[nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to the sighted

Wed Jul 22 21:15:45 UTC 2015

Hi Chase and all on this list,
Thank you so much, Chase, for the info about the TI-84 graphing
calculator. That will definitely let me present graphs and tell the
sighted what to do on their calculators. That is a huge part of what I
would need to do. If anyone can discuss editors that would allow me to
edit and manipulate math equations so I could present them to the
class, I would be so grateful. I have heard about Lean Editor, and
heard that the new Beta is coming out for trying soon. To read math
texts the class would be using, are getting a audio recording of the
text or doing OCR with Infty reader the only choices? I have a Braille
translator from 2005, and an old Romio Braile embosser. Would that
work for obtaining Braille formats of the math materials? How
expensive is Infty reader if I would need that. I hear it is quite
expensive. The way Rehab works in Ohio, is that you have to get the
job first before Rehab will buy any technology. How can I start a job
without the technology to start the job with? I appreciate any help
you have no matter how small. I do have a case open with Rehab, but
all they are doing for me is helping me to find a call center job. I
have a real God-given talent for explaining math in a way that will
allow many kinds of students with different learning needs to
understand the concepts. The sighted people I have helped orally with
math, tell me they never understood the concepts the way I explain
them in their entire lives. If I can present the material like a
sighted teacher, my dream would be fulfilled. I love teaching math
much more than using math to do applied problems like being an
engineer. I love math just for math itself. I am very outgoing though
and love working with and helping people with my math talents. I am
not the kind of person who just wants to sit in a lab and do math
computations all day to solve every-day life problems. I am definitely
a research-academic person. Take care and have a good day.

On 7/21/15, Chase Crispin via nobe-l <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi David,
> Orbit Research has adapted the TI-84 graphing calculator, which is the most
> common graphing calculator used in high school and college classrooms.  It
> is sold by the American Printing House for the blind as the Orion TI-84
> Plus
> Talking Graphing Calculator.  This calculator allows a blind student or
> teacher to use all functions of the calculator with speech or by connecting
> a braille display.  When you generate a graph, the graph is played with
> tones.  The higher the pitch, the higher the coordinates on the graph.  You
> can wear headphones to hear the audio move from left to right as it traces
> the graph, which can allow you to visualize the shape of the graph.  The
> unit vibrates when in the negative region, and the unit makes various beeps
> to indicate maximums, minimums, intersections, etc.  Since this unit is the
> standard calculator with a speech unit on top, it is operated the same way
> sighted students would use the calculator, so you could tell them exactly
> which buttons to press and let them look at the output on your screen.  You
> could also print graphs from the calculator and display them on the
> classroom wall or board.  If you want to learn more about the calculator,
> search for it on:
> http://shop.aph.org/
>
> At the NABS meeting at Convention, someone demonstrated a math editor that
> was fully accessible that would allow you to enter, manipulate, and display
> math equations, but I do not have the name of that product written down.
> Hopefully someone else here knows about this software and can provide you
> with more detailed information.  I hope this helps.
>
>
> Chase Crispin
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nobe-l [mailto:nobe-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Moore
> via
> nobe-l
> Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2015 4:07 PM
> To: nobe-l at nfbnet.org
> Cc: David Moore
> Subject: [nobe-l] Accessibility questions for teaching math to the sighted
>
> Hi All.
> My name is David Moore from Columbus, Ohio.  I received my masters degree
> at
> Ohio State in mathematics education  I also received a BS in mathematics.
> Now, I do some tutoring.  I tutor sighted college students one on one in
> Calculus and other higher concepts.  With one on one tutoring, I have the
> student read the problem to me and I tell him or her exactly what to right
> down as I do the problem in my head.
> I learned math by listening to tapes and by reading my texts with the
> Optacon.  I know what all the symbols look like in print, because of the
> Optacon.  This leads into the help I would grately appreciate from all of
> you.
> I want to teach a classroom full of sighted students at the small community
> college level.  This has always been my dream.  First of all, How do I type
> out my math lectures so the content will look to the students as though I
> wrote it on a board?  I use JAWS and Openbook.  That technology, however,
> can't help me write or read math texts.  Next, How do I get JAWS to read
> the
> math content that I am typing into an editor so I can edit what I am typing
> just like in a word document?  Next, How do I read math texts that the
> college or high school would use so I can prepare my lessons from the
> texts?
> I want to be able to read the math material, write out a lecture that I
> would present to the students, and have a way to grade there work that they
> input.  I really need help from an experienced blind mathematics teacher
> who
> teaches the sighted.  I am a very slow Braille reader and know little
> Nemoth
> code.  I do all computations in my head and picture all graphs in my head
> by
> feeling with the optacon.  The problem is, I have no more optacon.  Rehab
> took it back years ago, and I have never looked into getting another one in
> years.  I have just done a little bit of this one on one tutoring where I
> just tell the student what to right down.  I didn't know how this technique
> would work in front of an entire class with nothing for the sighted
> students
> to look at.  In an Interview, I don't know how it would go if I said that I
> would just stand in front of the class and tell them what to write down
> with
> no representation for them to look at.  Also, I heard that much math is
> done
> on graphing calculators compared to when I was in school in the 1980s.  How
> would I access graphing calculators that students would use to do their
> homework on?  With my few one on one students, I just show them how the
> graphs look with my finger while they play around with their calculators to
> get something that looks like what I am drawing with my finger.  When I try
> writing print on paper or board, it goes all over the place.  I can picture
> the print in my head, but I have trouble writing it in any kind of straight
> line.  I would so much appreciate any help or suggestions you have for me
> to
> obtain that teaching job at a high school or small community college and
> how
> I could do all that is needed with assistive technology.  Thank you so much
> in advance.
>
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