Teaching Day

Today, I taught Lauren.  She really did a great job of thinking her way through the challenges she encountered today.  It was really hard, once I stopped talking so much, to tell what she was thinking and how she was working through problems.  I’m not really observant, so I imagine I need to work on picking up clues by watching.  It really helps when Mickey points out things like how the turn of the hips give the direction the body’s about to move, because I probably wouldn’t notice on my own.

A few things from today: #1 I’m not sure I explained the entrance to the law school well.  In the moment, I called it a driveway with steps.  I don’t even know what that is!  I’m sure glad Lauren has visual memory.  #2 I hover too much.  I guess I’m worried I won’t see some obstacle until its too late, and then Lauren will get hurt.  I’ve got to back up more. 

I think I’m a bit confused about when to give information, and when to let Lauren show what she knows.  How often do I need to see what she can do?  I suppose it’s some magical blend of considering which skills she should already have down and expect her to be able to do those things, while showing her new things she doesn’t know.

Last Tuesday

I’d sure love to have been inside Billy’s head during this last lesson.  On the surface, Billy seems so impassive, but I could tell he must be getting frustrated after a while.  While Billy traveled, I really saw the power of having an arc that was too wide.  As Billy over-swung the cane, it caused his shoulder to extend too far, and then his body turned.  It was crazy to see how a simple change in technique could cause him to lose his orientation. 

When I traveled on Thursday, I felt pretty good heading north on MLK toward Call, and the intersection of Park and MLK wasn’t so bad.  It was nice to have long stretches so that I could practice getting in step.  I did make lots of mistakes, but I had the chance to regroup and move forward, not getting caught up on the mistake.  Sometimes, when you make a mistake, and then you make another, you get really flustered, because they build on each other.  But, if you get the chance to regroup between the mistakes, they don’t build on one another quite so badly.

I’ve never seen the intersection of Call and MLK, and all the traffic noise was really intimidating when I stood at the corner.  I could hear the traffic rushing by, and I wasn’t really a fan of crossing the street.  I was glad to hear that you wouldn’t really teach a student to cross it, because I would be so nervous letting a student cross this road.

When I was walking along those stretches of sidewalk, I felt a bit isolated.  I suppose because I was doing pretty well, there wasn’t much to talk about.  Still, the talking and interaction with the teacher acts as security for me.  Without it, I feel a bit more exposed, and I was already a bit uneasy in the area because I’d never traveled or seen it before.  So, when I’m traveling, I want to be a bit distracted, but I bet lots of kids wouldn’t.  I can imagine that some students would be totally overwhelmed with any talking.

Thursday

Hmm… this teaching thing is hard to do!  When I was teaching Lauren on Thursday, I wasn’t sure what to say, if I was saying too much, or if I wasn’t saying enough.  The words coming out of my mouth seemed very uncomfortable; nothing flowed naturally.  It’s so hard to keep everything in your mind.  You have to think about what to say, not say too much, monitor the student’s safety, and be mentally ahead of the student.  It’s just about as exhausting as being the one under blindfold.  When Lauren ventured out into the road, I didn’t know how to respond.  Should I stop her?  Well, at least not right away; she has to figure out her error.  But, then, she just kept going down the street, and then the car was coming…  I had a little bit of an explosion in my head, I was so overwhelmed with all the options.  I mean, it’s obviously going to be different in each instance, but that just makes it a bit more intimidating.  Because really, Lauren wasn’t able to determine she wasn’t safe in the road, until… well, she wasn’t safe in the road.  So where’s the line for help?

That day that it was super cold...

So, Amber was successful in the end!  I bet she was so relieved to be done!  I remember being super drained after intense lessons, so I bet she was just about done for the day; I think she’d reached her limit, so the lesson ended.  I imagine students probably feel this way after an exhaustive lesson.  Though I think Amber wasn’t pushed too far, I wonder if there is a time limit on a lesson?  Like, in the beginning when I’m new and don’t see the signs well, could I make the wrong choice and really do some damage by not knowing when to stop.  Can you push a student too far or too long?  Is there a limit on the learning?

My lesson was interesting too, albeit shorter.  J  I started off walking into an idling car.  It must have been a hilarious sight!  I could tell there was some regression in my skills.  The cane and auditory input was a bit more muddled than before the break.  I definitely made some mistakes that I probably wouldn’t have made otherwise: walking up into the driveway, crossing the road into the median, trouble walking in step, and I’m pretty sure there was a car on the sidewalk.  Okay, well, maybe I would have made the mistakes, but probably not so many of them so quickly… 

I had an odd realization during this lesson.  The thing is… I’m not really scared to move like I have been before.  I just feel safe; I’m really not going to die in this class.  Sweet.  I mean, I’m going to mess up, but I can take chances with my developing skills because I’m really not going to get hit by a car.  I mean, normally I feel nervous doing perfectly safe things.  But to feel comfortable doing something that’s actually a tiny bit risky … that’s way new for me.  It may sound silly, but I just don’t feel safe often, so it’s kind of a big deal.  So, how did this happen?  How do I make my students feel this safe and free to take risks? 

We're Back!

So, Thursday was quite an interesting way to start off our new semester.  I think the word of the day might be patience.  Amber struggled, and I can imagine a huge part of it was the lapse of time between lessons.   I would venture to say that we’ll all have trouble on our first day back.  Motor skills are funny like that – hard to learn and easy to forget if they aren’t fully engrained.   Since we were all just beginning to get comfortable with outdoor travel at the break, the skills we’d picked up weren’t totally grasped, and they definitely weren’t over-learned.

