HI, Wanda! I hope you have a great school year!
(Your seat buddy from Baltimore training)
Theresa
Hi Theresa! I hope that you have a great school year as well!
Hi MarLisa Jacobs here. I work with New Mexico Schoool for the Blind and Visually Impaired as an Assistive Technology Consultant and Certified Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVI).
I service the southern part of New Mexico working with the TSVIs and their students. We also serve districts that do not have a TSVI.
I am excited to learn how the Monarch will help my student in math and science.
My name is Mai Nguyen and I was born and raised in a small village 25 miles northwest of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam. Due to the lack of schools for the blind in my areas, I began my formal education at the age of 12. At the school for the blind, I learned English by listening to the radio and later received tutoring from one of the teachers there. A year after starting my studies, I participated in an English contest where I met an American lady who took a special interest in my progress. She became my private tutor, meeting with me several times a week. Through her, I was introduced to a nonprofit organization that helped sponsor my education . I moved to the US at the age of 17.
I have been teaching since 2008 and currently provide braille and reading classes to middle and high school students. In my work, I also use a variety of assistive technologies including the BrailleNote Touch plus, Braille cues, and the monarch device. I find great fulfillment in helping my students grow and improve each day. I am deeply grateful to live in a free country and for the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of young blind and visually impaired students. Iām excited to have the opportunity to show my students how to use the monarch. My students love it and canāt wait till they can use the monarch to surf the web just like how they do it using the laptop computer. I truly hope Congress will fund this amazing product!
Iām Debee (pronounced Debby) Armstrong. I am the alternate media specialist and computer tech for disabled students at De Anza College in Cupertino. I am also a part-time student at the college. I am blind and have used Braille displays since 1995. I am really hoping the Monarch will help both me and the blind students I serve improve their mastery of math and statistics. I also hope it will improve my efficiency in proofing documents I OCR. And I want the blind students I serve to see how it can make them much more employable, especially in situations where they must access information rapidly.
Debee, itās so nice to meet you here! I am the Southwest outreach specialist for APH and I serve California. I am here for you and your students any time you need any assistance. Please keep in touch!
Jenny Wheeler, jwheeler@aph.org
Hi, my name is Jewel Ardoin. I work at the Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston, Louisiana as an Assistive Technology Instructor. I teach students over the age of 18 preparing to go to school or work. All of our students use Learning Shades and learn techniques to be a confident and independent blind person. I am excited to learn about the Monarch and how it can benefit my students live a productive life and have fun while learning.
Thanks, and have a great experience!! 
Hi Tami, you are not alone. I prepare alt media at a community college or arrange to have it done by a grant-funded alt media project which is funded by our state community college Chancellorās office. They do excellent Braille, but we have to order ahead of time, and our professors love to spring surprise quizzes, handouts and even textbooks on us.
Regarding your high school students loosing vision and not practicing; teens just wonāt practice whatās not relevant for them. Iām blind and was supposed to practice the slate and never did. I preferred the Braille Writer.
But Covid hit and at age 65 I suddenly wanted to practice the slate because I had a small desk at home. And working remotely I needed to take a lot of notes. So suddenly I was motivated and now Iām super fast on the slate. So even adults wonāt practice what they donāt find relevant until they do!
If you want kids to get good at Braille they need to use it to label stuff, like their spices if they cook, or a rolodex of friendsā numbers. I think the iPhone, despite how cool it is has made Braille less relevant for teens because they can keep so much information there. Nobody has to keep a card file, label records or CDS and thatās part of the problem. But I think if we emphasize that Braille is private, makes you competitive so you arenāt stuck on welfare and most displays will pair with your beloved iPhone, I believe that can help motivate the young.
Hi Amy! Iām too dim to find the start a new post button this week. But HI!