Week 1: July 1-6

Core Curriculum Unlocking the Foundations of Reading
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Hi-
I am not familiar with 4 AAC 52.125(a) (2) does that include kids with convergence insufficiency or kids with CVI and acuity better than 20/70? In the past those were not the kids that were included in MA or NJ (the two states that I have worked in). The OSERS 2017 changed that and made it something that we as TVIs needing to look at and consider. It made people have to do assessments for kids that would have normally not even gotten a referral to a TVI because they did not meet qualifications. Now we have to look at functional vision even in kids with reducedifferent states are doing. d acuity and eye teaming issues.

Thank you for any clarification that you have. I find it interesting to know what

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It’s so nice to see another reading specialist here. I agree too about the reading curriculum. I so often hear people asking about the best braille curriculum or how they approach reading. I struggle with identifying my approach because I pull on student’s strengths and interests as well as my knowledge to help them gain the skills they need. I use a curriculum but I do not simply stick to it. I incorporate what is being taught in the classroom and student interest.

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Reading Instruction for Students with Visual Impairments: Whose Job is it?

As a previous high school math teacher at a school for the visual impaired and now as an assistant principal, my involvement with literacy instruction has been limited. As a math teacher, my focus was nemeth instruction as high school math content involves braille students most likely have seen “reading a book” and now it shows up in math and means something different. By introducing new nemeth content in relation to the contractions they already knew, it actually made it much easier for students to grasp their new Nemeth. It also forced me to become much more familiar with literary braille in order to help students make connections. I remember my first year, I would call the dot formations of, for example, open square root. Yeah, not the most efficient strategy. At this point as assistant principal, I am learning about literary instruction from ground zero - I spent time last summer on a 30 hour module understanding the basics of reading instruction. When the opportunity came up for this course, that’s why I jumped on board as a next step. At this point, I rely on a couple of teachers in the building to really be literacy experts and I go to them to learn or ask questions. Dr. Blankenship’s article talked about the 5 core compenents of reading instruction - this has shown to be a challenge with teachers who do not have more recent elementary certifications. I went to college 30 years ago and do not remember courses in reading instruction so I am working now to increase my own knowledge. I believe professional development around literacy instruction must be a part of our plan from year to year. One take way will be as we are scheduling students for braille instruction this year, that we are much more intentional about where and how students are receiving their services.

To refer back to the question of whose job is it, it is all of ours that spend time with said student. We have to work together as a team to make sure students are receiving high quality literacy instruction. When mid-quarter progress reports are sent, this should have input from all staff who work with the student and not just how they are performing in pull out braille.

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I am so impressed by your enthusiasm expressed in your statement including that you mentioned about the science of reading. I am a follower of the science of reading, however , I was not yet able to find strategies supporting children with visual impairment especially who had no access to the braille instruction.
Also I strongly agree with your emphasize on the importance of coordination between the classroom teacher. This is so true because TVIs are often " itinerant" teachers. Also your approach should be able to provide appropriate accommodation which enables access to general education curriculum or meaningful inclusion. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Rika Yamamoto

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  1. What has your involvement with literacy instruction looked like in your role? What factors have limited your involvement in literacy instruction? Are those factors things that can and should be changed? Why or why not?
    *My involvement with literacy instruction has changed. Three years ago, I started at my current school as the Middle School ELA teacher and quickly came to realize blindness and visual impairments were not the primary disability and that the majority of my middle school students were reading well below grade level. Because of that, I spent more class time teaching basic reading skills than anything else, and my mantra for the next two years was. if I have to teach them how to read, I may as well teach reading. So, I enrolled in a course to add a Reading Endorsement to my teaching certificate. However, when I attended the Getting In Touch With Literacy conference in November, I saw there was more to reading for children with VI. Then lo and behold, I got an email about this course from APH. This coming SY I will start as the Reading Specialist. I got tired of asking why they couldn’t read and decided to become a part of the solution. The main limitation I see concerning my involvement in literacy instruction is the lack of learning disability assessments and the lack of documented cognitive deficits some of our students obviously have. I believe that this information will aid me in differentiating reading instruction even more. These are factors that can be changed and I plan to do so by working closely with the braille teacher in my new role as Reading Specialist.
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Are you an Itinerant TVI? I ask because as I was reading your post, your duties seem to be more than what a classroom teacher does. Three years ago, I started at my current school as the Middle School ELA teacher and quickly came to realize blindness and visual impairments were not the primary disability and that the majority of my middle school students were reading well below grade level. I wished I’d had more elementary education training because presumably, when children get to middle school, they know how to read. I plan to do pull-out instruction in order to aid the classroom teacher in their reading instruction.

