[nobe-l] help dealing with the visual side of teaching

Heather Field missheather at comcast.net
Mon Feb 20 05:29:32 UTC 2017 

Hello Tara,
I agree with all of your suggestions. However, I'm not sure that the 
programme provides for the classroom teacher to be in the room with the 
volunteer.
In fact, I don't know anything about the programme. I was basing my 
assessment on a situation where a young volunteer walks into an unknown 
class, is presented with the lesson plans for the day, and is expected to 
teach. Just like a substitute teacher comes in for the day if the class 
teacher is sick.
Obviously, if someone has a number of days to plan, meet the class etc. 
things might be a bit different.
However, it sounds like a lot of work for one day to me. Perhaps 
volunteering a a summer camp, or even paid work in one of the NFB buddy 
programmes as a paid counselor  would be more beneficial in building skills 
and teaching confidence through experience.
Just my thoughts, of course.
Warmly,
Heather

-----Original Message----- 
From: Tara Abella via NOBE-L
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2017 3:52 PM
To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
Cc: taranabella0 at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [nobe-l] help dealing with the visual side of teaching

Hi Kayla,

Personally, I think you should go for it. There is no better way for getting 
experience in the classroom then to volunteer in a classroom. Here are some 
suggestions I would give you so that you can be successful.

1: ask if the teacher would be willing to give you a short tour of where 
basic items in the classroom are located. Try to arrive before the students 
so this will be easier.
2: simply tell the students that instead of just raising their hand, when 
you ask a question they will also have to say their name. Try asking for 
only the boys to answer or the students with odd mailboxes to answer to cut 
down on the noise level.
3: when the students are working on assignments, have the student say their 
name if they need help. Also, walk around to table groups and ask students 
to read you their answers to some of the questions so you will know if they 
are on the right track. Ask the teacher if there is a particular group of 
students that struggles and try working with the students.
4: find out ahead of time what your responsibilities will be as far as 
teaching. Make sure your materials are labeled with braille so you can read 
them, but also in print so students can read them too. Power points have 
worked amazingly for me to present information.
5: Bring a couple books that have dual print and braille for you to read to 
the class. Often, there will be a little bit of downtime and this would work 
beautifully and show you are prepared.
6: don't panic if everything doesn't go perfectly. This is a one day 
opportunity, so nobody in the program is going to tell you you are not fit 
to be a teacher based on a one day experience.
7: be confident and don't be afraid to ask for a little assistance. If you 
can't write on the board, have a student do it. If you still aren't very 
familiar with where all the desks are, have a student pass out the papers.
I hope some of the suggestions are helpful and I hope you have a great 
experience for your first time in the classroom!

Tara

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 19, 2017, at 4:17 PM, Kayla James via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> I suppose you're right.
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On Feb 19, 2017, at 1:22 AM, Heather Field via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Hello Kayla,
>> Since blind teachers need to teach their students different ways of 
>> communicating with them, and they usually need to organise their 
>> classroom so that resources have braille labels, and so on, I would not 
>> volunteer for this experiment. I am a teacher with over 30 years 
>> experience and I wouldn't be a teacher for a day if this opportunity was 
>> offered to me. Since a blind teacher needs to make specific modifications 
>> to the classroom to ensure that he/she can function independently, just 
>> walking into an unknown classroom with a class of students whom you have 
>> never met before seems to be setting oneself up for an discouraging 
>> experience.
>> Many blind teachers are successfully working as teachers, but they set up 
>> their classroom to suit them and they teach their students to follow 
>> classroom interaction rules that work for a blind teacher. So, while I 
>> believe you could become a successful blind teacher, and you could 
>> certainly volunteer to be a teacher for a day, I don't believe that going 
>> into a strange classroom for a day would accomplish anything positive for 
>> you.
>> Just my thoughts, of course.
>> Warmly,
>> Heather
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Kayla James via NOBE-L
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 10:19 PM
>> To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
>> Cc: Kayla James
>> Subject: [nobe-l] help dealing with the visual side of teaching
>>
>> Hello, everyone. I want to volunteer for a program called "Teacher for
>> a Day." My child development teacher thinks I can do it, but she and
>> the coordinator of the program are worried.
>> We can pick a grade for teaching, but since everything is so visual,
>> they are trying to decide what is best for me.
>> Can the totally blind teachers please send in advice so I can forward
>> it to my teacher? Oh, and p.s.: no teacher's aide are given.
>> My child development teacher said that aides aren't given all of the
>> time to teachers most of time. In fact, she suggested I become an
>> aide.
>> Thank you, everyone. I just want to see if I have what it takes to teach.
>>
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