In a busy kindergarten classroom, the sense of sound can be overwhelmed. There are so many little voices, each requesting information or asking permission, that the cacophony can make it difficult to actually get any teaching done. However, more and more educators are learning about and using sign language in the classroom to manage the sound issues.
Principal Bridget Chapin of the Woodburn School for the Fine and Communicative Arts in Falls Church, Virginia has said “So many kids are so visual that words just wash over them. A lot of times the more words you use, the less effective you are.” It isn’t clear who first began this time and energy saving trend, but many schools have picked it up, even if it’s not specifically American Sign Language that’s being used.
My son has entered kindergarten this year, and his teachers use their own hand signals to communicate certain ideas back and forth. For example, if the teacher is relating a story about something that a student has some familiarity with, instead of shouting out “Ooh, me too!” the student simply makes a gesture — a thumb pointed back toward the student, the pinky extended toward the teacher, and the middle fingers closed, like the Hawai’ian shaka — that signifies that a connection has been made. When a child needs the restroom, a fist is raised with the thumb between the first and second fingers. When quiet is called for, the teacher uses the “quiet coyotes” hand sign, which resembles an animal with ears pointed and mouth shut.
Another great benefit to learning to communicate silently is that it allows students to multitask, which itself opens new channels in the brain. All of this sort of “brain hacking” leads to more fully dimensional thinking and therefore to increased powers of perception, problem solving, and creativity. Education never sleeps, and we learn new things all the time. It’s good to know education is keeping pace.
