A Boy Named Broccoli: How I Came to Fall in Love with a Classroom of Deaf Students

By Laurel Robinson

John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” As I look back at what I have written for this memoir, A Boy Named Broccoli, I see this paradox repeating throughout. For example, during my teen years, Music was a huge part of my life – I wrote my own scores, I played the guitar, and I traveled in the singing group, Up With People. Although, I kept asking myself, what am I going to do with the rest of my life? What really matters? Then, one fateful day in 1977, I met and conversed with my first deaf student and threw every other career idea out the window. I decided I would become a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Deafness? Sign language? Interpreting? What did I know about these? I’d thought. Yet, meeting and connecting with that young student had changed how I thought about the world and eventually changed who I am. Now, after 39 years as a Teacher of Deaf and Hard of Hearing, I still have passion for my work, and this work can often bring me to tears of happiness. I love my students, and I love that they have given me permission to share their stories—both the tough times and those that made me smile.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Jul 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781977256768

Laurel Robinson

Laurel Robinson has her MA in teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing students,and she has taught for the past 39 years. She works across all grade levels, has taught most subjects, as she has supported her students’ language. Laurel lives in Denver, CO, with her husband, Joe, and their Golden Retriever.

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A Boy Named Broccoli

How I Came to Fall in Love with a Classroom of Deaf Students

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2022 Laurel Robinson

v8.0

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-9772-5676-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020912569

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to the hundreds of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students who I have taught…all of whom have changed my life.

A BIG Thanks to Barb Munson, Nick Zellinger, Dana and the people at OutSkirts Press for their hard work in making this book a reality!

Also, my heartfelt love to Joe, who makes the Journey easier.

SPECIAL DEDICATION

As you read this book, you will discover a student who changed who I am. Her name is Tevia Drumps, and she showed me how humor can help us learn. She was a fighter, a true inspiration, and she focused on the positive.

—Tevia, I Love and Miss You!

Ms. Robinson

And though she was little, She was fierce…..

December 28, 1994 – November 3. 2019

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

As a teacher of Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, I first felt called to write this book twelve years ago. Today it is my life’s second purpose and a labor of true love. About a year ago I moved forward, deciding that these wonderful children needed their story told. I wanted to spread awareness about their lives, their ups and downs, their challenges and victories, and their special gifts. Truly, these students have transformed and enriched my life. I have opened my mind and my heart to explore beyond my ignorance when it comes to Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and the Deaf community at large. Please forgive my ignorance and know that this story is meant to support Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and deaf education, to pave a future for these students, and to engage them in incredible educational, hands-on experiences.

There is method in my madness…I would dearly love to see these kids get out more, have some fun, and visit educational places. To that end, I am hoping the sales of this book will provide some travel money, and donations to our trip would be an added bonus. See the end of the book for information on how you can help.

Note: Just for fun— at the end of each chapter I have included a section titled Hey, Ms. Robinson. Over the years I have written down the funny things my students have shared with me, and they are endearing and often made me chuckle. All kids say funny things, and my students are no exception.

Look for the heading:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prologue: What’s Up?

Chapter 1: Follow the Bouncing Ball

Chapter 2: My Mother, Teacher Extraordinaire

Chapter 3: Maybe We Were Thinner…?

Chapter 4: English Diction? Yikes!

Chapter 5: I Can Feel Lousy All by Myself

Chapter 6: The All-Important Letter

Chapter 7: Myrtle Portfolio

Chapter 8: St. Augustine

Chapter 9: How I Found My Life’s Purpose

Chapter 10: Gree-ality

Chapter 11: The Alice in Wonderland Hallway

Chapter 12: I Hate Math

Chapter 13: A Teacher Gets a Lesson

Chapter 14: Sarah’s Smile

Chapter 15: Joe and the Dog Path

Chapter 16: Follow Your Passion

Chapter 17: Superheroes

Chapter 18: Tevia and the Paper

Chapter 19: The Cat Stand

Chapter 20: Amazeable Teachers

Chapter 21: Dream…Dream Big!

Epilogue: A Teacher’s Dream and a Plan

Epilogue: Tevia

Acknowledgements

PROLOGUE

What’s Up?

4:00 a.m. Really? What is that noise?

Ahhhhh…the dog is snoring, and she’s sleeping on my leg. Sasha…, I groan, get off my leg! She jumps off the bed. I don’t want to get up, I moan to Joe.

Ohhhhh, I know…it’s too early! Joe groans back. We’d both had a terrific weekend in the mountains. Now…it was Monday. Back to our routines.

We pull ourselves out of bed, and try to get ready to face the day. We make the bed, and shuffle into the kitchen to get the coffee going. I’ve always been a morning person, but this is ridiculous.

You may ask, What gets you up at this ungodly hour? and I would have to say: Kids, but not just any kids…they are Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, and I am their teacher…

I’m finally at work, getting organized in my office, when I hear, BAM, BAM, BAM…and there on the other side of the door is one of my students, Hodan, who came from Somalia. Her smile lighting up the room.

Good morning! she signs, with a face that shows her enthusiasm. What’s up? she adds. One of the interpreters, Tara Linn, had just shown her the sign for What’s up, and now she uses it as often as possible.

Good morning! I sign back. Nothing’s up…what’s up with you? I’m fine! she signs back, then she starts to giggle….

Later in the day, I am having a conversation with one of my students, Ray, and he is telling me how he wants to work hard to be the best he can be.

Really? WOW! I wish I had been this focused when I was in high school. He is funny and genuine, and I appreciate how open he is about the things that concern him. He also wants to know what I will put in the book about him….

It’s that you have the biggest heart, Ray, I tell him…. That’s what I love about you…you truly have the biggest heart!

Ok, I think, this is what I get up for. These kids are so excited to learn, and they all think I’m crazy, which Joe says is not a far drive for me.

CHAPTER 1

Follow the Bouncing Ball

I had no idea that people didn’t feel as passionate about things as I did. I had no idea that people didn’t cry when they heard about something sad, either, because I cry at everything. I cry if I hear a sad song or a story. And movies? Well, let’s just say that I can’t watch movies like Old Yeller or Black Beauty. And that commercial where they show the animals that are in shelters and Sarah McLachlan sings, In the Arms of an Angel? Forget it…I’m a mess! Joe, my partner in life, says that I cry at supermarket openings. I guess you could say that I feel things deeply. I just didn’t realize that other people didn’t feel as deeply about things as I did. I also didn’t know how this passion would mold my future.

If you had asked me when I was little, What do you want to be when you grow up? I would have told you that I wanted to be a performer. I found out early that I could make people laugh…and then in junior high and high school I got involved in music. When my sister and I were younger, we sang along with Mitch Miller (as we followed the bouncing ball, which if you didn’t grow up in the 60’s, you probably have no idea what I am talking about: There was a TV show with a group of men singing on it, and there was a ball that followed the words. Kind of like Karaoke, but you held a spoon, instead of a microphone.) We also danced in the kitchen to Lawrence Welk music, or we sang along with every 45 record that we owned. High on the list were all the songs from The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, Annie Get Your Gun, and West Side Story. Those records were played over and over, until they were so scratched that we had to buy new ones. We spent hours with this music, and I was pretty sure this was how everybody grew up. Yep, I was very naïve!

Well, I’ve sure learned a thing or two since then. Now, I am a teacher of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students..…ages 4-18. No two days are the same, some are very challenging, others simply out of this world—in a good way. My kids are the coolest.

Hey, Ms. Robinson, how are you? one of my students says, as he continues the game we play every day, the Who can say it first? game. Today,