[nobe-l] teaching questions

Tue Feb 16 00:06:23 UTC 2010

Anita,  I have worked as a TVI but I worked as a rehabilitation teacher in 
the past.  In both of these jobs I have worked with people one-on-one.    I 
am a teacher of children who are visually impaired and his is my first year. 
This year I have three totally blind students who attend a local high 
school.  Each of these students is in a classroom and I provide the needed 
support services.  One of my students is in "regular education" classes and 
plans to attend college.  She will graduate at age 18 and all services are 
related to her visual impairment.  I help her work on organization skills, 
test taking skills, notetaking skills and support the teachers as needed. 
The other two students have additional disabilities.  They are probably 
autistic even though it is not listed in any evaluations.  About 60 to 70 
per cent of visually impaired students have additional disabilities. 
Motivating them from day to day is definitely a challenge.  Some days I feel 
like we have gone backwards and other days I think I must be the greatest 
teacher on earth because of their progress.  My job changes from day to day 
and from hour to hour.

As a rehabilitation teacher I worked with primarily older people who were 
losing their vision.  I visited them in their homes and helped them learn 
skills to live independently.  I didn't teach braille too much but I did 
some.  I, again, did not get bored because my job was constantly changing. 
I loved it when someone learned to do something they thought they could no 
longer do.

I think any job can get boring but the requirements of teachers is 
constantly changing so the expectations change.  I also believe each class 
has their own personality and characteristics and that keeps teaching 
exciting.

Marianne
  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anita Adkins" <aadkins7 at verizon.net>
To: "National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List" 
<nobe-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 12:46 PM
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] teaching questions

> Hello Kathy,
>
> I do appreciate your willingness to answer questions.  I do have a few for 
> you.
>
> First, do you have a secret pneumonic device for memorizing the voices of 
> your students.  I know this is a silly thing to worry about, but I am in 
> college classes with all different students.  Many of them know me on site 
> from class to class, but I sure do not know them, unless I have worked 
> with them more closely within the class.
>
> Second, I am interested in working in the field of blindness.  I want to 
> actually teach at a school for the blind or in another position that would 
> allow me to work specificly in the field of blindness.  I am going into 
> Elementary Education with a specialization in Language Arts because, first 
> of all, I love to write, and, second of all, this school does not have a 
> degree in vision or even Special Ed.  My concern is with teaching 
> students, whether they are blind or sighted, I am terribly afraid I will 
> get bored.  I have taught before, and I am excellent at motivating 
> students.  But, I found that if I taught computer technology or Braille 
> all day, I became bored. This was in a position where I had maybe five 
> students, all in various stages of accepting their disability. 
> Fortunately, in that particular position, my boredom was not a major 
> concern because I could switch my subjects and move around, such as from 
> the Computer lab to the Braille classroom or inside or outside the 
> building when working with students during Travel class.  So, my question 
> is: do you have ways to keep yourself from getting bored while teaching. 
> If you teach Shakespeare every year, for instance, it seems you would know 
> it so well that it would become monotonous.  I am active and like to 
> switch from task to task.  I am terrified that if I teach, I will 
> eventually, after a few years, become bored with the same routine.  Maybe, 
> what I am really asking is do you have any ideas on various careers in 
> blindness that I could explore?  I would love to teach and lecture and to 
> show blind students that they can be active and independent, but I also 
> want to do more than that, such as research or work with Braille, etc.
>
> Thanks.  Anita
> ----- 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 several
>> 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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>>> nobe-l:
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>>
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>
>
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