[blindkid] Math and electronic notetaker

Trudy Pickrel tlpickrel at hotmail.com
Thu Oct 13 17:31:49 UTC 2011


Thank you all Just the support that We are not asking for some unrealistic request. Joy, we did have them print at school but that leaves out the process of a parent to proof read and help with homework.  I have been trying to remind them that homework is to reinforce a new concept but if he is doing all of it wrong we are reinforcing how to do it wrong.  I was having TVI go over the homework, but that takes from is only 1 hr Out of Class room time with TVI.

Trudy L. Pickrel
President MD Parents of Blind Children

> 
> Dear Trudy,
> 
> Our fourth grader carried her electronic notetaker back and forth to school.
> Yes, it is an expensive machine, but why has someone spent the money on it?
> To USE. I'm pretty sure a fourth grade student can understand to take good
> care of a piece of equipment like that. Keep after that battle. If you have
> a blind friend who uses one at work, see if he or she can attend an IEP
> meeting and show it.
> 
> If you can't print homework at home, can you save it to the flash drive and
> put the burden on the school/TVI to print it in the morning? Or even can the
> teacher use the flash drive to open a file on his or her computer? We had a
> journal writing assignment that happened every day at school--just skipped
> the paper step entirely, and let the teacher open it on his computer. You
> just have to save it as a .rtf, I think.
> 
> You really have to keep pushing for the abacus. It is a great way for blind
> kids to do math, but it is DIFFERENT and may not be in the TVI's comfort
> zone. Once you get something in the IEP paperwork, then you have to check up
> and check up and check up again. But also the students need several ways to
> do their math.
> 
> I look forward to other parents' and teachers' comments on how to do math
> quickly.
> 
> Joy
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:06:33 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Debby B <bwbddl at yahoo.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,	\(for parents of blind children\)"
> 	<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Math and electronic notetaker
> Message-ID:
> 	<1318500393.73530.YahooMailNeo at web112505.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
> 
> We, too, fought and fought for Winona to have use of the BrailleNote at home. Finally, in 5th grade, we signed our lives away, but got it. Now it's no big deal (5yrs later). Most often Winona simply emails the assignment to the teacher.
> 
> As to math. Whew! A math wizard in her head. 5th grade the new TVI demanded she show all work for all problems using the Braille writer. Math became drudgery and grades plummeted. Now in high school, this TVI has her work the first 2 out completely, then Winona is allowed to do what she can in her head. She's top of her class in Geometry of all things!
> 
> MathWindow: fabulous tool. Couldn't get the elementary/middle school TVI to use it, but we did at home! We especially used it with fractions. They made no sense to Winona written horizontally, but once we put it on the MathWindow vertically, the lightbulb came on and Winona got it quickly.
> 
> Abacus: another thing I fought and fought for. Finally convinced the 2 other parents to also put in their IEPs. Good thing I'd taken the Hadley course and taught Winona because SHE ended up teaching the others how to use the abacus....and the slate and stylus.
> ?
> Debby
> bwbddl at yahoo.com
> 
> 
> ~"Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read."~Mark Twain
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Joy Orton <ortonsmom at gmail.com>
> To: NFB Blindkid list <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 7:38 PM
> Subject: [blindkid] Math and electronic notetaker
> 
> Dear Trudy,
> 
> Our fourth grader carried her electronic notetaker back and forth to school.
> Yes, it is an expensive machine, but why has someone spent the money on it?
> To USE. I'm pretty sure a fourth grade student can understand to take good
> care of a piece of equipment like that. Keep after that battle. If you have
> a blind friend who uses one at work, see if he or she can attend an IEP
> meeting and show it.
> 
> If you can't print homework at home, can you save it to the flash drive and
> put the burden on the school/TVI to print it in the morning? Or even can the
> teacher use the flash drive to open a file on his or her computer? We had a
> journal writing assignment that happened every day at school--just skipped
> the paper step entirely, and let the teacher open it on his computer. You
> just have to save it as a .rtf, I think.
> 
> You really have to keep pushing for the abacus. It is a great way for blind
> kids to do math, but it is DIFFERENT and may not be in the TVI's comfort
> zone. Once you get something in the IEP paperwork, then you have to check up
> and check up and check up again. But also the students need several ways to
> do their math.
> 
> I look forward to other parents' and teachers' comments on how to do math
> quickly.
> 
> Joy
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindkid:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/bwbddl%40yahoo.com
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 08:56:16 -0400
> From: Gustave Jonas <gjonas817 at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,	(for parents of blind children)"
> 	<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Math and electronic notetaker
> Message-ID:
> 	<CABEC-7xwFz3FoAufTkq=Qcc4Xh_oMk4iUm25mq0FLj10XreSPQ at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> 
> I am actually going to school to become a Math Teacher, and I agree with
> both of you.  Whichever way will get the message across should be used.  I
> am sighted and when I was in school, and now that I am in school again, I
> always butted head with my teachers because I could do the "complicated
> math" in my head.  They always thought I was cheating, until I forced them
> to give me an individual problem on the board and I stood there staring at
> it and gave them the answer, without moving from the spot.  Still the
> onslaught of showing your work came.  The teacher just do not want to admit
> that they are wrong or to be shown a different way to solve a problem from
> the way they taught it.  I hope they stick with it and know that the teacher
> probably recognizes their incredible talent.  Good luck.
> 
> Gustave Jonas
> 
> On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 7:38 PM, Joy Orton <ortonsmom at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Dear Trudy,
> >
> > Our fourth grader carried her electronic notetaker back and forth to
> > school.
> > Yes, it is an expensive machine, but why has someone spent the money on it?
> > To USE. I'm pretty sure a fourth grade student can understand to take good
> > care of a piece of equipment like that. Keep after that battle. If you have
> > a blind friend who uses one at work, see if he or she can attend an IEP
> > meeting and show it.
> >
> > If you can't print homework at home, can you save it to the flash drive and
> > put the burden on the school/TVI to print it in the morning? Or even can
> > the
> > teacher use the flash drive to open a file on his or her computer? We had a
> > journal writing assignment that happened every day at school--just skipped
> > the paper step entirely, and let the teacher open it on his computer. You
> > just have to save it as a .rtf, I think.
> >
> > You really have to keep pushing for the abacus. It is a great way for blind
> > kids to do math, but it is DIFFERENT and may not be in the TVI's comfort
> > zone. Once you get something in the IEP paperwork, then you have to check
> > up
> > and check up and check up again. But also the students need several ways to
> > do their math.
> >
> > I look forward to other parents' and teachers' comments on how to do math
> > quickly.
> >
> > Joy
> > _______________________________________________
> > blindkid mailing list
> > blindkid at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> > blindkid:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/gjonas817%40gmail.com
> >
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
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> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> 
> 
> End of blindkid Digest, Vol 90, Issue 12
> ****************************************
 		 	   		  


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