[nabs-l] introduction, and a few questions

Nicole B. Torcolini ntorcolini at wavecable.com
Mon Dec 14 03:20:59 UTC 2009


I find that recording my lectures helps.  I am a slow notetaker, and I tend 
to miss information when trying to write things down as I hear them.

    Also, the only thing that I would worry about with not getting the 
PowerPoint slides, but that would probably not be a problem if you record 
the lectures, is either the professor explaining something differently or 
more in depth than the book or the professor not requiring everything in the 
book.  Just my thoughts.

Nicole
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Arielle Silverman" <nabs.president at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 13, 2009 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] introduction, and a few questions


> Hi Kerri,
>
> These are all good points. It sounds like you have pretty good Braille
> and technology skills already, so you should be fine with taking your
> own notes. The HTML view works great for PowerPoints.  In my
> experience, though, I haven't found not having access to lecture
> slides to be a big loss as far as learning content goes. I've looked
> at PowerPoints and almost always find them to be repetitive and
> redundant with what I've already learned either from the verbal
> lecture or from the textbook. When we first start college, it's easy
> to assume that if we aren't getting all the content that our sighted
> peers are getting, then we are at a disadvantage. But a lot of that
> information is redundant, being communicated in the textbook, the
> verbal lecture, and on the slides. As long as you get the info from
> one of those sources, you'll be fine. So if you don't get all the
> verbal info copied down, you can always use the textbook as a backup.
> What's more important than getting the exact same information as
> everyone else is understanding what you are learning and doing well on
> the tests and assignments--and understanding general concepts rather
> than being able to regurgitate information exactly as it came in. If
> you do well on the first exam or assignment, then don't worry about
> getting all the information; you're obviously understanding the
> material and just keep up what you are doing. If you are confused
> about what's going on, then don't be afraid to sit down with your
> professor, or another student in the class, and clear up any
> misunderstandings of the content.
>
> Also, in my experience and according to many students I've talked
> with, recording a lecture doesn't add much above and beyond taking
> written notes. What do you guys think? Has anyone found recording a
> lecture to be useful as a supplement to written notes? Are you
> motivated to listen to the lecture over again?
>
> Arielle
>
> On 12/11/09, Kerri Kosten <kerrik2006 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Everyone!
>>
>> Thanks for the good advice!
>>
>> I've discovered if the powerpoints are emailed to me, and I click on
>> "html view" in the message in gmail, it takes out the images and just
>> shows the text.
>> That may work.
>>
>> Cindy, I'll have to check on Blackboard.
>> Do you click on printable view after you click on the link for the
>> powerpoint, or chapter handout...or whatever you want to look at?
>>
>> Darian, thanks so much! I definitely won't be a stranger lol!
>>
>> With the punnett squares, how do you write them out in braille? That
>> may be the best thing for me as I am a reader lol. Do you take a piece
>> of paper, and braille out for signs over the page in sort of a square,
>> then put the letters inside the box of for signs or whatever?
>>
>> Kerri
>>
>> On 12/9/09, Domonique Lawless <dlawless86 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Kerri,
>>> You can also ask your professors to email you copies of the 
>>> powerpoints.
>>>
>>>
>>> Domonique
>>>
>>> On 12/9/09, Cindy Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> I don't know if your blackboard works the same as mine, but from the
>>>> beginning, it looked quite inaccessible, but i discovered the link,
>>>> creat a printable view, and it brings up a page with check boxes
>>>> beside all of the options, for example, my professor would have for
>>>> each chapter, the class notes, and any handouts. I would check these
>>>> boxes, and it would bring up a printable view which is then
>>>> accessible.
>>>>
>>>> Again, i don't know if all Blackboard runs the same, but i found that
>>>> to be quite helpful.
>>>>
>>>> In biology, it helped me to braille out the punnett squares on my own
>>>> time after class, once you get the hang of it though, you will be able
>>>> to do small ones in your head, but when they get to be three by three
>>>> or four by four, writing them out in whatever format you use
>>>> definitely helps.
>>>>
>>>> Cindy
>>>>
>>>> On 12/9/09, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hi kerri,
>>>>>   Welcome to the list.
>>>>>   My name  is Darian Smith, I am a  board member  with the national
>>>>> association of blind students and a student at city college of san
>>>>> francisco.
>>>>>     Please don't feel like any question you ask here is a "dumb
>>>>> question", as  we are all students and  learning  about school,
>>>>> blindness and life.
>>>>>   i would have to agree with what everyone's been saying in regards to
>>>>> accomidations.  I've had instructors that have either  E-mailed  me
>>>>> the  handouts, or I've gotten the handouts to scan myself.  I use a
>>>>> braille note to  take notesin class and that works just fine for me
>>>>> and I also have a  digital recorder that I baught from radio shack and
>>>>> it has worked rather well in some situations for getting the lecture
>>>>> down for me to refer back to  it and note take.
>>>>>   I know I am probably not going to be able to answer all of your
>>>>> questions, but I hope i've answered some.  Just  know that  there is
>>>>> always a way to tackle  a situation; some ways people suggeston how to
>>>>> go about things may work for you, others may not and that's all fine.
>>>>>  Just know that you have  options and tools, and now a whole group of
>>>>> successful blind students just like yourself who are here and happy to
>>>>> be of assistance, as you yourself will be to other students.
>>>>>   Again, welcome and thank you  so much for your questions!
>>>>>  Please don't be a  stranger and post as frequent as you like!
>>>>>  Best,
>>>>>   Darian
