I shared my math manipulatives with Dana Tarter, deafblind high school resource teacher at Model High School in Rome, Georgia. With the assistance of her interpreter, we discussed different strategies in how to teach life skills such as elapsed time, money, weight, and fractions to her students. Ms. Tarter used my braille manipulatives while I used the student versions during my demonstration. During my demonstration, Ms. Tarter asked me if I had manipulatives for other academic standards because her students have several academic gaps. After her request, we discussed my number line to 10,000,000.
I have demonstrated my manipulatives to students who are blind or deaf as well as to teachers of blind and deaf students. This was a great experience because she is a deafblind teacher, not a teacher of deafblind students. I left her classroom with an order and an opportunity to help her students. However, I also left her room with something much bigger than her order – the priceless observation of a teacher who truly wants to be in the classroom and teach her students. This was very inspirational!
I am going to include the observation of Ms. Tarter using my manipulatives during a lesson in an article for the Canadian Deafblind Association’s quarterly magazine in September.
Posted in Slide-A-Round Updates