[NOBE-L] Standard Accommodations as a Blind Teacher, and taking the MTEL

[Valeria Jacobs]

Hi Miso,


Firstly, congratulations on getting the interview. Often times, this is half the battle. I have worked as a high school teacher for coming up on four years, and I have taught math, science, history and English in different capacities for two schools. What you will need is going to depend largely on your teaching assignment as well as your personal preferences. I say this because my first two years teaching, I did not request any accommodations because based on my teaching assignment and school systems, I did not really find that I needed additional support at that time. So, I  used my braille note taker, computer, and made PowerPoint/lesson plans either in advance or as necessary on the Google Drive platform. The nice thing about working with older students is that they tend to be much more independent than younger students. When I taught math and science, any manipulatives or lab equipment was typically set up in advance by me, and perhaps another colleague because I worked it out this way. However, as my assignments changed, I did request a paraprofessional accommodation in order to assist with other tasks, such as reading hand writing and supervising students outside of the classroom during other activities. The main reason I requested an in person accommodation though was mainly to deal with inaccessible  software which is something many of us deal with. So this may be something you may want to think about. What I would advise you to do is on the interview, have strategies lined up and be ready to describe or explain the alternative techniques that you would use regardless of additional support. It is always good for administrators to see that you have your systems figured out, and if you decide to request additional support, then you  can work that out. On many of my interviews, I walked in with a plan that allowed me to do everything completely independently, regardless of access to technology, or other things that may have been out of my control. For example, during a math demonstration lesson, rather than rely on technology that may have not been accessible to me or request assistance getting set up, I brought in my own manipulatives and used students to write out equations on the board. This way, I still had complete control over the learning objectives and was able to maintain order in a way that made sense to me. The same went for another interview when I was asked how I would deal with students taking advantage and leaving the room without my knowing it. I indicated that I would put a bell on the door knob, this way if someone left I would be able to hear it. There needs to be a system for each of the issues that may be brought up to you. I would also be aware of the fact that administrators may have never met a blind person. This may make it so they are nervous to ask you certain questions. They may not bring any of these issues up. It may be a good idea for you to do so if this is the case in order to address concerns they may not be voicing. Just some things to think about. Feel free to connect with me at any time. 

Warmly,
Valeria Jacobs

—
Valeria

> On Jul 17, 2019, at 9:22 AM, Miso Kwak via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all, I am writing in preparation of an in-person interview for a
> high school teaching job at a charter school in Boston.
> 
> First, if anyone on the list has taken the MTEL test in the last 5
> years or so, I would love to hear about your experiences of requesting
> accommodations, practicing for the test, and actually taking the test.
> 
> Secondly, whether you are teaching in the state of Massachusetts or
> not, if you are a nearly totally blind teacher teaching mostly sighted
> students in the secondary level, I would like to know what is a
> typical, standard accommodations you use.
> For a better context, I use BrailleSense Polaris, PC with JAWS, and
> iPhone. I am unable to read print of any size.
> 
> Thank you in advance.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Miso Kwak
> 
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