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The video provided me with new information and a better awareness of how the various eye conditions truly affect student reading, whether it’s fluency or comprehension. Eye fatigue has been the biggest complaint of most of my students, but after seeing the video, I think there are definitely other factors. Helping students understand their eye condition will help them better advocate for themselves and the accommodations they need to become better readers.

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Hi Kristie- I agree with so many of your points. Your last point regarding “ no one way” to teach braille definitely resonates with me and my teaching over the years. You mentioned the importance of motivating students by considering their interests when planning lessons. I have found with a few students over the years this is a huge factor. Students often need to “buy in” to braille instruction, in other words they need to see the value of it in their lives. Several years back, I struggled with Braille instruction for a whole school year with a student with CHARGE syndrome. She plugged along, some days better than others. She never seemed super invested or even excited. I asked her one day, “Iz, do you want to learn braille?” Her response was a quick and assertive, “NO.” When I asked her why, she explained that she can see print and print is easier. After that day, I shifted my instruction. While I felt if I took braille out of our sessions, I would not be doing my job properly, I let her be a copilot in what and how we would learn braille. Braille is cerrtainly not easy. It’s difficult to teach as a fully sighted person. As a sighted student learning braille, there are additional challenges.It is so important to to be sensitive to the needs of our students.

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I am the only TVI in a rather large district. It certainly keeps me busy! Three direct students get daily braille instruction and I spend the rest of the day traveling between schools for my other directs and consults.

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Hi Karen- Similar to you, I have an elementary education certificate, as I started my teaching career as regular education teacher (K-1). That was over 20 years ago and I feel like my skills in this area are outdated. I find it really challenging to carry out all the things we are required to do under the ECC (braille, tech, etc) and be proficient in reading instruction for all the levels of our students. I am an itinerant TVIi in multiple school districts. While many districts use similar reading programs, each district and/or teacher instructs differently. Its time consuming and often exhausting keeping up with all the strategies to align our instruction with that of all the teachers with which we work.

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Reading Instruction for Students with Visual Impairments: Whose Job is it? (JVIB, 2008, p. 197-209)

Question 1

I am an itinerant TVI located in Vermont, working with students from birth to twenty-two. I just finished my third year as a Teacher of the Visually Impaired. My involvement with literacy instruction has been mostly making print materials accessible to the students on my caseload by making large print or braille copies of materials provided to me by the teachers, or by consulting with the teachers on the best presentation of materials to the students.

For my high school braille student, I have had the pleasure of working closely with his literacy and science teacher. He is not at grade level and is in a special education class for both of these subjects. I have brailled many books, worksheets, etc. for him. In conjunction with his teacher, we are working on “sight” words, reading comprehension, and automaticity. I love working collaboratively with teachers.

The things that limit my involvement in literacy instruction are time, schedules, student health, and getting materials in advance. As an itinerant TVI, I am not in a single school for more than an hour at a time, except with my braille student. If it takes me 45 minutes to an hour to get from one school to the next, I need to plan my days partly based on driving directions. While I would love to change that, it is not possible in a rural state like Vermont. In addition, I need to schedule around when the student is in school, either because they are young and in a half day program, or because they have shortened days because of medical needs. This has a domino effect on all of my students. I wish I could change that, but I have a lot of complex needs students.

The factor that can, and should, be changed is getting materials in advance so that I can make them accessible in time for the intended lesson. It is a struggle at times to get the teachers to give me those materials and then get them back to the school before the lesson. Sometimes I arrive at a school and a lesson that could have been made accessible is thrown at me at the last minute. Then it is time to scramble. Most of the teachers I work with try hard to get materials to me or take it upon themselves to enlarge or modify the materials. I would say that this is a work in progress.

