Television Show

My Wife and Kids

I decided to watch the television show “My Wife and Kids”. With the sound turned off the family displayed a lot of non-verbal communication skills. The mother on the show raised her eyebrows when speaking with her younger daughter. Her facial expression displayed her anger as the little girl stood there in front of her.  As her mom spoke to her she lowered her head and folded her arms. The little girl appeared to be sad. When the dad came in the house you can tell by the way he threw his brief case down on the couch that he had a long day at work. Their gestures and facial expressions helped me convey what was going on in the household. They all gathered around the dinner table and grabbed hands as the father begin gracing the food. Once he was done he nodded his head and the family began eating. They appeared to be a very enmeshed family.

Once I watched the television show with the volume turned on most of my assumptions were right. It seemed so natural and I was excited that I was able to piece the picture together without hearing it.  Most of it comes from having a best friend who is deaf. Whenever I went to her house she always had the volume turned down on the television and I would never turn it up because I was use to it. I seemed to be drawn into the show when the volume was off because it made me feel more connected with the characters.  I would turn the caption on toward the end of the show to see if my assumptions were right. Majority of the time they were. On the show the mother was fussing at her daughter because she got some milk without asking and spilled it everywhere. The mother was in the kitchen while her other daughter sat at the table doing her homework. When her husband came in she asked him how his day went.  He threw his brief case and advised her that he had a very long day. They all washed their hands and begin to sit down at the table. They ate together like most enmeshed families do. This exercise had helped me understand that all communication is effective whether it is verbal or non-verbal. We may have children in our classroom community that may suffer from hearing loss. It is important that our gestures and facial expressions help them convey the subject matter so that they can excel in their learning.