"Index Card" Reactions to Copysigning

Carl's note: My ASL 201 students were doing this copysigning exercise on the video: (ASL) Realize - Colbie Caillat / Boyce Avenue

Student 1

I like that exercise.  I wasn't sure of much but I could use his signing space and also copy his facial expressions to get a feel of how the two need to work together.

Student 2

That was fun, but a little hard and a little too fast.  Maybe I could actually understand what I am copying if it was slower.  What if he was signing a bunch of bad words I didn't want to copy?  I wouldn't be able to tell cause it was so fast! LOL :)

Student 3

That was very difficult.  I had watched that on your blog, and stopped it halfway through because I couldn't understand any of it. I see that as a copysigning exercise I didn't have to understand it.
Mainl difficult was whether I copied like a morror or if I needed to switch what I was seeing and copy right hand with my right hand, turn to myu right when he turned to his, etc.  I got preoccupied with that and ended up not copying as smoothlyu as I could/should.

Student 4

That was difficult.  It was hard to keep up.  I probablyu missed quite a few signs.  I was catching myself saying in my head what I was signing, so that is good!  At least I understood what was being signed instead of only copying.

Student 5

Practicing with the class I was confused at the same time I wanted to follow the person in the video and sometimes I keep messing up and I went faster and faster.  This is so much different following a video.

Student 6

It was interesting to try to keep up with the video and try new signs, but without knowing what the signs are that I don't know, how can I remember them?  What is the goal of this exercise? Explain?

Student 7

Very funny, the guy signed fast but it made me smile a lot to copy him especially since I didn't catch a lot or didn't pay attention to what he was signing.  I was only focused on what the signs liiked like.  It was only a little difficult to keep up.

Student 8

Too fast for me!  I think I could do better at a little slower pace.  It is something I can work on.  It was hard becaise he used signs I didn't know & I was trying to interpret as I went along.

Student 9

My brain.  I am trying to focus on the movement, signing perspective, meaning of the signs....  ASL is such a different brain concept from English.  This shows that we've been signing too much.  We should do a lesson where we practice signing structure.

Student 10

That was extremely!  Difficult.  I kept getting lost and I couldn't figure out what hand was being used where.  I'm fine with copysigning but doing it to a song is hard.

Student 11

I really liked this activity.  It was hard at first but when it got to the chorus it was easier to keep up because we signed it before.  I was trying to understand what he was signing and where in the song he was but gave up.  I enjoyed this activity a lot.  Thanks :)

Student 12

WOW, that was hard trying to keep up with all the signs.  It is way easier to sign a song when you know in advance and what signs you will be using.

Student 13

You would think it would be easy to copy what someone else was doing.  When copysigning the song, I had a hard time, I kept using the wrong hand or was way too slow, when we copied Carl it was simple.  I think this will help improve my signs and understanding.

Student 14

It was very nice to see so much facial expression. I don't know why that struck me.  It was difficult to follow but fun to make an attempt at it.  This makes me want to sign a song.

Student 15

That was kinda fun and hard.  Copying you (Carl) was easier than copying the guy in the video he had a lot of movements and would sign two different thoughts with each hand.  I'm not used to saying two things at once with each hand.  I will need more practice with that.

Student 16

First of all it is hard to copy the signer's perspective.  I was always switch to the wrong hand or going backwards.  Second it seems fast maybe because the signs were so unfamiliar.  It was fun trying though.

Student 17

I liked copysigning because no one was watching me.  It was fun as well as an interesting activity.  I enjoyed seeing how others signed.

Student 18

WOW! Holy cow, that was fast!  I tried my best to keep up with the signing, but towards the end, I seemed to have focused on what he was trying to communicate rather than trying to copysign.  I have to say that was fun! :)

Student 19

I know this activity had a distinct purpose.... I'm just not sure what it was.  It was way better than signing for half the class!  It was kind of fun to just copy what he was doing except he went fast and was signing a lot of things I didn't know.

Student 20

I don't understand what it is.  We are learning from copysigning.  It was kind of fun to copy him, just not sure why I am doing it.  I didn't know most of thise signs.  It was interesting.