Episode Transcript
[00:00:10] Speaker A: This is the Owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens.
Listen to the exciting story of the American community schools of Athens.
Check out what drives all the members of our international community of learners as we create the education of the future here's.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: John.
[00:00:32] Speaker A: Papadakis.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: Welcome to the owlcast. In today's episode, we are thrilled to have with us Kentrell Martin, an advocate for accessible education and communication. Kentrell recently made a profound impact on the learning community at ACS Athens through his engaging sessions with early childhood students and teachers, focusing on the transformative power of sign language. As an expert in the field, Cantrell shared his expertise on learning differences and emphasized the importance of embracing diverse communication channels to foster a more inclusive learning environment. His visit to our school sparked a wave of enthusiasm among educators and students alike as they explored new ways to connect and understand each other. Kentrell Martin is the president and creator of the Shelley's Adventures series. He's also an author of many of the books in the series. Growing up with a Deaf brother, Kentrell saw how the world view deaf people. He created Shelley's Adventures so that he could introduce kids and parents to American Sign Language and the deaf culture. Cantrell sees Shelley's Adventures as a company that will play a part in helping bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing world. He envisions Shelley's Adventures as a company that will have a positive effect on every community. According to Mr. Martin, when many people hear sign language, they automatically think that they don't need to learn because they can hear. But American Sign Language is just like any other language. It doesn't hurt to learn a new language. It has many benefits to children, and it's one of the fastest growing languages in the US. In daycares schools, high schools and colleges, they're all using it, with higher education now accepting it as a foreign language. In our conversation. We're also joined by Sophia Morris, early childhood program coordinator at ACS Athens. With Cantrell and Sofia, we explore his journey, the significance of sign language in early childhood education, and the broader implications of embracing diverse communication methods in the classroom.
Get ready to be inspired as we uncover valuable insights that Kentrell Martin brings to the forefront of educational innovation and inclusivity. Stay tuned for a captivating episode that highlights the impact of bridging communication gaps in the world of learning.
With Sophia and Cantrell. Today we are discussing all about being different.
Bridging the gap between the deaf and the hearing, teaching sign language to the early childhood students misconceptions about communicating with the hearing impaired, the job and the challenges of the educational interpreter pivoting in the classroom to meet the needs of students with differences.
The crucial importance of early intervention becoming an interpreter out of the Nerds to really help and keeping a folder of feedback for motivation.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: I'm so excited to introduce Kendra Martin, the author of Shelly's Adventures book series. Kendral is the author of the majority of the books in the series, and I believe his wife is also a co author. What excited us about Shelley's adventures is that the stories are based on a true storyline off of Kendall's brother. His brother was born deaf, and Kendral was inspired then to write about children who experienced these differences growing up and making sure that everybody understands that this is just as normal ASL is a normal way to communicate, just a different way to communicate with others. So we're really excited that he had the opportunity to come to our school and speak to the early childhood students from PJ all the way to second grade. And not only is he a big fan here because this is his second year visiting ACS Athens, but we also had some students retain sign language, and today they learned over 35 different signs. So I'd like to let Kendall give us his perspective. Welcome.
[00:05:09] Speaker D: All right, well, thank you all for having me here. Again, this is my second time in Athens and I'm joining. I'm grateful just for the opportunity.
And so yeah, so today it was great. Again, many times when I go to schools, visits I mean, luckily, many of the kids have already seen me, but many times when I go to schools, most schools are when I tell them that the students are going to learn over 35 signs or 30 signs in 30 minutes or less. Most teachers are looking at me like, Good luck, but the kids retain it really well. And I'm always happy to hear, like, when I leave schools, that schools reach out and let me know that the kids are still signing in the classroom and things like that. And so that inspires me to keep going, even trying to get better, because that's the goal of the company. With Shutters Adventures is bridging the gap between the deaf and the hearing world and bringing awareness to American Sign Language and other languages and just letting kids know that the world is so big. We're always going to meet people who we may consider different, but in actuality, we're all different in some way or another. So the biggest thing for me is the kids are our future. So for me, with any change, I think that we want to see in the world or with anything, it's with the focus on the kids because that's our future.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: That's where it starts.
