Happy New Year!

I know it's a little late but Happy New Year anyway! It has been pretty quiet around here but that won't last for long. As I write I wait anxiously for my, yes my Resfreshabrialle 18 to charge..I have a couple of hours to wait before I play. 

Travel has started again, this week I am on the road to south central Florida...Lake Placid to be exact. Mark Keith and I will be collaborating with another state discretionary projec,t Florida Instructional Material Center for the next two days. Teachers from the area are going to get a great training in Quality Programing for the Visually Impaired(QPVI).

Next week we are all off to the panhandle for our last Usher Screening Training and Focus Groups..Yay!

In the next few weeks, I will have much to blog about..until then!


Diana

Refresh a Braille 18 vs. Technology gods round 2:

Last school year, I worked with a teacher of the visually impaired and the technology person in a middle sized county somewhere in the middle of Florida…give you a hint…John Travolta lives in the vicinity. Okay with that said, my first round with the Technology gods last April didn’t bode well. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. Isn’t that usually the case when dealing with these crafty beings??

November 2011, Round 2:

I had my work cut out for me.. the computer that was suppose to have the software loaded on it, took forever to boot up and then as it was near completion, it completely died…Tech. gods: 1, me 0. None of the computers had power cords, TG- 2, me-0. Refresh a Braillers not charged..TG-3, me 0.  It was beginning to remind me of that day back in April, so the tech person and I decided to take a lunch break, and discuss our strategies on how to out wit these sly foes, in reality we needed to give the Refresh a Brailler time to charge.

30 minutes later: the Refresh a Brailler still wasn’t charged so that called for drastic measures…I called the APH tech. hot line and talked to Pamela again. She guided me through the entire process, such as plugging the Refresh a Brailler into a wall, loading the correct drivers and reading the Braille on the device- I discovered two things, I need to get my eyes checked because I was having a difficult time reading the Braille cells; either that or I need to refresh my Braille skills. I decided that I needed to get my eyes check and finally admit I need bifocals and it wouldn’t hurt to re-fresh my Braille either.

Once the device was charged and Jaws was rebooted,things went relatively smoothly with  loading everything on to the computers-Jaws and the Refresh a Brailler communicated with each other with almost no difficulties.. I overcame whatever the Tech Gods threw at me this time and prevailed. Chalk 1 up for me! Now this student will be able to use this device in class starting tomorrow. That is if the teacher remembers to charge the Refresh a Brailler…….To Be Continued!

Until next time,

Diana

212° Fahrenheit- a time to boil over:

Well, it has been a while since I last blogged. Eight weeks later, I am starting to feel better. It seems that everyone I know is under immense pressure, almost like we are at a boiling point. I guess, I came to a my boiling point a couple of weeks ago with one of my co-workers. All of us in the past eight weeks have been on the road and away from home. My co-worked had no idea that I was still not feeling well and had  “pushed” my buttons. I had a couple of words with him, okay, I was down right rude and it was uncalled for..knowing this, I started to blubber like the small child I was acting and  began to apologize profusely. Neither of us knew about our horrible weeks so of course we both blew up at one another. He was in his second auto accident and wasn’t feeling well either.  Anyway, my point,  I am glad he is okay and so were the turtles he was transporting.

I was lucky enough to go to the Annual Meeting at the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky. Well, almost lucky I suppose if you count recuperating in a hotel room lucky. What was great about this trip was that I got to spend an evening with my brother and his wonderful family who still live in Cincinnati. I enjoyed spending time with my beautiful nieces and sister-in-law. Both girls were entranced by my Ipad. I spent the time catching up with my brother and sister-in-law. When it was time to leave my nieces kept asking me to stay another night…it was very sweet and tempting. I am not sure if they wanted me or the Ipad to stay!  I had to get to Louisville for the meeting.

Well the weather was typical of October in Cincinnati/Louisville, it was rainy and cold. Since I haven’t lived in the “hills” for 15 years, I was a bit nervous traveling on I-75 and I-71 through Kentucky. Prior to leaving Saint Augustine, I was running a fever..and I still got on that plane and was determined to make this meeting. When I arrived, I ran into a familiar face, Suzanne Dalton from FIMC-VI,  from our sister center in Tampa. I must have startled her because she told me to go to my room and lay down. When I checked into the room and saw my reflection, I understood the strange looks I was getting from people I passed. I was the color of a boiled Lobster, and running a temperature of 100 degrees(again, at my boiling point).... This made me want to get back on a plane and come home.

Needless to say, I stayed, went to a Doctor, attended meetings and came home on Sunday. I swear Delta Airlines was trying to kill me by making me run a marathon through the Atlanta airport. We landed at the last gate in Concourse B and I had literally 20 minutes to get to the last gate in Concourse A.  I made it to the plane and was the last person on board, whew! Where was the guy with the cart when you need one?!?!