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 12/8/09, Ben Peters <myangelblessings at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Keri, welcome to the list. I'm Ben, and I just graduated with my
>>>>>> associates and am now going to be working on my BA in psychology.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It is very reasonable and appropriate to ask professors for handouts 
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> be
>>>>>> emailed. I do this all the time, and try to have them emailed before
>>>>>> class
>>>>>> so I'm on the same page. I had one professor willing to email
>>>>>> everything
>>>>>> including exams at one time, but he was the only one that went to 
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> extreme.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I take notes on a braille note. I don't get everything, but I try to
>>>>>> make
>>>>>> up
>>>>>> for this by doing a few things. 1. I record the lecture. 2. I take
>>>>>> notes
>>>>>> when reading the book jotting down definitions etc that are 
>>>>>> important.
>>>>>> 3.
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> team up with a friend or someone I know in the class so I can always
>>>>>> ask
>>>>>> them questions (or vise vera) about stuff I didn't get written down. 
>>>>>> 4.
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> ask the professor about specific definitions or whatever. 5. I will
>>>>>> google
>>>>>> it. I don't do all this at once, I use what I think is useful at the
>>>>>> time.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In regards to the powerpoint slides, talk to your professor and 
>>>>>> explain
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> situation. Ask him or her to provide them in blackboard or to you
>>>>>> privately
>>>>>> in a different format like PDF or word. Generally I've found these
>>>>>> formats
>>>>>> to work better than powerpoints. Just make the case for it. I had a
>>>>>> professor last semester go out of his way (thankfully for me) to
>>>>>> provide
>>>>>> me
>>>>>> word files of all the matterial posted to blackboard while the other
>>>>>> students got the regular format. If the professor won't assist,
>>>>>> consider
>>>>>> talking to your disability services office and see what they suggest.
>>>>>> They
>>>>>> might be able to reformat them for you. But you should have the same
>>>>>> access
>>>>>> to the powerpoints as everyone else.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm sorry, but I can't help with your biology question.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ben
>>>>>>
>>>>>> myangelblessings at hotmail.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Join me
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  On Dec 8, 2009, at 5:50 PM, Kerri Kosten wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Hi All:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  I am new to the list. I just recently joined the NFB after listening
>>>>>>  to the convention in July.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  My name is Kerri Kosten. I am a student at West Virginia University
>>>>>>  majoring in Journalism. I also work at a local radio station, doing
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> sports page for one of the stations websites among other things.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  I had a couple of questions. I wasn't taught very well in high 
>>>>>> school
>>>>>>  about college, so I hope these aren't dumb questions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  First, if a professor hands out material in print, is it appropriate
>>>>>>  to ask for them to email you an electronic copy? I have Kurzweil at
>>>>>>  home, but my scanner is really big so haven't set it up in my
>>>>>>  apartment yet. I use and love the Iphone so don't really want to 
>>>>>> have
>>>>>>  to switch to a Nokia just for the KNFB reader, so that's not really 
>>>>>> an
>>>>>>  option so I've been just asking the professors to email a copy of 
>>>>>> the
>>>>>>  handout but wanted to make sure this is appropriate and okay, and 
>>>>>> not
>>>>>>  asking too much.
>>>>>> How do you handle taking notes from powerpoint lectures? At WVU, the
>>>>>>  professors always use powerpoints up on a screen so the other 
>>>>>> students
>>>>>>  can copy the notes down from the powerpoints. They post the
>>>>>>  powerpoints on Blackboard after the class, but I haven't found them 
>>>>>> to
>>>>>>  be accessible from the Blackboard's website unless I am doing
>>>>>>  something wrong.
>>>>>>  I have been just listening for key things the professor says and
>>>>>>  writing stuff down that way that I think is noteworthy but if the
>>>>>>  professor gives a really long definition sometimes I forget part of
>>>>>>  the definition. The other students can of course look at the
>>>>>>  powerpoints to make sure they have copied the notes correctly...so I
>>>>>>  was wondering how you guys handled that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  I am also going to take a class next semester in Biology. When we
>>>>>>  study genetics, how did you do the whole punnett square thing to
>>>>>>  understand genetics?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Thanks so much, and like I said I hope these aren't dumb questions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  Kerri
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> The National Federation of the Blind has launched a nationwide teacher
>>>>> recruitment campaign to help attract energetic and passionate
>>>>> individuals into the field of blindness education, and we need your
>>>>> help!   To Get Involved  go to:
>>>>> www.TeachBlindStudents.org
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "And if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny
>>>>> calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching
>>>>> before us;
>>>>> if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our
>>>>> slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe
>>>>> past and future generations,
>>>>> then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with
>>>>> you. Together, starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be
>>>>> done, and
>>>>> usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth."- Baraq Obama
>>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>
>
> -- 
> Arielle Silverman
> President, National Association of Blind Students
> Phone:  602-502-2255
> Email:
> nabs.president at gmail.com
> Website:
> www.nabslink.org
>
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