And I think that's the most important thing in the storyline. When you write about Shelley and her adventures, it's like those experiences that she goes through and what she's encountered with and making it real and tangible for the students through those stories. And so by having some kids order those stories and take them home, it also extends to the families and Moms and dads then get to see what it is that they heard about with your visit here.
[00:06:56] Speaker D: Absolutely. And I think also I had the first two stories and now when I write a lot of it comes from kids perspectives because questions I may get, like, if she has a deaf dad, how does she do this? It's like same way we do anything else with our parents. But some things we don't really think about even as adults. But then it kind of makes sense, like nothing really changes. And so that's why at the beginning of every presentation, I kind of give the kids the example of if we all go to another country or somewhere and they don't speak the same language as us, would that mean that we are different or weird? And they're like, no, it's the same thing. It's communication barrier. I think putting it like that, the kids kind of understand. They see the difference and they understand. Okay, so you see someone who's deaf doing something else. It's not that they're different or anything.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: You said that today as well. And I just remember thinking the first thing I did is scan the room because this is the international school. So the one thing our kids know very well is I don't know the same languages as all my peers. So when you said that, I quickly scanned the room and I saw some kids going just nodding, like, I really, really get what you're saying. And some of the other ones who didn't understand what you were saying, right? And it just kind of went over their head. But I thought, oh, you'll soon be here, you'll soon be here with the.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: Rest of know you said you're coming from doing this thing different schools in the States, right? Yes. And you're coming into international School. Is the sign language different from language to language? How can you relate if you know the sign language of one language to the sign language of another language?
[00:08:28] Speaker D: All right, so as far as in American, like sign language, other countries, my.
[00:08:34] Speaker C: Understanding is that American Sign Language is the concept. Other sign languages have the letters.
What is the difference?
[00:08:42] Speaker D: I think just from my experience meeting other deaf people who may speak multiple sign languages, what I've got from it is it's just different, I guess, structure aspect, right? Like in English, I remember having Spanish class and wondering why the verbs or I may be saying it wrong, but the verbs of something went behind or something like that. And American Sign Language, a big misconception is we think it's word for word with English, but in reality the structure is more like it fits more with French.
So the structure isn't the same. But many times, even in the States, we're not made aware of this. There's a lot of things I learned going back to interpreting school that I didn't even know about American Sign Language. And I had a deaf brother so many times. I think misconceptions of, like, sometimes when I have a lot more time with the students, especially the older students. It's making them aware that if you meet someone who's deaf and say you write something out on paper and if they can't read it, it has nothing to do with a literacy problem. In a sense, because you're writing it in English, and that's not their first language. Their first language is American Sign Language. There are many deaf people who have a strong concept of English, and you can see it when they write it, but many times they write it in the same structure as the signing is. So, for example, if I was signing, I'm going to the store in sign language, from the structure aspect, it would be Store, I'm going. Store, I go.
[00:10:20] Speaker C: So there is a syntax. There is a specific syntax.
You talk to a lot of students. Did you see these kind of misconceptions from their interactions with you or questions that they posed to you? Did you see these misconceptions?
[00:10:36] Speaker D: I think for them, it's more since they're so young, it's more curiosity. But it's probably more so with adults. It's many times adults say something like, they're deaf. How do they do that? And it's like, think about that question before. Think about it again. If I cover your ears and you can't hear, is that going to stop you from doing anything else? It's like, no, you're just not hearing sound, but it's not changing you as a person or anything. And so that's one of the things, too, I explained to kids, because a question that I get a lot is how do someone become deaf? And I explained to them there's many different ways. My brother was born deaf, but people get sick or accidents so many different ways. And as I explained to him, even the ideal of sometimes we see someone who's deaf and if they're talking really well, it's like, how are they talking if they're deaf? And I explained to them, okay, if right now someone turned off your ears where you can't hear, would that stop you from talking?
