Hi there, I am not sure if I can be a lot of help here but I will offer what I can. I am currently teaching grade three for this year's assignment. I, myself am totally blind and I apologize if my response is off base. The VI theacher should be there to support the student and you in the work you do, not create more stress and anxiety. I do not believe you should be told to alter how you prepare your lessons or what you do to provide detailed how to's for this teacher and that will not help the child or your sense of well-being.
While it is great that you have a support teacher to provide some support for the student, you are the teacher. A step by step how to is not going to help the child to cope in life and maximize independence. I am not sure what grade level you ahve but I would say energies empowering the child to be the centre, to problem solve and adapt is much more useful to the real world ahead. No one is going to be adapting and hand holding for this person into adulthood or at least I sure hope not. This child may have the two hour entitlement which is great but does it have to mean segregationa nd withdrawal from peers. Could the VI teacher for example, not be modifying materials for the student for what will be needed later in the day. Why does he or she need to know in advance. There is no cookie cutter here and much will depend ont he interest and motivation of the student andhow the student approaches things, sort of the victim stance or an independent go-getter and possibly anywhere along the continuium. For the times you don't have direct tasks the student should work on independently maximizing his or her independence on computer, utilizing learning to maximize independence but a lot depends ont he grade level of the class. I am sorry if this sounds over the top but you are not responsible for having to program essentially for the teacher. Ask the teacher to observe a day or so and learn about your style and adapt to fit for the child. I am happy to correspond with you specifically off list if that is helpful. This should not be a nightmare. You would be surprised how adaptable situations are. I always ahve some frenzied parents at the beginning but once they can forget about the reality that I am totally blind and focus on the learning of their child, it all works out. I have the fortunate position of living in the neighbourhood and having taught in the same school for nine years so I know the community also smooths ruffled feathers too. Anyway, you are not being whiny, just lamenting about being presented with someone wanting you to provide step by step for the teacher to spoon feed some level of academia so carry onw ith your programming and how you teach and allow all the students to benefit from those gifts rather than be drained by an unrealistic demand. Your response is not so much about the added work for you but the gut awareness that this will not benefit the child. Sharon [email protected] _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
