The last two days marked a momentous occasion in my high school experience stash: entrance into a principal's office. And not just one, but two principals' offices!
I was one of "those" kids in high school. The ones that never really got into serious trouble - enough to be sent to the principal's office, anyway. I don't think this was solely driven by good, or even healthy, motives. Actually, I think a lot of it was driven by overwhelming shyness and the fear of having to engage with adults in what to me seemed a severely stressful environment. I vaguely remember goofing off a few times with some smack-down by teachers and thinking: "Please, oh please, don't send me to the Principal's office!" As a result of all this, I was never privy to the inside of a principal's office - just their mini-blinds. Until yesterday. And today.
My F-bomb dropping student has let the proverbial s*** hit the fan in several classes. In fact, I have sworn more in the past 2 weeks, voicing this student's signing, than I have in the last 30 years combined. Thank you Student X, for this unique life experience. But I digress.
Yesterday, I found myself in an interpreter's nightmare: a meeting that involved me as an interpreter and then spontaneously being asked, as an adult staff member, questions during the conversation. PLEASE - if you ever use a sign language interpreter - do NOT talk to them or ask them questions during the communication event. It's just messy. Our brains are not in "engage in the conversation" mode; they're in "switch grammar and vocabulary between the two languages to make each person's message be as accurate and natural as possible" mode. A lot of interpreters don't really remember exactly what was said during the communication event that they are interpreting - all their attention is caught up in the interpreting process. I happen to be one of those kind of interpreters. Perhaps I'm a bit like Cookie Monster:
1. Message comes in and is chewed
2. Message comes out in another form, generally more messy than it went in but hopefully retaining its primary ingredients
3. A few crumbs of the conversation are left stuck in mouth and on chin and arms
Anyway, back to the principals' offices. They are NOTHING like I expected. No harsh words. No stern lecturing. Instead, body posturing and vocal intonation is welcoming and builds camaraderie. A listening ear and understanding, regardless of the accusations being made by the student in the face of what the teacher has said, is offered and encouraged. Unless something is stated against what is in the student policy manual, students are not to be interrupted or contradicted. It was mind-boggling. Those two meetings were without a doubt the most peaceful interpreting experiences I've had with this student since arriving. And it makes me want to beg all the teachers: Please, oh please, send me to the principal's office tomorrow too! The principals' cookies are the best!
I was one of "those" kids in high school. The ones that never really got into serious trouble - enough to be sent to the principal's office, anyway. I don't think this was solely driven by good, or even healthy, motives. Actually, I think a lot of it was driven by overwhelming shyness and the fear of having to engage with adults in what to me seemed a severely stressful environment. I vaguely remember goofing off a few times with some smack-down by teachers and thinking: "Please, oh please, don't send me to the Principal's office!" As a result of all this, I was never privy to the inside of a principal's office - just their mini-blinds. Until yesterday. And today.
My F-bomb dropping student has let the proverbial s*** hit the fan in several classes. In fact, I have sworn more in the past 2 weeks, voicing this student's signing, than I have in the last 30 years combined. Thank you Student X, for this unique life experience. But I digress.
Yesterday, I found myself in an interpreter's nightmare: a meeting that involved me as an interpreter and then spontaneously being asked, as an adult staff member, questions during the conversation. PLEASE - if you ever use a sign language interpreter - do NOT talk to them or ask them questions during the communication event. It's just messy. Our brains are not in "engage in the conversation" mode; they're in "switch grammar and vocabulary between the two languages to make each person's message be as accurate and natural as possible" mode. A lot of interpreters don't really remember exactly what was said during the communication event that they are interpreting - all their attention is caught up in the interpreting process. I happen to be one of those kind of interpreters. Perhaps I'm a bit like Cookie Monster:
1. Message comes in and is chewed
2. Message comes out in another form, generally more messy than it went in but hopefully retaining its primary ingredients
3. A few crumbs of the conversation are left stuck in mouth and on chin and arms
Anyway, back to the principals' offices. They are NOTHING like I expected. No harsh words. No stern lecturing. Instead, body posturing and vocal intonation is welcoming and builds camaraderie. A listening ear and understanding, regardless of the accusations being made by the student in the face of what the teacher has said, is offered and encouraged. Unless something is stated against what is in the student policy manual, students are not to be interrupted or contradicted. It was mind-boggling. Those two meetings were without a doubt the most peaceful interpreting experiences I've had with this student since arriving. And it makes me want to beg all the teachers: Please, oh please, send me to the principal's office tomorrow too! The principals' cookies are the best!
Really enjoy reading your post, Liz. Keep it up.
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