[nobe-l] Introduction and Advice for Student Teaching

[Kathy]

Hi, Tara,
  Great to see you here! You are on track with everything. Student teaching is an adjustment for everyone, blind or sighted, so you will go through the normal swings of highs and lows as you take ownership of the room and learn how to operate as a blind teacher amid an environment that has not likely had such an experience, but they will also be getting use to a new person in you overall, someone who is not their normal teacher. Staying patient as their loyalties shift and they make changes to the routines will be important. If they love their original teacher, they will come to you with a slower openness, and that will have nothing to do with your blindness. So, what I am saying is to be careful to keep any challenges straight in your mind as to whether they are normal student teacher growing pains or whether they are due to your blindness as you and they grow through that. I have a hunch, having met you, that you are going to do very well. Welcome aboard!
Kathy Nimmer and Nacho