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I have been asked to circulate the following. It is from a blind
person who does have it together -- just needs some teaching/classroom
management advice. She is not on this list, so please respond to
her directly at: gabias@telus.net<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">From: "Mary Ellen"
<gabias@telus.net><br>
To: "'David Andrews'" <dandrews@visi.com><br>
Subject: help with teaching Catechism<br>
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:37:16 -0700<br>
Thread-Index: AcpXd5A/6U+g2UgyQsi1BbGBsNSCEg==<br><br>
<font size=2>I'm writing in the hope that you will pass this along to
blind teachers because I'm struggling and need tips for class
control.<br>
I volunteered to teach catechism classes for the fifth grade students at
our parish. These are students who do not attend Catholic schools, so
they receive one hour of Catholic instruction each week on Tuesday
afternoons.<br>
My class includes six boys and one girl. They're tired of being in school
by the time they get to me. On top of that, the catechism book we're
using is frankly boring. My task is to teach one lesson a week. For
students in Catholic schools, the lesson is divided up over five days. My
job is to cover it (or as much of it as is possible) in one hour. There
simply isn't time to cover a week's worth of material in such a short
time.<br>
The class is held in the fifth grade classroom of the Catholic school. We
must set up and take down everything we need to use each time. I arrive
in the classroom at the same time as my students, so there's no
opportunity for me to set things up in advance.<br>
My students are testing me to see if a blind person can maintain control
of the classroom. I began by telling them they must give their names
whenever they answer a question. We talked a little about blindness in
the beginning. I showed them Braille and invited them to ask questions. I
laid out the general rules of the class.<br>
For the first two or three weeks I made what I call "newbie"
mistakes. I let the students go to the bathroom or to get drinks of
water. I've now learned not to do that. They're now required to take care
of their physical needs before they walk in the door. (The one and only
time I allowed them to go to the bathroom en masse I had to break up a
water fight.)<br>
I don't spend enough time with them each week to have learned to
recognize them by voice. Two weeks ago they tried to convince me that we
had a new student in the class. Being a trusting soul, I attempted to
talk with the new student. I quickly realized that he was a fiction. It
was one of the students trying to prank me. I told them it was a good try
but not very funny or particularly nice.<br>
Sometimes a sighted co-teacher is present. When she's there the clowning
around in the class diminishes. I'm willing to tolerate some movement.
After all, they've been sitting all day and genuinely need to move. If I
think they're disturbing the class I call a halt. But there's no question
that they respond with more discipline toward my sighted colleague.
She doesn't prepare the lessons, but she does help with some of the
written exercises.<br>
Today the students told me one of their number was absent. I didn't
really believe them, but the space in the classroom was so tight that I
couldn't physically walk around the table and count heads. About halfway
through the class they admitted that he was actually present. In addition
to that, the students let me know that one of them had been creeping
under the table and disturbing the rest of the class.<br>
</font> <br>
<font size=2>We had a discussion about mutual respect. I said all the
expected things about treating other people the way they wanted to be
treated and behaving the way Christians are supposed to behave. I also
told them that I had enough time to think up ways to make them miserable
and would not hesitate to do so if they continued to be rude and
disrespectful to me. I told the student who had been crawling around on
the floor that if he did that again I'd insist that his mother come to
the class to babysit him. (I once had to do that because one of my sons
was crawling around on the floor acting like a puppy during Catechism
class. Blind Catechism teachers aren't the only ones with discipline
problems.)<br>
What can I do to lessen the likelihood that the students will use my
blindness as a means of goofing around? There are no grades, so I can't
fail them. If I throw them out of the class they'll be thrilled, since
they're only there because they're required to go by their parents. <br>
I need carrots to entice them to behave. I also need sticks to make it
more trouble than it's worth to misbehave. Above all, I need tips blind
teachers use for class control.<br>
I would appreciate any suggestions. You can write to me at
<a href="mailto:gabias@telus.net">gabias@telus.net</a> because I'm not on
the Blind Educator listserv.<br>
Thanks for your help.<br>
</font> <br>
<font size=2>Mary Ellen Gabias<br>
</font><br>
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