
ACP students have the opportunity to take classes in the World Language Department for dual enrollment credit. While students are enrolled in certain classes at ACP, they may elect to enroll through Chandler Gilbert Community College and receive college credit. The student pays the community college tuition, and thus receives high school credit while simultaneously earning college credit that will later transfer to a college or university. Receiving dual credit is advantageous because you are receiving credit for 2 institutions at the same time and for the fraction of the price it will cost at a university. American Sign Language 1 is currently offered within the World Languages Department under the course titles of SLG 101 for semester 1 and SLG 102 for semester 2.

10. My Webpage
To obtain information about my assignments, projects, study guides, due dates, and how to access the on-line resource programs, you will need to go to our school webpage and then click on faculty and my name:
You may also view my blog on my webpage for what was completed in class and what homework is for that day.

11. Thank you for coming!
I hope you have enjoyed this evening and should you have any questions, please feel free to write them down on the paper at the back of the room, and I will either you or call you with any help I can provide!