[NOBE-L] Teaching strategies

[Valeria Jacobs]

Hi Rina,

I am so sorry that this is happening to you. First off, termination and this situation is completely illegal. I suggest getting in contact with the national office of the National Federation of the blind. Ask for Valerie Yingling. She is the person in charge of legal affairs and will put you in contact with the appropriate people in your region. The phone number is: 410-659-9314. Also, you are also welcome to call me for strategies. I have taught in the self-contained classroom for students with behavioral issues. Like Jackie said, a lot of it is having procedures and the appropriate accommodations. Those are going to be specific to you. At the time, I did not have an aid assigned to me specifically, but my colleagues were very good about looking out for one another. It was a very supportive community. I never had any issues with anyone running out and even if they had, I put a bell on the door so I could hear them. My apologies that I responded to this so late, please let us know what happens.

Warmly,

—
Valeria

> On Nov 4, 2020, at 9:09 PM, Jackie Larrauri via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> I have no experience in the work environment, but here are some thoughts that I have.
> Was the job that you were hired for in a self-contained classroom? Would you have any aids or paraprofessionals in the classroom? If so, I do not feel it is unreasonable for you to ask them to help you double check that all students are there. I feel that this would be the case with a special education classroom anyway. Something you might want to do though or propose is assign each student a number or call their name and make it part of your procedures that when their name is called during an emergency drill, or when lining up for anything in your classroom, the students should say yes or hear so that you know they are present. Further, you could work it into the behavior strategies with a nonverbal student that they ring a bell or make some sort of other noise when they hear their name. I think you can be completely successful with the right procedures in place. if you would be co-teaching with a general education teacher, then the responsibility for counting students would fall on both of you and is a shared responsibility in my opinion. Thus, it would be a double count anyhow.
> I might suggest talking to your state affiliate president or your chapter president for some further advice.
> Best wishes,
> Jackie
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Nov 3, 2020, at 10:53 AM, Rena Tuttle via NOBE-L <nobe-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Good Morning, 
>> 
>> Thank you for adding me, my name is Rena Tuttle and I have finished an alternative certification program to teach in grades K-12. 
>> I was offered a job as a middle school behavioral special education teacher. 
>> Human Resources has decided I’m not safe to be in the classroom. I have not been in the classroom at all.As part of my new hire paperwork  I filed out an accommodation request where I requested to have a back up head count in the case of an emergency eviction of the building. In my experience all teachers help each other in that situation. 
>> 
>> I have been asked to resign or will be terminated in November, without ever entering the classroom. 
>> 
>> Has anyone ever taught students with behavior issues in a mainly self contained setting? If so would you please share your strategies with me?
>> 
>> Rena Tuttle  
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
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