You wouldn't be able to hear yourself, but you still can talk. And so many times, people who can talk really well, chances are they weren't born deaf, that something happened in life.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: To where that's an important thing for people to understand, right?
[00:11:49] Speaker D: And then two. Another thing is culture. Like, sometimes we don't think, and I learned a few things. I'm pretty sure in every country, deaf culture is maybe even different then. But in America, the community is tight knit and they have their own culture. So many times for them, they may ask you a question like, if you told me you bought a car, I may ask you how much you paid for it. It's not to be nosy. They're so used to not receiving information that they don't want to go somewhere if they like the same car and someone try to oversell it to them because they know that they're deaf and try to take advantage. So they may ask questions or say things like, you've gained a lot of weight, but how else can you say that signing wise, if somebody gained a lot of weight but it's not to be rude, but in their community it's understandable. But outside of somebody say, what did they say? It's like, that was rude. But it's just like the world, right? We go to different places, something we may consider rude. It's part of the culture. There vice versa. So I think that's a thing to learn and even the aspect of education.
I initially wanted to go into childhood education interpreting, but then as I started taking classes, I started learning more things about how to become an educational interpreter. In certain states, you didn't need a certain certification.
And the reality is, for deaf kids, the first language model, like spoken language model that they learn, majority, like 90%, is when they get to school because the parents don't sign or do anything at home. So they fall behind their peers in the learning aspect. So when they get to school, that interpreter, that's the first language model that they're facing. And so at schools, you're having students fresh out of college who back then, years ago, it was the easiest job to get from an interpreter standpoint. But now the effect that it's going to have on that kid, you have a job, but the kid is going to suffer because you haven't been doing it long enough. And so a lot of the things that you may be teaching the kid is and the interpreters that they need, the schools don't pay them enough to have other jobs. So for me, I'm like, I wouldn't want that on my hands to know that, right?
So that's a lot of things like that, but they don't teach teachers or anything. Like, for example, if you have a deaf student and you're doing group work to slow down your readings or things like that, because the deaf kid would never get to participate. Because if the interpreter is interpreting what you said and you don't pause or give it a chance, that kid by the time you ask the question, that deaf kid is never going to get a chance to answer because to participate. Yeah, that's right. So little things like that, that I didn't know, even think about. But as I went back to school and started learning, it's like teachers aren't if they have deaf students those schools aren't teaching, then teachers, those things.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: You are listening to the Owlcast, the official podcast of the assassins.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: You mentioned something about the deaf community, right, but when now I'm bringing it back into the classroom and I hear what you say and it just triggers this memory for me. When I was teaching third grade, and this is back in Chicago, and one of my students was in a special ed room and he was having inclusion sessions in my class for Unit, like a social studies or science class. The aide would bring him over and Craig was non verbal and he'd come in the back of the room and he would sit with his aide. And I always had him next to a group of peers who were showing a little bit more empathy, more kind, and kind of like would reach out differently. And they were very comfortable with him. But every time Craig came to my class, my lesson structure changed 360, right? And so I did everything interactive. I had all the worksheets ready, I had visuals all over the place. So I would give him, what, a few seconds more to answer. That might have been a little bit differently run than by not having him in the class, but it also made it so much more rich because the kids had some think time. I gave lesson plans a little bit more detail and then he was always the first one to get everything right.
[00:16:22] Speaker C: Was it the delivery or the content also that you changed, John?
[00:16:27] Speaker B: I think I changed everything because it was testing me as a teacher. What Kendra just said is you don't learn to do these things in the know classes when you're going into education. I think nowadays they're looking at know reading instruction differently, special ed at its entirety, know learning needs, let's say, at its entirety differently. So that's a plus to the education system. But it does start when kids are younger and the younger we start. And what I always tell families here is that early intervention, no matter what intervention our kids need, is number one, whether that's being alert and aware to the differences around us and then even how we operate and exercise our lessons in the classroom. Too.
[00:17:07] Speaker C: My question is about the difference of the students that are born deaf or that they grow to be deaf. As you said before, you can hear someone speak normally, but they're hard of hearing, and you can see others that they're trying to vocalize and that you can understand 100%. Is there a difference in your experience in the approach in the young ages when you see these two different types of students with hearing differences?
