[Nfbf-l] Holly Idler on DOE BLOG

[Kirk]

Holly, this is AWESOME! Congratulations for your achievements! Keep up all 
the outstanding work! Kirk


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Holly" <hbeanie at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Florida Listserv" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 9:46 PM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Holly Idler on DOE BLOG


http://educationfl.wordpress.com/

Holly Idler: The Coach, The Cheerleader and Part of Their
Team<http://educationfl.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/holly-idler-the-coach-the-cheerleader-and-part-of-their-team/>
Posted on October 27,
2011<http://educationfl.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/holly-idler-the-coach-the-cheerleader-and-part-of-their-team/>
 by Florida Department of
Education<http://educationfl.wordpress.com/author/flcommonground/>

*Note from Florida Blind Services Director Joyce Hildreth: Holly Idler from
the Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired recently
received the Dean W. Tuttle Professional Education Award from The Hadley
School for the 
Blind<http://www.hadley.edu/PR_detail.asp?t=20111020-Hadley-Presents-Annual-Student-Awards>
* 
<http://www.hadley.edu/PR_detail.asp?t=20111020-Hadley-Presents-Annual-Student-Awards>
*, which is considered to be the Heisman Trophy of furthering education for
persons with visual disabilities, especially with John W. Heisman being
visually impaired himself. **We are very proud of her, and I asked her to
share how her knowledge has affected her client instruction:*
<http://educationfl.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/idler.jpg>

Holly Idler receives Dean W. Tuttle Professional Education Award

As a teacher at the Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Visually
Impaired, I teach Orientation and Mobility to our adult clients. Here at the
Center, the clients are taught assistive technology, home management,
personal management, Braille and mobility. Being visually impaired myself, I
want to assist my clients by giving them tools to make their day-to-day
activities and responsibilities easier to manage in a more effective manner.

Here are just a few ways Hadley has influenced my teaching style:

   - In use for thousands of years, the abacus is an efficient, accurate
   tool for doing math, by people with or without vision. I’ve taken a few
   classes using this device, and enjoy reviewing new techniques and 
competing
   with clients, during breaks, to see who can solve a math problem first. I 
am
   getting better, with practice.
   - Guide dogs are just one of the many mobility aids our clients can
   choose to utilize to get from point “A” to point “B” in a safe, effective
   and graceful manner. Many of my students are new cane users, and are
   interested in learning about guide dogs and possibly applying for one in 
the
   future. One of the key points of the class, *Guide Dogs*,  that stood out
   to me was how much the owner’s daily routine would change once they got a
   dog – they have to allow time to feed, walk and groom the dog each 
morning,
   prior to going to work or college.
   - I teach orientation and mobility classes and have to be careful with my
   students who have diabetes. Mobility activities can cause their blood 
sugar
   to drop during a lesson. In the *Diabetes: Toward
Self-Management*<http://www.hadley.edu/ShowCourseDetail.asp?courseid=DIA-121>
course,
   I learned that having the client drink water BEFORE the lesson can help 
the
   body regulate the sugar levels. It is still important to drink water 
during
   and after a lesson.
   - Joyce Hildreth, the Florida DOE Division of Blind Services Director,
   once said persons with visual impairments need to look at self-employment 
as
   a viable option. I took two employment classes, *Finding
Employment*<http://www.hadley.edu/ShowCourseDetail.asp?courseid=EMP-121>
   * *and* **Self-Employment with a Minimal
Investment*<http://www.hadley.edu/ShowCourseDetail.asp?courseid=EMP-221>
   *. *These classes provided some insight on what type of person would be
   cut out for self employment and what he or she would need to accomplish 
when
   creating their business plan. I feel I now have the knowledge to 
encourage
   my students to go in whatever direction they want to go in, including
   starting their own business – and at least one has!
   - One of the classes that I enjoyed the most was *Using Raised
Markers*<http://www.hadley.edu/ShowCourseDetail.asp?courseid=URM-121>
   *. * This class discussed many different options of marking and labeling
   household items such as the microwave and stove, personal items: such as
   shampoo and conditioner, ways to identify canned foods and medications,
   independently without having to know Braille.**

I take Hadley classes myself, for my own education. If I can learn one new
piece of information to share with my clients/students, my family or my
coworkers, then the time the class took was worthwhile. I am not just their
teacher. I am their coach, cheerleader and a part of their team.


-- 
"God gives you 86,400 seconds in a day. Take one to say Thank You."
Walter A. Ward
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