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Theme:

• High-Leverage Practice (HLP) 18: Active Student Engagement

Articles:

• Promoting Engagement in Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH)
• Deaf Awareness Month
• National Preparedness Month

News from RMTC-DHH:

• WWE-DHH: Fairview Learning
• WWE-DHH: See the Sound - Visual Phonics and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
• TA-Live! High-Leverage Practices: HLP 18
• Tea with the Teachers
• Coffee with the Contacts

Teacher Spotlight

• Krista Phelps-Elliott and Brianna Balch
• Seminole County

Expanded Skills Spotlight

• Florida Expanded Skills for Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing: Special Skills Checklist Assessments

Teacher Toolkit:

• LiveBinder of Tools for HLPs
• Loan Library Resources

Did You Know?

• 2024 Florida Educators of Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing Conference
• Supporting Success for Children with Hearing Loss 2025 Virtual Conference
• The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC) Disability Services Report

Upcoming Events

Student engagement is crucial for academic success, and research highlights the significant impact of fostering strong teacher-student relationships. McLeskey et al. (2017) emphasizes that "student engagement lies at the heart of positive academic outcomes," underscoring the need for effective strategies to keep students actively involved in their learning. What are ways teachers can promote engagement for students who are deaf/hard of hearing (DHH)? Educators are encouraged to focus on three key areas:

1. Building Positive Teacher-Student Relationships. Creating a climate that fosters community and ownership begins with the teacher's approach to building positive relationships with students. Hattie's meta-analysis (2009) further supports this, revealing that teacher-student relationships have a substantial effect size of .72 on student achievement and engagement. One key opportunity to build positive student engagement is by forging connections to students’ lives. Teachers who make a concerted effort to acknowledge, celebrate, and understand students’ diverse backgrounds are employing another essential strategy to keep students engaged during class (Kennedy et al., 2018). Engaging in local deaf community events can help teachers gain insight into a child who is DHH, strengthen connections with the child and their family, and may ultimately build a stronger rapport.
2. Creating Accessible Learning Environments. Ensuring that the learning environment is accessible from day one is another crucial strategy. For students who are DHH, this can involve practical steps such as facing the student when speaking, using microphones, repeating what peers say, and incorporating captions in the classroom. These strategies help bridge communication gaps and can encourage a community of belonging (Todorov et al., 2021). Additional research shows that students who are DHH demonstrate greater engagement and reduced passive behavior when less time is spent in whole-class settings and more in small group or child-managed arrangements (Catalano et al., 2021). This suggests that shifting from traditional whole-class instruction to more personalized and interactive formats, like utilizing flexible groupings (HLP 17, McLeskey et al., 2017) can significantly boost active participation among students. For more information on flexible grouping, check out the TA-Live! HLP 17 video.
3. Promoting Positive Peer Interactions. Fostering positive peer interactions is essential, particularly for students who are DHH who might face challenges with social integration due to language barriers. According to the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (2019), building learning communities where students take multiple classes together can significantly enhance engagement and facilitate better participation for students who are DHH. Districts can reach out to the Florida Inclusion Network to learn how to conduct inclusive scheduling as a priority for students with disabilities, including students who are DHH. Research into social support among students who are DHH shows that those with higher levels of social support score higher on student engagement, whereas those with lower levels of social support score lower (Cheng, Deng, and Yang, 2020). 

For more information on promoting active student engagement for students who are DHH, watch the RMTC-DHH TA-Live! HLP 18 video.

Deaf Awareness Month

Deaf Awareness Month, observed in September, presents an opportunity to collaborate with educators who may not have experience teaching students who are DHH. Consider equipping them with one of these quick resources found on our Teacher Toolkit page.

Do you have an innovative way you celebrate Deaf Awareness Month in your district or community? Share it with us in the Virtual Learning DHH Collaborative Basecamp!

National Preparedness Month

“National Preparedness Month is an observance each September to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies that could happen at any time.” (Ready, n.d.) The National Association of the Deaf shares resources for emergency preparedness specifically for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Want to learn some signs related to emergencies? Check out Learn Essential ASL for Disaster Relief: Emergency Management Signs by Learn How to Sign. They have a whole series of videos on public services. 

RMTC-DHH has also created a resource that provides guidance for schools and districts to prepare for emergency situations for students who are DHH, “What resources are there for emergency preparedness for students who are deaf/hard of hearing.

2024 Florida Educators of Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing Conference

The 2024 Florida Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (FEDHH) Conference is now open for registration. The conference will be held November 8th-9th, 2024 at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center Gainesville, located at 1714 SW 34th St, Gainesville, FL 32607.

Supporting Success for Children with Hearing Loss is excited to offer the 2025 Virtual Conference with 10 sessions from experienced presenters working in the field of deaf education.

Early bird registration is now open.

All sessions are recorded, captioned, and will include ASL interpretation.

To register: https://www.supportingsuccess2025vc.com  

Fresh off the press!

The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC) has published a disability services report. This report provides insights to help support students who are deaf or hard of hearing for the fall semester. 

RMTC-DHH provides Tech Notes as a free resource to teachers, professionals, and families around the state in order to pass along potentially useful information and expand the knowledge and opportunities available to educators and families of children who are deaf/hard of hearing. This email was funded by the Florida Department of Education Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services through federal assistance under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B funds. The information included does not reflect any specific endorsement by any parties involved.