[nabs-l] Fair/appropriate accomodations for assignments and tests involving videos

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi,

I've had similar issues both in Spanish and other classes.  I like
your aid's suggestion of giving you the subtitles in a document for
you to read along with the Spanish; I did something similar with
spanish videos myself.

If you choose to have a friend sit with you and explain the movie,
make sure they're someone who can fluently read the subtitles.
Explain that they can explain things about the movie that aren't
covered in the dialogue, but that they should wait for an opportune
time to do theese like when no one is talking and there are no
subtitles to be read.  If those opportunities are scarce, have them
run through the plot with you after the movie when they're not worried
about cramming in the explanation along with the subtitles.  Ask them
to be detailed.  They don't need to give you every single bit of
information, but something as significant as someone dying on a ship
might be worth mentioning.  If you choose this route you can also jot
down questions on a notetaker as you're watching the movie so you can
go over them later.  I did a mix of these methods last semester; for
my intro to the university class we had to watch a few movies, one
documentary and one fictional film about a violin protegy, about the
music from China.  Both times I had the TA for my class sit with me
and read the Chinese subtitles.  Luckily, she's a very observant
student and a great reader, and I actually didn't even have to tell
her when to describe things as she naturally felt the best time to
describe what happened in the previous sceen would be during a musical
part of the movie when no one was talking.  In such cases, you might
get all the information you need just because the person reading to
you is awesome at it.

I'd definitely go to your teacher about it though.  I'm sure if you
explain the situation they would at least throw out the questions you
got wrong or didn't answer because you couldn't have answered them
correctly from your test to make it fair, especially if the teacher
didn't even remember to tell you all the things you would be tested
on.

Good luck.

On 3/26/13, Julie McGinnity <kaybaycar at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Miso,
>
> As a German major, I have been confronted with the issues of videos in
> the classroom as well.  There are a few things you can do.  To be
> honest, whatever you do, you won't get the same thing out of the video
> as the others do, but you can try to get accomidations to make it
> better.
>
> First, you can get a friend to read you the subtitles, which is
> something you seem to be doing already.  This will be difficult
> because your friend will probably try to read you the subtitles and
> explain the movie at the same time.  You will miss things.  The other
> thing you can do is get your teacher to provide you with a detailed
> summary of the movie ahead of time, so you have an understanding of
> the plot of the movie.  I have found this to be helpful.
>
> I have noticed that movies are one of the biggest ways we are left
> behind as blind students.  It is difficult to get accomidations to
> fully supplement what the sighted students are learning from a movie
> because either we miss it completely due to lack of description or we
> learn it after the fact.
>
> On 3/26/13, Miso Kwak <kwakmiso at aol.com> wrote:
>> Being the only blind student in classroom, there are times when I feel
>> like class activities are not suited for the visually impaired.
>> There are just some times when I strongly feel like teachers don't
>> consider enough about the only one blind student in his/her classrooms.
>> One of those occasions is watching a video and doing follow-up
>> activities.
>> Currently, I am enrolled in Spanish 3 Honors class. In the class
>> recently, we watched a movie and had to do 3 worksheets and a quiz in
>> the end.
>> The movie was entirely spoken in Spanish. There was English subtitle on
>> the screen.
>> When the class started watching the movie, teacher asked one of my
>> friends to explain the storyline of the movie, so she did.
>> I didn't understand thoroughly but I just grasped what was going on...
>> I didn't do most of the worksheets because they didn't worth many
>> points and I frankly didn't know what to write. If I were desperate for
>> the points, I probably would have bs-ed.
>> The teacher reviewed the movie and I asked some questions. Afterward I
>> felt like I had a better understanding of the movie.
>> Then there was a quiz. I felt prepared goinginto the quiz but when I
>> took the quiz I was shocked because there were so much more than I
>> previously had thought.
>> For example, one of the questions asked who died in a ship. I didn't
>> even know someone had died in a ship. It was just one of those details
>> which neither my friend nor the teacher mentioned.
>> There were couple more questions that made me realize I had missed so
>> much.
>> I am debating whether to confront my teacher about this matter or not.
>> If you were in my situation, would you tell her that the test was
>> unfair?
>> When you have assignments involving videos what kinds of accomodations
>> do you have?
>> My aide who usually types materials into doc documents suggested she
>> types the subtitle, I read the subtitle, and retake the test, which I
>> think is reasonable...
>> Miso
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Julie McG
> National Association of Guide dog Users board member,  National
> Federation of the Blind performing arts division secretary,
> Missouri Association of Guide dog Users President,
> and Guiding Eyes for the Blind graduate 2008
> "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
> everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
> life."
> John 3:16
>
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-- 
Kaiti