Teaching and Learning

I felt pretty good teaching on Thursday.  I’m still not sure exactly what to say or how much to say when I’m teaching, but I think it’s starting to become more natural.  Looking back, I think I should have done more explanation of the weirder parts of the route, instead of letting Lauren go at it by herself so much.  It’s hard to strike a balance.  Because, yes, I want her to have experiences and build an understanding of traveling via tactual and auditory cues, but at the same time, I want her to learn how to travel efficiently without needing to know about everything she encounters.  But, still, I think the lesson went really well.  I’m still struggling to read what Lauren is thinking, but I think I’m better than I was before.  I think it was a good decision to let Lauren try this route again.  She really showed her proficiency and she seemed so much more comfortable.

After teaching Lauren, I went under blindfold, but walking down the hill along College felt really odd. It was like I’d gone all the way back to the first day of the stairs.  I didn’t trust that my feet would fall in a safe place.  I think my balance was a bit off, and that made me loose confidence in my stride.  Something just didn’t feel right.  I hate to step off the curb when I’m walking, and once I’d done that, I was trying to avoid doing it again.  There’s something really jarring about stepping down off the curb when you think that you’re going to land on higher ground.  Still, I tried to push through the odd feelings and keep moving, and I think that went okay.  Still, it was definitely not my best, most confident walking.  Being a little off reminded me how simple things can really change the confidence level and ability of a student to do a simple thing like walk in a straight line. 

reading blogs

I was interested to read Lauren’s blog this time.  She pointed out things that helped her while traveling, and it was odd to see that those things that helped her were things I thought about telling her but didn’t.  I wanted to tell her about these clues early on, but I wasn’t sure if I should tell her.  So, how long do I let her explore and try to find salient features on her own, and when do I stop and tell her interesting things about the intersection that I think might help her navigate more safely?   Like the dip in the sidewalk and shorelining on the curb. 

I also noticed when reading her blog that I need to give Lauren the chance to build some confidence in her next lesson, since she’s expressed being anxious.  I wonder if she needs to try that route again, being successful this time?

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!