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Hi Karen,
Do you have 45 minutes total/ week or 45 minutes/ session?
Two years ago I had two students who were learning both braille and print. One was in 2nd and one was in 3rd (but at a 1st grade level). They both had degenerative eye issues. When I worked with them I found it helpful to introduce both print and braille simultaneously. For example, when we did high frequency words they were both in braille and print. I would have them read the word with their vision while feeling the braille. Then I would have them close their eyes and read. I also used braille Legos and the swing cells to make it fun. Both allowed them to use their functioning vision while learning and feeling the braille.
One of the boys did not like to learn braille and insisted that he could see. However, when I incorporated the hands on activities like the Legos, he participated more. And I explained to him that he may not always be able to see and being able to read with his eyes and his hands was like a super power.
I am not sure how braille ready your student is, but I thought I might share those tips I learned from experience with you. :slight_smile:

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Hi Megan. I also don’t think that it is realistic for TVIs to have dual certification with a focus on research based literacy instruction. That is why I think that courses like this one are important. All teachers need to continually learn. I was a science teacher, so I am much more comfortable with chemistry, physics and other sciences. I have found that my background knowledge has been helpful with many of my students. It has made for easier collaboration with the science teachers. We speak the same language.

If all TVIs were required to also be certified as a gen ed teacher focusing on literacy, we might lose those of us who are more math and science oriented. That said, I do think it is very important that TVIs take workshops like this. It is also important to collaborate with literacy specialists. We all gain when we work together.

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Hi Jeanne,
I am a classroom teacher and TVI. I cannot fully relate with the frustration of driving and not having materials prior, because that is all on me. However, I do agree that it is something that can definitely be changed. I know that for me sharing my folder of plans with my team of RSPs and fellow teachers has helped collaboration in many cases.
Maybe the teachers could do the same for you? I don’t know how realistic that is.

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Thank you for the suggestion. I do have some teachers who share their folders with me. That is helpful. Other teachers seem to fly by the seat of their pants!

I do love driving from one school to the next. Vermont is a beautiful state.

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I am sure that some of them do!
I bet Vermont is beautiful! Not like Phoenix, AZ…maybe that’s why I stay in the classroom LOL

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Hi Virginia. I also like to go “slightly rogue,” although I like to think of it as being creative and flexible. We definitely need to teach our students in a manner that motivates them. Making use of a student’s interests is important, though sometimes it can be hard to tease out those interests.

One of my students loves rhyming words, and especially “yellow” and “jello.” We made poems and stories using those words. We made one story in braille that the student excitedly read to one of his teachers. Diane Wormsley’s “I-M-Able” approached was very helpful with this student. Using words that motivated him brought out his creativity.

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  1. Which author’s (Blankenship, Swenson, Farrenkopf, or Holbrook) response is most influential to you? Why?

Here’s my short answer: Please watch the speech on braille literacy that Casey Robertson gave during the NFB Convention today (7/6/24). She comes on about the 1:50 mark – in case the link below does not start there.

[Importance of Braille - Casey Robertson’s Speech at NFB Convention (7/6/24)] (https://www.youtube.com/live/GZGh2S7u9bc?si=G_N5cQWb_6mC8h18&t=6605)

(The actual title of Robertson’s speech is “Leading Courageously with Higher Expectations: Braille, Teacher Preparation, and the Continued Influence of the Organized Blind Movement.”)

After reading the four articles, I asked Chat GPT, “Can you teach me braille? I was surprised by its positive response:

ChatGPT:

“Certainly! Learning to read Braille involves understanding how the system works and practicing to recognize the patterns of raised dots that represent letters, numbers, punctuation, and even whole words in some cases. Here’s a basic overview to get you started…”

Did you catch that? “Certainly!” (which I imagined was spoken with an upbeat, cheerful British accent). Unfortunately the AI braille instruction needs a bit of tweaking. It told me that the number sign was dots 3, 4, 5. It also only provided information, not instruction. However, it did end on a positive note:

“Learning Braille can be a rewarding skill that opens up new opportunities for communication and independence. Good luck with your learning journey!”

My first teaching position was in first-grade where reading and writing infused every subject and activity. However, while my elementary teacher training told me about teaching reading and gave me practice assignments, my first year was a lot of trial by fire and error. My mentor’s approach to students who could not keep up with the whole-class instruction was to hand them over to her assistant (who was caring and energetic, but not skilled at teaching reading). Thus, the students who were behind fell further behind.

