PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
revised September 1, 2018

Taking initial coursework to become a vision professional is not enough to become or remain an effective vision professional. Part of professional practice is to remain a lifelong learner and stay current with developments in the field of visual impairments and also stay on top of current trends. This includes engaging in ongoing professional development to expand and develop your professional knowledge and skills. 

Professional Development Activities 

If you don't work at a school for the blind or in a larger city with a large VI program, it can be difficult to find professional development opportunities specific to teaching students with visual impairments.The following is a list of activities to help you continue to develop your professional skills and knowledge:

• Attend local, state, regional and/or international conferences on the unique needs of students who are blind or visually impaired. 
• Become a member of a professional organization such as the  Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired  and the Division on Visual Impairments of the Council for Exceptional Children. Membership to AERBVI includes an electronic subscription to the  Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness.
• Subscribe to professional list-serves on the internet to interact with colleagues.
• Participate in workshops or webinars to maintain proficiency in braille and technology updates as well as to stay current on best practice.  Perkins School for the Blind offers Perkins eLearning. Additionally, they have a Paths to Technology site with many AT resources.
• Ongoing research of best practice and strategies through the internet, professional resource books, and professional journals.
• Even if you can't attend a live conference or webinar, you can sometimes access the PowerPoint presentations that were presented which can provide you with some details and links to resources. I have uploaded copies of my PowerPoint Presentations from conference workshops that you may access on the Presentations page.

AER Chapters 

Becoming a member of the Association of Education of Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI) will provide you with opportunities to network with fellow vision professionals and strengthen our field. ​However, even if you are not a member of AER, you can still attend meetings and conferences. Visit AER for a list of chapters and websites to view online resources and sometimes even handouts and PowerPoints from conferences.

Want to join me at an upcoming conference? I am currently serving on the Georgia AER board. Visit our GaAER website for upcoming conference information. Additionally, you can visit my Presentations page for a list of upcoming conferences I will be attending as well as view previous PowerPoint presentations. 

     I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way." ​ ~Franklin P. Jones

Frequently Asked Questions 

This page provides answers to my most frequently asked questions.

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Site Map

I have included many pages and resources on this site and understand it may be difficult to quickly locate the information you need. Visit the Site Map to quickly locate the articles, resources or sections your looking for. 

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Free Membership

Sign up for free membership to access the FREE downloadable templates, handbooks and handouts on the Printables page. Simply click on the Log In | Register link in the navigation bar. If you haven't joined yet, you will be prompted to create a password. ​

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TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired

$50.00

Written specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), this book consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level.

The core activities listed in the Activity section can be adapted to each thematic unit. These include:

• Object Characteristic Activities
• Quantity & Number Concepts
• Time Concept Activities
• Environment & Job Awareness Activities
• Listening Skills Activities
• Reading Foundation Activities
• Reading Fluency Activities
• Braille Basics Activities
• Writing Activities
• Tactual Efficiency Activities
• Developing Skillful Hands Activities
• Visual Efficiency Activities
• Optical Device Instruction Activities
• Recipe Activities

In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites.

Unique Concepts within the Units include:

• Self Advocacy Activities (e.g. advocating for safe classroom, presenting to class on visual impairment, requesting help and more)
• Social Skills Activities (e.g. Being bullied or teased, giving and receiving compliments, body language, "I" messages when upset and more)
• Recreation & Leisure Activities (e.g. exploring interest areas, getting involved in clubs and sports, playing games, and more)
• O&M Support Activities (e.g. Suggestions for community based experiences, dog guide information, locations in the school, bioptics, ride sharing, traffic signs, and more)
• Independent Living Skill Activities (e.g. chores, being responsible, using tools, recipe suggestions, hygiene, staying healthy, labeling foods and products, and more)
• Sensory Efficiency Activities (e.g. unique sensory experiences related to the unit, unique optical device activities, and more)
• Compensatory Activities (e.g. organizing materials, study habits, and many unique concepts related to the unit)
• Career & Vocational Activities (e.g. job awareness, completing applications, job task suggestions, and more)

Although the intended audience of this resource is fellow Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, special education teachers may find these activities beneficial to the students in their classrooms as the activities are multisensory and include life skills and concepts needed by all students. This resource, however, is not intended to take the place of a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI). Readers are advised to consult their own TVI’s regarding instruction in the ECC and the unique visual needs of the student’s served in their programs.

Note: This curriculum is a digital pdf download. Once you make your purchase you will be directed to an order confirmation page where you will find the download link. This download will also be included on the receipt sent to the email address you provide. The pdf download can be found directly under the order number.

Each download is intended for single instructor use per copyright. Thank you for helping me preserve the content and not distributing copies to third parties.

Product details

Digital pdf download: 364 pages (11 pt font)

Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

Author: Carmen Willings

Language: English

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