Archive for November, 2014

I want to thank the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairments for posting my link as resource on their website. I am ready to help students around the world with their education.

After contacting Dr. Barbara Wrushen, Special Education Supervisor for Knox County Schools, in Knoxville, TN, we were able to correlate our schedules. Dr. Wrushen suggested that I plan on demonstrations for her teachers in her district on November 21st and November 22nd. I will update my website when locations, dates, and times become available.

I forwarded Jennifer Lortie, Program manager at the Eastern Connecticut Assistive Technology Project, my recent article that was published in National Federation of the Blind’s Fall 2014 Future Reflections Magazine and additional information. After she reviewed the article and information, she informed me that she would share my teaching strategies with her colleagues. This is another example of how people are helping people. In the end, students are the ones who are going to benefit because parents, teachers, and administrators are going to have “another tool in the toolbox.”

It is amazing how many different opportunities are opening up with my math manipulatives. Laura Walley, Assistant Principal. and Ruth Miller, Parent Involvement Coordinator, are organizing a math workshop on January 14th for parents to learn teaching math strategies to help their children with homework. I have been invited to use my math manipulatives during the workshop. Because Elm Street Elementary has a large Spanish speaking population, it is very likely that I will need to have Ms. Miller translate my teaching strategies to the parents as well as translate the dialogue between them and me. I am excited about this new kind of demonstration for me and opportunity to help parents provide support for their children’s education.

I ended the week on a positive note. I discussed my math manipulatives with Mary Pittman, Math Specialist for the Colorado Department of Education. After sharing information over the phone about my manipulatives with Ms. Pittman, she requested additional information and images to forward to her colleagues. We agreed that if our discussion will help just one student in her state it was time well spent!