[Pibe-division] In the Effort to Become Braille Certified
EricGuillory at aol.com
EricGuillory at aol.com
Wed Sep 21 23:40:57 UTC 2011
Denise,
While I am a fan of technology and use it daily, I am happy to hear you
continue to advocate for some things being done in hardcopy Braille. Saving
trees and expediting the grading process is certainly a very desirable
outcome. But, making our teachers proficient in the tools to be used by our
students (in this case the braillewriter) is pivotal. Thanks to technology, we
can improve environmental conditions while simultaneously continuing to
stress the importance and usefulness of the braillewriter and slate, and making
certain that teachers in training have access to plenty of practice in the
utilization of these must-have devices. A great evening to all!
EG
In a message dated 9/21/2011 6:35:53 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
dmehlenbacher at yahoo.com writes:
_In the Effort to Become Braille Certified_
(http://blindgeteducated.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-effort-to-become-braille-certified.html)
Oh so many years ago, leading up to my braille certification, I killed a
LOT of trees in the process. I would braille hours every night after school
and after work in order to learn that code. Using 11 x 11 paper and a great
deal of it.
Today, things have changed tremendously. I have everyone download _Perky
Duck_ (http://www.duxburysystems.com/) , which is free and is a minor
program compared to its parent _Duxbury_ (http://www.duxburysystems.com/) , which
is a very powerful and superb braille to print, print to braille
translation program, but cost money. I also use the Library of Congress Braille
Handbook and many supplements for my adult students to work from. They six key
in their work, then email it off to me for correction. In this process, we
save hundreds of trees. When there are too many students, I have them sign
up with the Library of Congress, which the National Federation of the Blind
has taken over in the correction and helping mode. They too are set up to
receive everything through email and they respond using email also, with a
grade and or corrections that need to be made.
When taking the Braille certification test, you can use your reference
manuals. When I take them through the lessons, I have them mark the sections
and underline the areas they are struggling with, so when the test comes and
they are unsure, they can quickly turn to the answer in their book. A
great supplement to the classes is the _Braille Enthusiast's Dictionary_
(http://www.scalarspublishing.com/) . It has every word and contraction you can
think of that may be in text.
When my students are preparing for the test I have them braille it out in
Perky Duck or Duxbury to get an electronic copy. Then they move to the
brailler and braille another copy out. Next, they compare their hard copy to
the electronic copy. Proofreading your own work is one of the hardest things
for students. It was for me too, so it is great with these new techniques
to use to double check your work. If they are really in doubt, they
rebraille another copy on Perky Duck or Duxbury. When they are practicing their
proofreading or slate n stylus, once again, they can use Perky Duck to braille
out all the different options they believe it to be.
I have had more people pass their braille certification quicker using
these methods versus not using them. Using everything at our disposal gives us
a better idea of how to help our students too. Many methods, mean more
success, for more people.
Denise
Denise M. Robinson, TVI, Ph.D.
Teacher of the Blind & Visually Impaired
TechVision-Independent Contractor
Specialist in blind programming/teaching/training
509-674-1853 _ deniserob at gmail.com_ (mailto:deniserob at gmail.com)
_http://blindgeteducated.blogspot.com/_
(http://blindgeteducated.blogspot.com/)
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