PAH!: (An update on data in lieu of an HU)

In ASL we have this "word"--PAH!  It means finally, at last, eureka!  

PAH!

This is what my iTunes looks like right now:



This may not look this exciting...in fact, it's probably meaningless.  But this picture shows that there is currently a video being downloaded to my computer.

PAH!

I have been working on the technology to get a video in this classroom since August 29th!  :-)  After almost 5 weeks of issues with IP addresses, microphones, camera angles, encrypted files, teacher absences, and other mishaps...today was the day!  A recording of this mornings lesson was captured on camera.  The teacher and students and their signs were all visible.    And after 10 hours of breath-holding, the unencrypted file appeared on the server.  It's a beautiful day.  :-)  That is the first item of good news.

Now...the bad news is that I now have to figure out how to successfully convert this file to a different kind of video that can be imported into ATLAS.ti without losing the picture clarity necessary to see the signs.  (But I have ideas and hopes!)  The other bad news is that this means I have not yet begun to transcribe a 30+ minute video of sign language...which takes much much longer than transcribing spoken language.

But the other really good news is that I found information on the Berkeley Transcription System, which is specifically for transcribing signed languages and is aligned with CHAT/CHILDES.  Super excited about this find!  :-)  The whole goal is to capture ASL at the meaning level and transcribe for understanding and it accounts for all of the nonmanual components of signed languages, as well.   It was exactly what I was looking for...unlike the initial results of my search--Stokoe Notation, Sign Writing, Sign Language IPAs, and all this other crazy stuff that people do to put sign language into writing.

So....clearly my HU is a bit...well...nonexistent at the moment.  But...I have pictures of documents from around the room that I took a few weeks ago, and I now have a video, and tomorrow morning during my observation I'll be able to take pictures of the documents-in-use from today's video.  Then hopefully the teacher will have her log from today filled out by the end of the week.  So it's starting to come together and will be in an HU soon!

(PAH!)

[[Update:  Uhm...so I may have spoken too soon.  It downloaded to iTunes but won't actually play.  Murphy's Law.  Argh.  I've spent the last hour googling ways to fix this.  The only thing I've accomplished is exhausting my eyes and computer battery and learning that lots of people have this problem with the newest version of iTunes.  But it's still good news...it plays on the website...so I have faith that it will happen.  I have a meeting with our IT person tomorrow afternoon.  This will happen.  It will.  And if it doesn't.  ATLAS and I will may just have to part ways...because I have a video and that's the important thing.]]