PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com September 1, 2018 Professional practice should include standards for high quality instruction as well as ongoing professional development to remain current on best practice. As with any profession, Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments as well as Orientation and Mobility Specialists can face ethical issues. It is important to follow personal as well as industry professionals standards to address issues. Professional DevelopmentPart of professional practice is to remain a lifelong learner and stay current with developments in the field of visual impairments. This includes engaging in ongoing professional development to expand and develop your professional knowledge and skills. This page details ways to stay current and develop your career.
Teacher StandardsThis page identifies unique knowledge areas and skills that are required by Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments. Use this page to reflect on your current skills and identify areas in which you need to grow.
Professional EthicsAs with all professions, Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments will face ethical dilemmas and need to use personal and professional standards to handle these issues. This page discusses some of those issues.
Itinerant Teacher TipsItinerant teaching can be very rewarding but can also be challenging. This page provides suggestions on staying organized as well as other tips for fellow itinerant teachers.
VI Program HandbookThis page provides information on putting together a VI Program Handbook. This handbook contains all vital information TVI's will want to carry with them when serving students who are blind or visually impaired.
Year at a GlanceItinerant teaching can be very rewarding but can also be challenging. This page provides suggestions on time management, planning the year in advance and other tips for fellow itinerant teachers.
Federal Quota FundsSome students who are eligible for Vision Services will also be eligible to receive Quota Funds. The eligibility criteria for these funds is different than for vision services. If the student is eligible, these funds can be used to obtain materials available from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). This page provides guidelines for quota funds.
Deaf-Blind Child CountEach December in the United States, the National Center on Deaf-Blindness conducts a deaf-blind report on children identified in each state as deaf-blind. It is the longest running registry of children who are deaf-blind in the world. This page provides information on the annual child count.
Caseload AnalysisAn important component of program management involves caseload analysis in order to determine the need for changes in staffing based on current students and projection for growth with population changes.
Role of the Classroom TeacherThe classroom teacher is responsible for instructing the student in the core curriculum as well as collaborating with the Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) and other support staff to ensure that the student's unique needs are being met. This page details the role of the general education teacher.
Simulation ActivitiesIt can be beneficial, and in some cases necessary, to formally instruct those new to the vision field, team members, or peers with the opportunity to experience some of what it is like to be blind or have a visual impairment. This page provides suggestions for activities to use when planning an in-service.
Free Matter for the BlindIf the student is legally blind, remember that he is entitled to send and receive certain materials through the US Postal Service for free. Materials such as textbooks, educational materials, braille letters, and books on tape from The Library for the Blind may be mailed without postage. The package/envelope must have the words "free matter for the blind" stamped or handwritten on them. It is important to remember that these materials must be for the use of someone who is legally blind so be cautious.
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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:
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:
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 
Visual Efficiency & Magnifier Fluency Grab & Go ECC Supplements
$20.00
This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a supplement to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details: Digital pdf download: 210 pages Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments Author: Carmen Willings Language: English |