It has been like 212° F  since the beginning of the school year and this won’t be over until the end of January. We have done two Usher Screening Trainings, so that means we have three more to do. This week we start our ESE Focus Groups, seven in all that are all over the state. I am looking forward to February when things start to slow down for a bit and I can catch my breath. Until the next boiling point that begins in March.

Oh by the way, next time I will provide a dictionary for some of these acronyms I use!

Until next time,

Diana

Getting off to a rocky start.....

The school year is going full steam ahead but I feel like I can’t catch up…well it doesn’t help that I ended up out for a week with a virus. Usually, I am the last person to catch the nasty bugs, by then they have morphed into something else and I am down for a day or so. Nooo, not this time, I was out an entire week, the third week of school. That was the worst week to miss. I had scheduled two O&M assessment which are still in the process of being made up. I also missed an important FLDRS meeting in Tampa. The team voted and they didn’t want Typhoid Diana anywhere near them, I couldn’t blame them!

That was four weeks ago and have been on the road ever since. My first trip back was to the “sweetest town” in America (Clewiston, FL), there were fields and fields of sugar cane everywhere and lots of bear crossing signs. This was going to be a team function: RMTC and OSBD working together. We had our parent liaison Mark Keith (RMTC/OSBD), Our Deaf and Hard of Hearing Specialist, Nada El-Khoury (RMTC) and myself, COMS® and VI Education Specialist (OSBD). Let me just say that we did awesome working with the parents, teachers, and support staff, principal and of course the students. I was so pleased at how everything went together!

 What is up with all of the acronyms?  RMTC, OSBD or COMS…well RMTC is Resource, Materials, and Technology Center, OSBD: Outreach Services for the Blind(B/VI) and Deaf. COMS® means Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist® (yes, our titles are registered).

After that I went to the Keys, yes for work and by myself. The trip was very productive as always. I am always grateful to Sharon Day, she helps this trip run smoothly. I was there for four days and saw seven students and six staff. I also met a teacher who tried to get me to go a Zumba class while I was down there. Maybe next timeJ

The next team function was the Usher Screening Training for SW Florida, last week. This time Leanne Grillot (our project manager, amongst other things) from FL Dept. of Education was there. We had four counties attend: Lee (the host county), Collier, Sarasota, and Highlands. Not bad for our first training. We will be doing four other trainings across the state before the end of this year(December). I have to say that again we did a great job and we learned so much from this first training that the next one is going to be better. A big high five to Nada for getting the power point done!

 For the past three weeks, I have traveled down I-95 and Highway 27 and of course US 1.......next week, it will be I-4, I-10, I-75, highway 40 and highway 90

Now we are to this week, I found out my mother is not doing as well as expected with her lung cancer and my husband now has my awful cold( he is resting right now!) My mother’s news, although expected, still is hitting me pretty hard. I finally have my O&M assessment rescheduled and have two presentations to give… yes, this is going to be a rocky year full of ups and down. I know it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. With that, I think I am going to take this time and not sweat the small stuff and appreciate all that is around me.

Ready or not, here comes the 2011-12 school year: welcome back students and teachers!

Starting tomorrow, it will be the first day of school for all students and teachers in the State of Florida. Some districts started last week but most will start tomorrow. I want to take this time to wish everyone: students, teachers, all other school staff, and parents, a successful and fulfilling school year! Every school year starts off with promise and hope. I know that  I always make promises on what I am going to do better and improve at the beginning of every school year, sounds just like a “new years” resolution of sorts, doesn’t ? Last school year, for example, I talked to my co worker Mark Keith about how I was going to give myself more time in the office so I could get my paperwork done on time and not let myself get overwhelmed. I also decreed that I was going to work on more projects. Well before that school year ended, I started booking trips for the 2011-12 school year…. So much for spending time in the office and getting paperwork done on time, right?! I am not complaining, this just means I have to reexamine my “new school years resolution”, now doesn’t it?? Humm let me think about that one for a bit….

 My biggest problem is not being able to say “no” . If I get a call from a district…I drop everything I am doing and go where I am needed. Thank goodness I have an understanding husband. He has always been supportive of my work and encourages me to do better. After we got married (5 years ago!) he told me that he didn’t expect me to stop traveling because we were married. All I can say is that I truly am lucky to have him in my life. It also helps that I have an understanding supervisor who “gets it”. Again, I am truly lucky.

With that said, I want to share this article from Krista Ramsey from my hometown newspaper the Cincinnati Enquirer: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110818/COL01/108190332/Note-teachers-Thanks-loving-our-kids?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Columnists|p

Till next time!

The swing of the pendulum: getting ready for change

The one thing that I have learned over the years is that the more I know about my field, the less I know…what do I mean by that? Well, it seems that just when I grasp and understand the new changes that are thrown my way; it changes yet again, no time for the “old, new way to gel” in the brain. The old, new way of doing things is out and passé. For example, I went to a training not too long ago (last school year).. This was a follow up to a training that was offered at the end of the 2010 school year…Well, come to find out that everything we learned that previous year is being thrown out and new initiatives are being introduced. Soooo, what we did last year is no longer any good and  we have to start all over again with new assessments this year…which by the way will be out dated next year.

