[nobe-l] More questions for Kathy was: RE: Quietly I introduce myself

Sun Feb 14 00:04:55 UTC 2010

Hope,

  I didn't say highly unlikely, just that the odds are against it.  I am nobody special, and I am teaching.  But, I had a situation eighteen years ago much different than all of you are facing now.  The economy was strong.  Teaching jobs were fairly plentiful.  I interviewed with a principal who was a risk-taker.  He liked to try new things.  In my bag of tricks, I had extremely high grades from college, strong recommendation letters, a Masters degree, and a highly competitive nature.  Still, my first few years were rather nightmarish.  It took until partly through my third year for me to start realizing the abilities I knew I could use for the job.  I didn't require any accommodations, but after a couple months, we all decided that having a para in the room during my teaching hours was a reasonable accommodation.  That helped, though not all paras are extremely able, so it has varid over the years.  Students from my first couple of years recall things being much better than I do and laugh when I say how awful I was, but I recall a lot of tears and times of extreme, extreme stress.  My school corporation pays for nothing besides my part-time aide who is paid hourly with no benefits.  I pay readers, technology, and transportation.  More good questions.

Kathy Nimmer: Teacher, Author, Motivational Speaker
http://www.servicedogstories.com
http://guidedogjourney.livejournal.com
Even if the shadows of the valley hide your view,
You still must believe in the mountains.

> From: hope.paulos at maine.edu
> To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> Date: Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:20:02 -0500
> Subject: [nobe-l] More questions for Kathy was: RE: Quietly I introduce myself
> 
> Hi Kathy. I have obtained my secondary education Bachelor's degree with a 
> focus on Spanish. I read in your message that it is highly unlikely that a 
> totally blind person would be hired at a public school. I agree with that 
> statement-- have spoken to many principals when taking education classes. My 
> question, though, is what accommodations did you require from the school 
> when they hired you? Did you do anything different that made you stand out 
> so they *would* hire you, rather than look at other qualified applicants? 
> The reason I ask, is because I'm looking for a teaching job. At the moment, 
> I don't have a masters in teaching of the blind/visually impaired. I'd like 
> to get a teaching job while I work on obtaining my masters.
> Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Kathy Nimmer" <goldendolphin17 at hotmail.com>
> To: "blind teachers" <nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 3:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [nobe-l] Quietly I introduce myself
> 
> 
> >
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > Well, I've sure enjoyed seeing the discussions from so many to-be 
> > teachers. It is hopeful to me that people are entering the training 
> > process with an eye on this field, even though the odds are against them 
> > for hiring in a normal public school classroom. I am someone who was 
> > fortunate to go against those odds. I am in my eighteenth year of teaching 
> > English and creative writing in a normal high school classroom in a large 
> > public school in Indiana. Never would I claim to have all the answers to 
> > what must be many questions, but I am willing to give some of them a shot. 
> > I know I might be in a position to help those of you in college and 
> > looking toward a teaching job, so I invite you to ask away. I even had 
> > one list member come out to my neck of the woods to observe for three days 
> > this past August, a wonderful experience for both of us. She is student 
> > teaching right now. Again, nothing I do is the ideal or perfect answer for 
> > everyone else, but I do do it and have for seve!
> > ral years, not with success early on but with success far more often than 
> > not now. Should we change the subject line if we're going to do an open 
> > back and forth q/a? In between scanning and grading fifty historical 
> > short stories his weekend, I'll gladly offer my limited wisdom and will 
> > probably end up learning more from you than you do from me! Hear from you 
> > soon.
> >
> > Kathy Nimmer: Teacher, Author, Motivational Speaker
> > http://www.servicedogstories.com
> > http://guidedogjourney.livejournal.com
> > Even if the shadows of the valley hide your view,
> > You still must believe in the mountains.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> From: iamantonio at cox.net
> >> To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> >> Date: Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:07:49 -0500
> >> Subject: [nobe-l] Quietly I introduce myself
> >>
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> I hope we are all busy at teaching, or learning how to teach, since I 
> >> have gotten no mail from this list in the past couple of weeks since 
> >> subscribing.
> >>
> >> I am a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Rhode Island, 
> >> and subscribed here because I am at school to become a social studies 
> >> teacher.
> >>
> >> Some of you may know me from the NABS list, or the NFB of Florida, or the 
> >> NFB of Massachusetts, and some of you will come to know me as a student 
> >> at Western Governors University.
> >>
> >> This online university is where I currently attend, and it is where I 
> >> will obtain a bachelors in social studies teaching 5/12.
> >>
> >> I am optimistic about getting a job after graduation, and I expect my 
> >> hopes of employment to become realized. In other words, I want to, and 
> >> expect to land a job.
> >>
> >> Right now all I can do is to work hard at school, and hope for a bright, 
> >> if hectic teaching career.
> >>
> >> I have no specific questions at the moment, but hope to see some list 
> >> traffic.
> >>
> >> Are there blind teachers here? what do you teach, and are you listed in 
> >> Where the Blind Work?
> >>
> >> Sincerely,
> >>
> >> Antonio Guimaraes
> >>
> >> If an infinite number of rednecks riding in an infinite number of pickup 
> >> trucks fire an infinite number of shotgun rounds at an infinite number of 
> >> highway signs, they will eventually produce all the world's great 
> >> literary works in Braille.
> >>
> >> Shop online and support the NFB of RI at no additional cost to you.
> >> http://www.givebackamerica.com/charity.php?b=169
> >> Givebackamerica.org, America's Online Charity Shopping Mall
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
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> 
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