[blindkid] books and school

Thu Dec 4 17:42:29 UTC 2008

T.J.
It's just a piece of screen taped to a piece of thin particle board.  Real 
simple to make.
Barbara

--------------------------------------------------
From: "T. J." <tjmaries at yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 7:49 AM
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] books and school

> Debby, Can you tell me how the screen board was made? It sounds like 
> siomething I need.
>
> T. J.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Debby B <bwbddl at yahoo.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)" 
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2008 4:35:03 AM
> Subject: [blindkid] books and school
>
> This happened a lot at the beginning of the year. Winona in tears, "I need 
> my book", the paras adamant "I am NOT going down there", the teacher "it's 
> okay, not important today." Me insisting they keep the current volume, the 
> next one, and any the teacher anticipates skipping to. After 3 meetings 
> with everyone that problem has mostly resolved. Each class is only 50 
> minutes, with 3 minutes between. Most classes are on the same upstairs 
> hall, resource room is down stairs in another wing. Old school, small 
> rooms. By the time Winona went down, found the needed book (maybe in a 
> box?), and got back to class she would have missed the class.
>
> Here's another goodie that will be brought up at Monday's meeting. Winona 
> provided her own protractor, wikki stiks, screen board, crayons, etc. for 
> math yesterday as she knew what was coming up and figured the TVI wouldn't 
> have it. Sure enough, she told Winona there was no protractor she could 
> use. Volia! Winona pulled it out. "Sorry Winona, there's no way for you to 
> color in this pie graph. Volia! Winona pulled out her screen board and 
> crayons. I was so proud of Winona for thinking ahead and being prepared. 
> Otherwise, she would have been simply sitting and listening to this math 
> lesson.
>
> Science teacher no longer discusses things with the TVI, she goes straight 
> to Winona to work things out.
>
> Another item on the agenda for Monday: Winona's "Braille time" was finally 
> spent doing something other than this ridiculous mPower "testing" and 
> chatting. Yesterday she was able to Braille her own worksheet, since the 
> TVI "had no time" to do it.
>
> Our middle schools send a text home with each student, then they all share 
> the school text. Works out great because there is no more "I left my book 
> at school" excuse! They also don't allow backpacks, although our blind 
> kids are allowed since they're lugging around more stuff.
>
> Oh, and I must share an almost funny, which will also be brought up at the 
> meeting! The TVI keeps telling all 3 blind kids that there is no way to 
> hook the mPower to a computer for the teacher to see their work. We all 
> know there is. Tuesday I substituted in an elementary class which includes 
> our elementary blind student. It was really interesting to be on the 
> teacher end of the spectrum. Plus, I got to see the other TVI in action, 
> which included plugging the student's mPower into the computer so that I 
> could see her work! Ah ha! Proof that it can be done and is being done in 
> our own county!
>
> Debby
> bwbddl at yahoo.com
> www.nfbflorida.org/parents
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Carrie Gilmer <carrie.gilmer at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)" 
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 7:58:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] storage solutions
>
> Dear Debby-
>
> Many times, many times, she is without a book for this reason? I know 
> things
> have been ridiculous, and this tops the cake...this is unacceptable.
>
>
>
> Winona is in middle school. Jordan had a resource room that was some
> distance, if he needed a volume change he had a permanent hall pass (or
> needed to print something from his BrailleNote) to go to the resource 
> room.
> He was always very responsible and used his time wisely. I think Winona 
> has
> the same kind of character.
>
> Another thing that has been done (the resource room is only so big)is to
> have a rolling book cart in a room with the whole book in there, one in
> math, one in science, one in social, etc. This has worked really well. 
> (All
> these things were/are in his IEP (his IEP accommodations are ridiculous 
> like
> six pages-but IF IT IS NOT WRITTEN down-it always failed somewhere-smile)
>
>
>
> It helps develop responsibility too, like anyone else if he forgot a 
> volume
> or his book then he was stuck or needed to call a classmate. It was also 
> his
> responsibility to keep aware of what was coming next, which volume he 
> might
> need. This has really helped his ability to self organize and plan ahead.
>
>
>
> "Plan Ahead" and "Flexibility" are two essentials blind people can't be
> caught without...they are good for everyone, but really important for the
> blind student or employee to succeed.
>
>
>
> I am sad to say I think we had a high of 30 and that may be the warmest 
> air
> we see this week. I'll be there shortly.smile. 45? Don't make me laugh. 
> Even
> my garage door has been frozen for two days. Why do things always break 
> just
> when you are about to spend Christmas money? Smile..
>
>
>
> Carrie Gilmer, President
>
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
>
> A Division of the National Federation of the Blind
>
> NFB National Center: 410-659-9314
>
> Home Phone: 763-784-8590
>
> carrie.gilmer at gmail.com
>
> www.nfb.org/nopbc
>
>
>
>
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