ITINERANT TEACHER TIPS

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated October 31, 2017

Itinerant teaching can be very rewarding but can also be challenging. Creating and recreating schedules, conducting assessments, meeting and collaborating with a variety of teams, not to mention serving a wide range of students with varying ages, abilities and acuities can be overwhelming. Getting organized can help eliminate some of the stress. The following are some tips to help fellow TVI's.

Become Familiar with the area.

Itinerant teachers spend a lot of time traveling between schools. Knowing different routes can be a lifesaver when there’s heavy traffic or your caught behind a school bus, tractor, snowplow or there’s construction or flooding and road closures (Yes, I've experienced all!). If you are new to an area or are going to a new school, take the time to become familiar with the area. A GPS can be helpful, but an old fashion map can also help give you an overview of an area...and can also be helpful if your built in navigation quits (Yep. That's happened too!). You can opt to purchase a map or you can typically obtain a free map by visiting the local Chamber of Commerce, Visitor Center or Department of Transportation.                  

Travel Time

Driving is an expected part of your job as an itinerant teacher. Some schools may be just across the street or down the road from each other, but it is more likely that you will spend between 20 minutes to an hour between schools…hopefully not longer! Safety should always come first, so don’t multitask if you are easily distracted or if travel conditions are poor. Driving time can be a good time to think through lessons, upcoming IEPs, conversations or other work related information. It can also be used listening to podcasts…or just singing your heart out to relieve stress. I typically pack small snacks to eat on the road rather than sitting down for a lunch break which frees you to do other activities during your lunch break. Need some portable snack ideas? Here are some of my favorite easy to eat and relatively healthy (and gluten free!) on the road snack ideas:

• Apple or other easy to eat fruit
• Cheese with crackers (hint: slice the cheese at home...I tried doing this while driving with not so great results!!)
• String cheese
• Baby Carrots with an individual hummus cup
• Veggie straws or other snack/chip
• Nuts, Seeds, or dried chickpeas
• Chia Squeeze
• GoGo Applesauce squeeze
• Individual box of raisins or craisins
• Trail mix
• KIND bars or other granola or protein bar
• Go Picnic boxes
• sandwiches or wraps 

Your Car

Your car is your office on wheels so you will want to keep it organized and supplied with materials. Opt for a car that you feel comfortable and safe in, has an available trunk and gets good gas mileage! It is important to keep up with service including oil changes and making sure your tires are in good shape. Joining AAA (American Automobile Association) and keeping up with the membership is something I have chosen to do as an itinerant teacher for peace of mind. Even with AAA, it doesn’t hurt to be familiar with how to change a tire and carry cable jumpers in your trunk. In addition to work binders and materials, I like to keep the following in my car:

• Cell phone charger
• Laptop (of course you may not want to leave it in a hot car!)
• Notepad
• Pencils/pens
• Hard candy :)
• Kleenex
• First aid kit
• Hand sanitizer
• Auto wipes
• Umbrella(s)
• Local map
• Plastic ware
• Crate in trunk so materials don’t roll around
• Collapsible dolly
• Blanket
• Ice scraper/brush in the winter (yup. Still occasionally need these during northern GA winters!)
• Bottle(s) of water
• Small pair of scissors
• Nail clippers
• Accordion file of forms frequently needed in meetings

Work Bag(s)

I carry a work bag with me throughout the day to keep myself organized. I keep the following items in my bag so I can have everything I need at my fingertips.

• I keep the typical essential items such as pens, pencils, highlighter, scissors, etc. in a small bag.
• I’m “old school” and keep a month-at-a-glance planner. I like to write my direct students and keep track of consults and meetings. I also use email calendar invites for meetings which helps all invitees remember meetings and appointments. I write the miles between appointments on each day and keep track of the total miles driven each day to help with end of the month mileage forms.
• VI Program Handbook with Data Collection. Although I used to carry both a Data Collection Binder and a VI Program Handbook, I have worked to consolidate and combine these two resources this past year in an effort to lighten my bag...and provide relief to my shoulders and back! I keep only the information that I regularly refer to in this binder. It's a must have and goes with me everywhere! Read more about how I set up this handbook on the VI Program Handbook page. 

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About

Hi! I'm Carmen Willings. Welcome to my website! I developed this web resource to support fellow TVI's and to educate those new to the field of visual impairments in how to best support students who are blind or visually impaired.  ​Read More

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