I really learned a lot, though, watching Lauren and Mickey help Amber sort it all out.  At one point, Lauren asked if she should let Amber figure it out or if she should tell her where she’d made her mistake.  I struggle with that myself, but I suppose that almost all of the time, it’s better to let the student figure it out.  The learning takes hold better.   Amber’s day reminded me once again of the incredible power of vision to aid learning.  It took such a long time to teach Amber tactually, but once she could see it, she understood instantly.   I was totally and completely impressed with how well Amber held up under her really stressful day.  Props to Amber!

The End (For Now)

            So, of course I learned some awesome technical skills, and I feel really good about the travel skills I’ve acquired, but I think the biggest change I’ve noticed through the semester has been my confidence level while traveling.  At first I was really afraid to take any chances.  I’d get stuck, and I’d over think things so much that I’d be afraid to move.  But lately, I haven’t been quite so worried about trying something that may or may not work.  I really think this confidence arose as I began to trust myself and the people keeping me safe more.  So, I suppose I take from this lesson the fact that to have my students feel confident and be successful, I’ve got to build strong rapport and trust, but I’ve also got to take the time to help them become more confident in their own skills.

           

            One change that I didn’t really put together until this weekend was that my expectations of blind people are even higher than they were before.  I think before I was afraid to challenge what I thought were bad traveling skills, but now that I have some knowledge, I know for sure they were bad skills, though I won’t be challenging much until I’m all certified and legit.  I see a real correlation between dependence and poor O&M skills.  I was at camp this past weekend, and I just couldn’t believe the horrible skills that the majority of our campers have.  About half of the campers walked off the back of the trailer from the hayride holding their cane under their arms.  There was complete trust that someone else would tell them about the two drop offs and keep them safe.  It makes me so angry that other people facilitated this dependence and also that our campers don’t do anything about it.  I think O&M skills really are the key skill and the difference between being successful and being an awkward, dependent blind person.  I think it bothers me so much because I think sighted people make so many excuses for blind people.  “Oh, but they’re blind, so they can’t possibly do something hard.”  Of course, without the high expectations, they never will.  Here’s where our class comes in: since I’ve done so many of these O&M tasks myself, I’m not really too sympathetic to blind people.  I know it’s scary, and we’ve just had a taste of how nerve-wracking being blind could be, but I’ve learned that you’ve just got to suck it up and keep moving, even when you’re scared.

            I’ve also developed a lot more confidence in my teaching.  The whole time we were inside, I really dreaded teaching because I was so worried I would mess up, and as a result, Lauren wouldn’t learn what I wanted to teach her.  I think I finally realized that if I think carefully and keep my student safe, then we will both be successful. 

            So, I’m really, really excited to keep learning more semester.  I just love the mental challenge and the problem solving, and I can’t wait to try more. 

Streets: Day 3

            Today was a really good day.  I wasn’t afraid to go under blindfold like I’ve been before.  Maybe I was too tired and cold to worry; I’m not sure what the deal was, but I like the result.  Worrying less caused me to make fewer mistakes and be more successful.  Being successful on the first steps made me more confident, and as I got more confident, I became more comfortable.  I can see a day when I’m not so totally consumed by the mechanics of moving the cane and my body in sync that I can begin to take in environmental information more naturally and perhaps even enjoy the walk.  For the first time, I could listen to everyone else’s conversations without missing lots of steps.  Obviously, my skills have a long way to go, but it’s nice to feel so hopeful!  Take home lesson: help students be successful.  It colors their perceptions in the best ways.

            Teaching Billy went pretty well, I think.  Billy’s a good traveler, so that helps.  I think I’ve just got to learn that I’m not going to know everything I’m supposed to teach in every single given environment.  Environments are so unique and have so many complex issues.  So, I’ve just got to teach the things the environment presents to me when they are presented.  Outside on the streets, there is so much to teach that it can’t all possibly be taught.  So, I think knowing that gives me some freedom and ease of mind.  I should teach what comes up and things that will be important, and if I miss something the first time around, more opportunities will present themselves.  I know I’ve read this and heard this non-stop from Mickey, but O&M is not an exact science, but I think it’s finally starting to sink in. 

           

            There’s fairly tired educational jargon that says “assessment drives instruction.”  I think it’s particularly true in O&M.  It’s subtle though, because you are constantly assessing.  The skills build so you can’t really move on until earlier ones are mastered.  It seems to hold true in O&M.  You teach what needs to be taught, when it needs to be taught.  What the child needs to learn is what you need to teach him.

            Interestingly, teaching today helped me confirm more of my technical skills.  You have to know the skills well to teach them to someone.  Still, I noticed saying things to Billy that I wasn’t sure I knew yet myself, surprised they spilled out of my mouth.  Example: I have been really nervous about not noticing an intersection and walking right into it, resulting.  Today, when I was teaching Billy, I saw his anxiety increase as he approached the intersection.  Like me, he stopped too far away from the traffic, likely afraid he was in the intersection.  Then, before I realized it, I was helping Billy run through the criteria: sloping down, idling parallel traffic, near perpendicular traffic, truncator bumps.  I didn’t yet feel comfortable practicing the skill myself, but having to help Billy run through it helped to solidify it in my mind.  Obviously, when I’m for real teaching, I’ll have the skills down, but it was still interesting to see myself learning something while teaching it.

            The FM transmitters really helped.  I’m glad we are using those since it makes hearing so much easier.  All in all, it was a pretty cool way to end the semester.