[Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?

Tue Dec 1 19:09:36 UTC 2015

I will say, that in terms of me in my position, I tell my students early on that I am not their content teacher, so if they have a problem with content, they need to talk to their teacher. Not all TVis do this, I think...but I will not spend my time tutoring a child..it does them a disservice, because it is not my area of specialty, and the teachers really do not know what the student knows as a result of their teaching, or mine.

I explain to my colleagues that I am not a ( for example) Biology teacher...and since they are the teacher of record, they do NOT even WANT me teaching their students...wink! wink!!

Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central Schools
700 Delaware Avenue
Delmar, NY 12054
http://bcsd.k12.ny.us/

On Dec 1, 2015, at 1:50 PM, Sarah Jevnikar via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

An interesting point again (sorry I've posted so much already) but I think
this is a good one - resilience and problem-solving. Anna's list of things
she has to do parallels mine and many other students. But we have to do it
all while still keeping up with material and somehow not falling into
depression and panic. It's a tall order. Learning those skills in a more
forgiving environment like high school is a good idea.
The points about exposure to a variety of things are excellent; I don't know
anyone (especially not myself) who knows what they want to do long-term, but
having as many options available is good.
Also TVIs and parents' apprehension about certain subject areas are an
issue. Sometimes classroom teachers, unsure of how to teach a blind student,
leave it to the TVI to do. The TVI is great, but if they're not a subject
expert on STEM anything, or foreign languages, home economics, mechanics,
computers or the like, then they and the students are at a disadvantage.
Discussing self-advocacy with the student would be helpful here, as would
stepping in if the students' efforts have failed.

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sabra
Ewing via Blindmath
Sent: December-01-15 1:15 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Cc: Sabra Ewing
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] how did your TVIs assist you?

I do not use readers because I don't understand how to do so. I took all of
my tests and prepared all of my work electronically.

Sabra Ewing

On Dec 1, 2015, at 12:02 PM, derek riemer via Blindmath
<blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Hi Maureen,
One thing to tell your students is that in college, and even in high
school, they need to ensure that no matter what, they have someone
proctoring or scribing the test that knows the material. I once had a
proctor try to proctor a math exam in high school and the person didn't know
what the square root symbol looked like, let alone any of the other symbols
such as infinity, pi, theta, so on. I basically said well you can't proctor
this test, and then explained that this just wouldn't work, and we
rescheduled the exam. Most good universities will try their best to do this
for students, but it is important to speak up if a scheduling conflict is
encountered, and simply say okay, I don't need someone who can read x
subject for this test. The same is absolutely true of the reverse case. If I
need a scribe for a comp sci test or more likely a math test, I usually
inform disability services that the test I am requesting accommodations on
requires a scribe who knows math. I assum!
e that music majors may need to ensure these types of accommodations get
put in place as well. There are probably other subjects this happens in.
Also, if the proctor has experience in the subject being proctored, I can
ask them questions like "Is this dot that brailled wrongly really a theta or
tau?" Even if I don't think I will need a scribe, if the material requires
it, I usually request a proctor who can read the subject being tested.
HTH
On 11/30/2015 10:42 PM, Anna via Blindmath wrote:
Maureen,
I applaud your dedication to preparing your students.  If only everyone
did this...
Thank you for asking.
I don't know how much help I will be because I did not have a TVI or
anything like that in high school as I had significant vision then and used
it just fine.  but I am in college now and no longer have that.  I am
majoring in neuroscience.  And I feel completely overwhelmed.  It is not the
fault of anyone at my high school, obviously, but how great it would have
been if i had been able to have someone help prepare me for everything I
would have to deal with as a blind college student and more specifically, a
blind STEM student.
If you know or can find out very specifically what is required of blind
college students then I think you could teach those skills to your students.
In college nothing should be expected.  Perhaps accomodationsare provided,
but even if they are, they are usually not very helpful and you have to
accommodate yourself.
These are things I have to do in college, and if I have to do them in
college, students should already know how to do these things when they
arrive.  The complexity of trying to learn how to do them in addition to
learning all the material you have to learn in college anyway, is, I would
say, one of the most difficult things I have done in my life.
Things I do in college:
Find books that work for me,
Read and write math,
Deal with graphics,
Communicate effectively with professors who have great
misunderstandings about blindness and accomodations, read and create
presentations such as powerpoints, Write papers containing graphs,
tables, spreadsheets, mathematical work, work with a reader (which is
not as easy as it may seem, and actually requires skill and
experience), Manage time effectively, Work in groups with students
that try to work around me, Know what accomodationswork best for me,
Communicate how to make things accessible to the Disabilty office
staff (although they should know, they dont actually tend to), Or
learn how to work around them, Work with complex scientific and
graphing calculators, Navigate and enter complex material online, Mostly
what I am having to do is learn to be creative, and unfortunately I am
having to educate and train the people hired to accommodate me.  This is
extremely difficult when I am new to this and really have little idea of how
things work.  So I guess I would say give your students as much training as
you can so that they know how to accommodate themselves.  You may do it for
them, but they should be familiar enough with the process to be able to
explain to you how to do it.
Of course, I am not entirely certain how things work for blind kids in
k-12, and I'm not sure this is really what you were asking for.  But
hopefully you can get something from this message.

Thanks,
Anna

On Nov 30, 2015, at 8:07 AM, Lewicki, Maureen via Blindmath
<blindmath at nfbnet.org<mailto:blindmath at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Good morning!  I am a TVI of some great and capable students. Would you
do me a favor? Could you reflect back on your high school years and let me
know:

Did you have a TVI supporting you?
What did he/she do to prepare you for college and career?
What do you regret the TVI did not do to prepare you?

Thanks for your input! My career is not long enough to make all my own
mistakes! I would rather learn from others' mistakes and strengths!!

Maureen Murphy Lewicki
Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Bethlehem Central School District
Bethlehem High School
700 Delaware Ave
Delmar, NY 12054
http://www.bethlehemschools.org<http://www.bethlehemschools.org/>
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through
experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened,
ambition inspired, and success
achieved.<http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/30186.html> Helen
Keller

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