When I became an AT Instructor at a training center for the blind I encountered adults and teens with low literacy skills. One older man was almost in tears when he confessed, “I don’t know how to read.” I assured him that we could integrate reading and writing into beginning keyboarding, and we did. However, I doubt that I would have had that confidence without my experience teaching first graders.

When I moved over to the K-12 residential as an AT Specialist, over and over students (mostly middle and high school students) told me that braille was obsolete. My typical response was, “I bet a person with sight told you that.” Later I heard about a first grader who said, “The braille teacher thinks I know how to read, but I don’t.” The braille teacher was teaching the braille code, and the classroom teacher was using audiobooks. As Holbrook stated, without accountability and collaboration, “[t]he only person who suffers is the child.”

These memories illustrate Holbrook’s fear that “there is no person who possesses all of [the] characteristics” needed to provide “reading instruction for students with visual impairments.” This makes the village approach essential.

I also agree with Holbrook that “we will not be able to effectively teach reading to students with visual impairments if we do not have the appropriate administrative support” and, I would add, leadership.

From the beginning of my teaching career I was taught principals are the instructional leaders of a school. Thus, principals need to understand the importance of collaboration and create a culture that fosters, supports, and expects the entire staff to work together for the good of each student (aka, the village approach). This leadership is needed since teachers can become territorial. (Teachers tend to say “my students” instead of “our students”.)

Blankenship pointed out that “[o]ver the past 20 years, research has emerged that shows a correlation between the quality of the teacher and the outcomes of students.” Teachers’ expectations and expertise affect students success. Through teacher observations and evaluations, principals influence the quality of education that students receive.

While each article offered key insights, Swenson influenced me most because she highlighted the various methods, concepts, and resources needed to teaching reading and writing to any student. She reminded me of how difficult learning to read and write can be for students with or without sight. However, we don’t withhold reading instruction because learning to read print is hard. Sadly, this tends to happen with braille instruction, partly because teachers don’t know who is responsible, teachers are not adequately trained, and teachers shy away from true collaboration. (Again, please check out Casey Robertson’s speech at the NFB Convention.)

Unlike Chat GPT, we must provide braille learners with more than information about the code and positive words. As Swenson pointed out, working together, we can help braille readers gain “full-fledged membership in the reading and writing community” and “[instill] not only reading competencies, but also a love of reading.” (In time, I believe AI will be a tool that can help us accomplish this, once it learns the correct dot positions.)

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Hi Tammy, thanks for sharing your experience with braille and literacy. In my post I mentioned how vital administrators are to braille instruction because administrators are instructional leaders. You seem to excel in this role. You are modeling ongoing professional development, collaboration, and high expectations. You recognize the experts on your staff. You aren’t afraid to share what you know and don’t know. You also recognize the need to be more intentional about the time given to braille instruction. Sounds like a good recipe for a successful year. Your staff and students are fortunate to have you as one of their leaders. I’m thankful for the opportunity to learn more from you. - Janet Perez

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As a fellow itinerant teacher in northeast OH, being given an appropriate timeframe in order to create accessible materials continues to be a huge issue for me (and my TVI colleagues!). I typically try to meet with all my school teams prior to the new school year beginning - especially if I have a braille reader on their caseload. This gives me an opportunity to share my timeline with obtaining material from them, creating the accessible format, and returning the worksheet/activity back to them in time for my braille reader to access the material/activity with their sighted peers. Unfortunately, unless the teacher has materials ready to go in units/weeks, etc., it is DEFINITELY a struggle to be able to stay on top of creating accessible materials. Post-COVID, classroom teachers have usually been willing to share/make me a teacher collaborator via google classroom, so I can try to plan accordingly; however, I do continue to run into some tech issues in some of my districts (this last year, I worked in 9 different districts) in which I don’t have a district-specific email address to have direct access as a teacher/collaborator in google classroom. In addition, there are some district-specific programs/apps which I don’t always have access to (without a district-specific email login i.e. [username and password]) that I have to ask the teacher for a hard print copy and/or to be given a username/password for me to access the materials to determine how to make it accessible. I agree with you that this part of our job is definitely a work in progress!