[nabs-l] job evaluation

[Joe Orozco]

Jess,

I spent a year tutoring in an after school program as part of my AmeriCorps
assignment in DC.  My experience in no way resembles official classroom
teaching, but the assignment gave me more than basic training in dealing
with younger children.  I yelled at them, laughed with them, and although
the first two times I broke up fights everyone came out alright, the third
time one of the boys did come up holding a knife to me.  Sadly, this one
never came back to us after that fateful day.

The short answer to your question is that blind people are more than capable
of working with children.  There are plenty of alternative techniques one
can use to convey your lessons in a way that is accessible to you and
instructional for them.  For math lessons I used wiki sticks, wooden blocks
and anything else lying around that could help me help them understand the
concept in an entertaining manner.  I used Crayons to draw tactile lines on
paper.  I bought raised-line grid paper so that I could use rubber bands to
link up thumb tacks to show graphs against cardboard supports.  For these
sighted kids the methods were foreign, but the sheer absurdity of some of my
methods were unique enough to get them interested.

I coordinated twelve students between third to sixth grade.  I had three
assistants, but I asserted my authority early on to make it clear that I was
in charge and not to be overlooked when it came to help Jimmy do his
reading.  The best way I found to achieve this was to strike a creative
balance with my kids.  I got to know them as people before I felt
comfortable to work with them as students.  We talked about their day in
school, what teachers were good, what teachers really sucked, what they were
planning on doing with their weekends.  I understood that for them it was
important to get past the blindness thing before they could trust me as a
competent tutor.  In the end, you would be surprised at how much kids will
teach you more than the other way around.  Your peers may have questions of
their own as to how you'll be able to coordinate certain projects, but if
you can win the kids over, your job is almost done.

You'll figure out the accommodations as the projects come up.  Treat them
all well and equally, but never feel as if you can't make a few special
friends who can act as snitches for you.  How else do you think I handled
playground time after the homework was finished?  My little network of
informants helped me keep a decent handle on things.  You'll have the
occasional day when you'll wonder whether or not you're doing a good job.
Keep at it.  Kids are some of the most fulfilling people you'll ever have
the pleasure of working for.  Make no mistake.  At the end of it all, it is
they who are really in charge.

Joe Orozco

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."--James M.
Barrie
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jess Watson
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 10:32 AM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] job evaluation

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing great. I apologize
that this information that I am about to share with you is unrelated to the
current topic. I would like to inform everyone that my rehab counselor and I
are getting the job evaluation process started. I have decided to not worry
about college for now because I want to get a job as either a receptionist
or in childcare. I have done phone work in the past, and I actually did
pretty well at that. However, I am wondering if any of you have worked with
children in any way, and if that would be a realistic job for a blind
person? I would appreciate any opinions you can give me. thank you
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