[nobe-l] teach without an aide

[Kayla James]

I suppose that makes sense.

On 6/13/16, Ashley Bramlett via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Kayla,
>
> I'd agree with Heather; it really depends on the situation and tasks you are
>
> responsible for.
> I'm not a teacher though but have contemplated it. I'd either teach young
> children like first or second grade or I'd teach learning disabled or blind
>
> children. I've not decided, but those are the areas of interest to me.
>
> Yes, it is possible to teach without an aide.
> However, there is paperwork tasks involved, so every blind teacher I've
> known, even those teaching other blind/vision impaired students, have had
> sighted assistants help them. You can think of them as readers or
> assistants, but they do have some help. I do not call them aides in this
> instance because they are not directly assisting in the teaching. An aide
> would assist you while you are actually teaching.
> So, what I'm saying is that yes you will need a sighted assistant, but not
> necessarily an aide.
> Special ed forms including IEPS are not yet fully accessible, so a reader is
>
> needed for this task.
>
> In education, you have paperwork involved and grading which may require a
> reader's help.
> But whether you need an aide while teaching depends on what area you teach
> and what age of kids, and your own skills as a teacher.
>
> Unless you teach kindergarten, preschool or special education, I do not
> believe an aide is necessary all the time.
> But certain situations warrant an aide.
> Note, even sighted teachers have aides for those grades. My mom teaches
> preschool and they always have aides there or a co-teacher.
> It is just safer to have two people supervising such young children.
> Besides, sometimes one kid has to go to the bathroom, so one adult takes
> them while the other adult supervises the rest of the class.
>
> I also believe that certain tasks are visual in nature despite whatever
> alternative techniques we have used.
> For these tasks, I believe an aide would be an appropriate accomodation.
> However, I'm not so sure a school would hire a full time aide for you, so in
>
> my opinion, you might want to choose when and where you really need an
> aide.
> Heather gave some good examples. In the early grades, several tasks come to
>
> mind where an aide is very helpful. When the children learn handwriting, do
>
> coloring assignments, or go to the playground are activities I would want an
>
> aide. I have some vision and know print and braille, but its just not
> possible to read handwriting efficiently and see if they are writing
> correctly.
> Walking around the playground is a way to watch out for the kids, but this
> way you can only supervise a few children at a time. So, a sighted person
> would be  needed to see the whole area.
> In the later grades, a blind teacher might want an aide to supervise a
> science experiment, monitor a test for cheating, or see the alignment of
> students in a music class.
>
> So, whether you have an aide is an individual decision based on many
> factors.
>
> Ashley
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kayla James via NOBE-L
> Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2016 8:45 PM
> To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
> Cc: Kayla James
> Subject: [nobe-l] teach without an aide
>
> Is it possible to be a blind teacher and teach without an aide with
> you? Does it feel like you're less of a teacher without an aide.
>
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