entering the door

Teaching is a very interesting thing. I sit in a room and I wait to see who enters the door of my class. They tell me what I should teach. Today, a fellow entered, J. Filipino, older, thinning hair. He is hard of hearing, knows American Sign Language, reads lips a bit.

I set the class to do a drill and find piece of paper and pen. We write out our conversation as fast as we can scrawl. He asks about kali, had seen a demonstration. One of my other students known just a bit of American Sign Language. He knows one of her students. There is a connection.

He wants to join the class. I was told by my teacher that each person who comes into my class brings a lesson and/or a gift. I cannot refuse. He has an advantage in one sense, he knows how to watch and observe. As I go in between teaching him and teaching the rest of the class I understand how much of my communication relies on sound. Even though when I remember learning it was more about watching and feeling. How I really didn't listen to my teacher, I watched then followed.

I've agreed to teach him in exchange for learning American Sign Language. Sometimes gaining a student isn't about what I teach them, it's about what they can teach me.