Swimming with Friends

This weekend when my family asked about how things are going at CSU Chico, I had to say that swimming with the children on Thursday was the best experience so far. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous at first. I didn't know what to do or how I could help. I took a few minutes to observe what was going on and was drawn to the preschoolers who are deaf and hard of hearing. I watched the teacher work with the students and was impressed with how patient, caring and cautious she was with them. She kept reminding our group to be careful to always make sure their mouths and noses were not too close to the water. Unfortunately, I could not get in the water with them since I am not a strong swimmer but, I did learn how to let them know they were doing a good job with sign language. I noticed a group walking in the pool with a girl who had been transferred from a wheelchair. I wanted to learn how to help someone with limited mobility. I joined this group in the pool. I learned a lot through this experience. What I learned was not so much about physical activity for her in the pool but about treating her as a person. The teacher was having a conversation with her just as she would with any teenager. This made me feel comfortable enough to talk to her also. I wondered if I had not had the modeling from the teacher, would I have allowed her outward appearance to affect my interaction with her. What comes to mind is what we often see on TV comedy skits where a character speaks in slow, loud, enunciated speech to another character who may speak another language or come from another country. The fact that they are foreigners has nothing to do with their mental capacity. In all honesty, I may have acted in a similar way had I not had the teacher as a model. I may have talked to her like a little girl and not a teenager. Fortunately I did have the model and was able to talk to her about boyfriends and nail polish. I was very pleased that she allowed me to hold her and help her walk around the pool. When I asked her to walk the wall toward me. She did! I was so happy that I had gained her trust. 
These experiences can definitely be viewed as collaborative experiences because everyone involved was communicating with each other either through direct instruction or through modeling and even nonverbal cues. The communication that took place was all positive and constructive. Collaboration in this setting is extremely valuable because it ensures the safety and well-being of all the students. It was an awesome learning experience.