[00:17:37] Speaker D: I would say yeah, only because for one, most households that have deaf kids, they don't sign much, so they fall behind early. And so with being able to hear, I think, and then going deaf later, you get the kind of experience like you get to get ahead. So unless you're already speaking and then you go deaf or something like that, you've already kind of established a language with that. And then, too, unless a parent is in a city that has the resources or other deaf, if you have five deaf kids in a city of 300,000 or something like that, the resource is probably going to be minimum, like they're going to send them to a school and there's not a big community. And so I meet a lot of deaf people who said that they pretty much did home signs and things like that until certain grades. So one thing about with sign language versus any other languages, even if you speak whatever language it is, at least if you're in that environment, it's a spoken language. With sign language, if you're not able to comprehend whatever the vocal language is, no matter where you at, you're going to struggle because everyone isn't going to sign. Wherever you go, there's going to be a main vocal language that's there. But as far as signing that, they have to get that second language. But you can't get the second language, which would be their vocal language, until they sort of master or have a comprehension of their main language, which would be sign language.
[00:19:10] Speaker C: You mentioned before that you started as something different in becoming an interpreter. That was not your initial plan, right?
[00:19:18] Speaker D: Right.
[00:19:18] Speaker C: What clicked in your mind? And you said, that's what I'm going to do now. This is what I want to get into.
[00:19:25] Speaker D: So I had the idea a little before I went to interpreting school and sort of what got me excited with interpreting school. And I think it all kind of came together. I was at a deaf event with my brother, and I met an interpreter, and they were like, have you ever thought about being an interpreter? I think you'll be a good interpreter. So I ended up going back to school.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Why did you think he said that?
[00:19:48] Speaker D: I don't know. Probably it's more natural seeing me with my brother and just doing it for because I think in certain jobs, whether it's being an educator or anything like where you're assisting people, if it's not natural and you're not in it to really help, at some point it's going to crumble.
I think even in the education system, I think you can see the teachers when they really care about the kids versus someone who just wants to check. I think you can always tell the difference with that. I think in every industry, there's always someone who's like, oh, let me try this hurt. They pay well doing this, so that's not the main reason. And so I started going and interpreting, but I did have ideas for the book.
I think everything just happened. It was time. And I learned so much, so much that I learned from there, I'm able to apply and then just if I can make educators aware, kids aware, and just because on my books I wanted them to be educational as well. So I didn't have intentions to fool it. Like it just sort of happened. I think everything just was timing and fell in place.
[00:21:02] Speaker C: From your experience, what would you say has been one of the biggest challenges that you've faced before you started going on the authoring career? I mean, what is one of the biggest challenges that you faced.
[00:21:17] Speaker D: That's a tough one.
Probably like once I became author, that's probably like I'm pretty laid back, I'm simple, no high demands or anything like that. I'm one of those guys who can probably just live anywhere and be to myself and don't have much requirements. But I think so I was working but once I had kids, you're living for them in the sense of I was working full time and then I was doing the books on the side on the weekend and then it got to a point I really was working seven days a week and seeing the kids get older. And it's like I got to make a decision, pick one and the other so that I can going the route, taking the jump to doing it full time. I'll probably say that was the boldest. So many times I see people who say like, oh, I see what you're doing, I should do that. You make it look easy, but it's not easy. But it's not easy at all. So the thing is, what makes it easy is being in front of kids. They give me energy. I can come in like a day and be tired, but their energy transfers to me. So while I make it look easy and I can live enough and really be into it and things like that, the reality is when people ask me, I'm like, you really, I think, have to be built for it. Because even though I make it look easy, I don't think you understand how much I do with the travel and still trying to balance work, life, family, marriage, kids, all of that. So I mean, I think that's the toughest thing for me is the balance.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Kendra, you do make it look easy, really. And I think it's because you're passionate about what you do and the kids. That energy you're talking about, I think only an educator to educator would really understand. So for the teachers that are going to hear this, I think they'll really appreciate hearing that because that's the truth for all of us. Like when you're with the kids, energy is transferred from you and from them and then that's what creates that unity and that community of learners. So I think you have so much to bring and I know we're very grateful to have you here with our community. The kids definitely absorb everything you have to bring. So we're grateful that you shared that energy with us.
