[nobe-l] Anchor charts, graphic organizers and next steps

Tue Mar 13 22:31:45 UTC 2018

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback. This is indeed frustrating, especially since what ideas I mention that I’m being given here are met with scheptisism. 
My professor asked me just yesterday if there’s even a blind teacher who’s taught in Gen Ed elementary classes. When I told him that there was, he began clarifying his question as if I didn’t understand it correctly.

Even if I gave them these suggestions, to them it’s like I don’t have the clout to throw around to make the answers valid because … well I’m a student and what do I know.  That’s why I think (and I know my department would be interested) in talking to someone who’s actually in the field.

But for now, I need answer to complete my assignments as a student
> On Mar 13, 2018, at 4:15 PM, Ashley Bramlett via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Valerie,
> 
> While not an official educator, I do help kids academicaly either reading with or to them or tutoring them in summers.
> I've also wondered these things. You can creat some worksheets in Microsoft Word with columns. I've created a KWL chart this way; that's a chart to see what they know and have learned; kwl means what I know, want to know, and what is learned.
> 
> You can also create some graphics in powerpoint. But, to create such charts together with the kids sounds kind of hard.
> Graphics I've created are for them to learn info but I have made them in advance and print them.
> If you are required to create them together with the class, I'm not sure.
> 
> If I were a teacher, I'd probably use some other method to teach and still be visual.
> For instance, I might have students write on the chalk board or whiteboard in columns.
> I might be creative and cut out words or sentences in advance and have small groups put them together by gluing them on paper based on what I'm teaching. For instance, put nouns, verbs, and adverbs in categories to complete a grammar exercise.
> I might also use felt boards to teach story, alphabet or number concepts.
> Felt boards were used in my regular ed classrooms to teach story and literacy concepts.
> 
> I really, really think its too bad when professors of future teachers say you have to use one way to teach. I tried some ed classes and got this attitude from a few professors.
> I changed majors for that and other reasons.
> 
> It must be discouraging Valerie to be under this pressure and feel you need to teach a certain way just to please those around you.
> In your own classroom, as long as the kids learn and you meet curriculum goals I see no reason why you cannot teach how you want to and that is meaningful to you as a blind teacher. I feel that professors and staff supervisors want it their way only as you student teach. What I am saying Ii s you have less control, less flexibility to use inclusive teaching methods, and you have to fit into an existing setup in the class. You are given someone's class and told to teach. That is far different than walking into a new class at the beginning of the year where you are the teacher and you have control of the schedule and teaching methods where you can use alternative techniques to teach.
> 
> If I think of ideas, I'll post them.
> 
> Ashley
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Valerie Gibson via NOBE-L
> Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 10:32 PM
> To: National Organization of Blind Educators Mailing List
> Cc: Valerie Gibson
> Subject: [nobe-l] Anchor charts, graphic organizers and next steps
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I have another quick question that I wonder, and my professors wonder the same.
> Anchor charts and graphic organizers are quite popular nowadays in general ed classrooms it seems.  How do you design and fill those out with students while teaching a mini lesson?  I assume they must be made ahed of time, but from what I’ve seen of graphic organizers in tactile graphics, they’re pretty spacial. How do you know where to put information in them? The same question applies to charts?
> My elementary school teacher that I’m working with says that often times, she makes them ahead of time. She doesn’t think it crucial that the basic framework be made with the kids, but my field supervisor insists that when you’re working with kids, they should be made with the class.
> On a more positive note, I do have a couple professors who are willing to expect reasonable accommodations to be made in my field courses, but they’re unclear as to what would be considered a reasonable accommodation.  For example, do the same accommodations that they would make for me as a student apply for me to expect from the districts?
> They insist I try to get in touch with someone who’s worked with sighted kids, preferably ones in elementary school to see if I can’t get information for how best they can help me.  I’m sure they’d also like to talk to any blind educator who’s working with sighted kids, eventually, but they want me to reach out first.  For some of my professors, I don’t think the issue is that they’re unwilling to make accommodations fo rme. They just want  to know what is a reasonable accommodation to some of the things they’re asking me to do, and more importantly, will that carry over into the job aspect.
> I start student teaching next semester. Right now, I’m doing a sort of intern semester.  So if anyone’s free to contact me so I can pick your brains, please contact me off list.
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