Speaking to a veteran teacher whom I admire, she told me that this happened to her many (I leave it at the one many) years ago. She too, went to many professional development opportunities and tried to implement what she learned in her trainings with her students…the next year, she said everything she learned  was “out” and something new and cutting edge was in, only she said that this “cutting edge” way of doing things was not new, it was done in the previous decade and she noted that  some of these “new, old” ideas are being brought back again in this century.  So, I must ask: Isn’t that insanity?  And we all know the definition of that!

This reminds me of what we were told recently  by the experts about nutrition… for example as a child my parents made me drink skim milk and eat wheat bread…now, I  come to  find out that skim milk is not good for you. Great, so all this time, I have been doing more harm to myself then good for the sake of being healthy. I guess I should have stuck with my original plan…the chocolate/bacon diet…instead of being unhealthy and unhappy by drinking skim milk and eating wheat bread, I could have had chocolate and bacon and a healthy heart. Oh, and had more fun getting this way. Not to worry, as far as I know I have a healthy heart but still. I heard that chocolate cancels out the bad cholesterol of the bacon-no not really. This goes to show that the more we learn, the less we know.  Confused yet? I know I am!? Hang in there, I am sure it has to get better, right!?!?!

I am currently working on a wiki space for itinerant teachers who work with blind or visually impaired students. I just finished my outline and will be putting together the pieces one day at a time. I hope to have something up and running by the end of the week.I will also post my first I-movie I made using my I pad. I'll keep you posted on the release date for that as well

By the way, the beginning of the 2011-12 school year begins: T (being for teachers): T- 4 more works days for teachers.  S( for students) it is 8 more school days (that does not include weekends) so that would be: S-8 days. I guess this is my sad attempt at embracing Math(see last post)  So, teacher and students savor what is left of this very hot summer…go to the beach, swim, eat chocolate- bacon flavored ice-cream or what ever makes you happy. I plan on enjoying spending time with my two nieces and playing auntie! 

Math the other four letter word.. and other musings

I had the opportunity to attend the Florida Diagnostic & Learning Resource System (FDLRS) Region 2's Summer Institute that featured Judi Sweeney as the speaker, she is the founder of Onion Mountain Technology a firm that specializes in assistive technology for all students. Her workshop on this day was about Math and Technology. First off, I want to go on record to say that Math is not my favorite subject and have yet to meet a teacher with whom I work that gets real excited about teaching this subject to their students. Math is a four letter word that I tend to avoid if possible...The only thing Math it is good for is helping me balance my check book which is by no means an easy task.

Anyway, I digress back to Judi's workshop. Siting there freezing, in dread , and afraid she was going to talk about quadratic equations or the Pythagorean  Theorem ,  I found myself fascinated by her presentation. She didn't focus on the M-word  and the national standards all that much but instead on the different types of learning styles, eye movements and how we process information...Brain based learning.It was so interesting and it applied to some of what I do when administering a Learning Media Assessment that determines how a student access information be it visual, auditory or kinesthetic/tactile(tactically for the Brailler reader). Did you know that 50% of people are are hardwired to be  visual learners, 20%  of the people are auditory and 30% of the people are kinesthetic/tactile  learners. I find this fascinating since I work with children who are blind or visually impaired and many of the children are visual learners.

She also discussed the various types of low tech devices to assist a student in math. I think sometimes, I forget and think that if it is technology then it has to be "high"tech and expensive-the bigger the better! Not true as I have found out this past school year a simple pencil and a piece of paper can be technology. Oh, I also found out from this workshop that I am a visual symbolic learner...I should be good at...yes, you guess it,  Math!

I have also been working with my braille note taker The Braille Sense. At the recommendation of the LATS, I managed to get a computer monitor to hook up to my device. Again, visual learner here and I need all the help I can get with learning how to use the Braille Sense... The monitor made all the difference and has made it so much easier to navigate the different menus, create documents and even check my emails or surf the web. Look out facebook here I come via the Braille Sense!!  This device is helping me refresh and remember Braille.

With my I pad, I also made a couple of i movies. I am still waiting to down load  my movie debut "Eye Heart the Ipad 2: Embracing Technology . When making this short film, I discovered how to laid down some music tracks, a voice track, some sound effects and take screen shots to use  for images in the film. Sure the short film is "campy" but it was fun to make and helped me understand just how use this tool. My second attempt at the movie was even better"Mainland 2.0" and even more "campy". I can't wait to show some of the teachers how to use this with their students

Well as summer wraps up, more and more people are on campus everyday. Most of our team is back and is getting ready for the school year. In a few short weeks, we will be all over the place.