[00:23:22] Speaker D: I'm extremely grateful that you all had me the first time. And then I was honored as soon as you even asked. You didn't even have to even have to read the full email. I was like, I'm in there, let me know the dates. So I'm very appreciative and I learn a lot from teachers and educators as well. I have a greater appreciation. I always appreciated teachers and things, but being in the system and seeing. It's like I don't think educators get enough credit and I think kids are future teachers. That's our biggest resource for providing for it. But it's one of the things that funding gets taken away from and seems like not enough is put into it. And I've seen while I may be out to school signing books, I'm seeing teachers still there working outside of their hours, planning before. So I've gotten a greater appreciation for educators because I've gotten to see firsthand what you all go through as well.
[00:24:17] Speaker C: I guess my last question is about the teachers from your encounter with them. And I am pretty sure they have asked you different things, you talked with them bit different things. What was really striking in their comments?
[00:24:32] Speaker D: Teachers. Yeah, that's a good one. I don't know. I think more so like afterwards, like the emails. I have a folder where when I receive compliments and different things, it's a motivation folder, right?
[00:24:48] Speaker C: So you read it after everything and before everything, right.
[00:24:51] Speaker D: And it's times where it's not that you don't like what you're doing or anything like that, but with anything, sometimes you get tired and it's like, oh, I just need a break, or something like that. But then you can go back and read those things and it's like can't stop. Like I got to keep going just as strong. Because to me it's like if kids going to tell the truth and speak if you had that and then for educator who's around kids more than anybody else, if they can see the value in something and show that I know that I'm doing the right thing and I'm on the right track. So that motivates me. So it's easy to get a compliment or even something that's not a compliment from the outside, but if I getting it, receiving it from an educator who has the experience, who probably seen it all in the classroom. If I can get those type of compliments or even feedback and things like that, I value that a lot because it points me and keep pushing me.
[00:25:48] Speaker B: In the right know teachers see what you and John you didn't see this? So if you walked in on one of the sessions, kendra's sitting there and he's asking kids to stop talking and sign to him. So not only does know introduce the signs, he explains the sign. He gives a definition of the sign, and he's doing this one after the other. The kids are following mimicking and then you give them time to ask to give that back to you. And that reciprocation of give and take with learning at that moment is so indicative of what a teacher does in a day, right? But you have to do it in 30 minutes, 35 signs. So it's probably like the fast forwarded version of what we do when we're doing our lessons in a week and you're kind of giving it to them in one small slot, and a teacher will be like, oh, my God. That's what we're planning for memory in a week, and he's doing this in 30 minutes. So I think when you get those messages, really take them to heart, because the gratitude and the appreciation, recognition of what you're doing in that time is meaningful from our teachers. I appreciate it.
[00:26:46] Speaker C: Final words, Ms. Morris.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: Besides all the gratitude, I just know, no, I'm happy. I'm excited about this partnership. I'm happy to have met Kendall and have him part of our community, because the one thing we want our kids to take away, what Kendall presents to us so well is know. Learning comes in all shapes and sizes and different forms, and it's one of the most important takeaways. So Shelley's adventures it is for our kids. Thank you.
[00:27:10] Speaker C: Thank you so much for coming.
[00:27:11] Speaker D: No problem. Thank you all for having me. And anytime say the word, I'm here.
[00:27:16] Speaker C: Sign it for us.
[00:27:18] Speaker D: I'm here. So you have a lifelong partner. As long as you need an author here, I'm here. Thank you.
[00:27:25] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:27:25] Speaker D: Bye.
[00:27:26] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:27:29] Speaker A: You are listening, listening to The Owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens. Make sure you subscribe to the Owlcast on Google Podcasts. Spotify and Apple podcasts. This has been a production of the ACS Athens Media Studio.
