Extending
the Bridge
Helping
Tutors, Teachers, and Other Service Providers
and Their Organizations to Better Serve Blind and Visually-Impaired Adults
Learning English as a Second Language (ESL),
Focusing on Literacy Acquisition
A
six-session series of information and discussion
This series was presented in May and June of 2003. It was funded primarily by a grant from the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). In 2002, the presenters, Sylvie Kashdan, Robby Barnes and Cecilia Erin Walsh, attended a three-day training presented by the American Foundation For The Blind National Literacy Center, entitled Bridging the Gap: Best Practices for Instructing Adults Who Are Visually Impaired and Have Low Literacy Skills. Following this training we were invited to submit a proposal for sharing what we had learned. Hence, this series, Extending the Bridge. Other funding sources were St. James ESL Program, Kaizen Program for New English Learners with Visual Limitations, and Washington State Office of Adult Literacy. We also received help from volunteers with research and organizational tasks.
Session
One: The Basics:
Challenges and Possibilities for Blind and Visually Impaired Immigrants
and Refugees
Presenters' introductions, and
participants introductions
Recognizing Roles and Skills
(including A Note on Referrals)
Personal reflections on
experiences with people with visual limitations
Orientation to blindness and
visual impairment (including:
Our students are...
Some basic facts about vision
Debunking Some Myths About People Who Are Blind or Visually-Impaired
What
to Do When You Meet an Immigrant or Refugee Who is Blind or Has Low Vision
(including Cultural conventions)
What are the special problems
and challenges of new English learners with visual limitations?
What can be of help to new English learners with visual impairments?
Some
Basic Definitions of Compensatory Skills
Open discussion: Questions and evaluation
How eye conditions affect
learning and literacy
Modifications in environment
Importance of literacy for
visually impaired and blind people, with emphasis on those learning English as a
Second Language
How literacy affects learning
opportunities and quality of life
Open discussion
Session
Three: Braille and Large Print
Literacy;
Supplemental Technology
Introduction
Low-tech tools samples and use
Making reading and writing
accessible for low vision and blind people
High-tech tools
Open discussion
Session
Four: Many Ways of Knowing:
Multiple Intelligences
Welcome
and introductions
A
word about roles, responsibilities, and referrals
A
fingers-on exercise
Discussion:
What does it mean to have “many ways of knowing?”
An
ears-on exercise
Reflection:
When have you been aware of having to use your sense of hearing more than
your sense of sight?
Exploration
of research-based approaches
Learning
and teaching grounded in the use of multiple senses, multiple intelligences,
social interactions
Practical
suggestions for new language acquisition instruction
Open discussion and evaluations
Session
Five: Strategies for Effective
Instruction and Learning
A Note on Referrals: For
specific tools for making learning more accessible consult appropriate
Professionals
Introductions
Lojban interactive activities
Teaching Strategies:
Lessons, Activities, Adaptations, and Resources
Total physical response
Dialogue Journals
Value for all students of combining senses and learning capacities: listening, speaking, reading, writing
* How prior experience furthers new learning
* Intake and assessment: getting to know your students
*
Adaptations of standardized tools
Adapting the Learning
Environment: Environmental adjustments
Open discussion
Session
Six: Collaboration and Cooperation:
intra- and inter-agency
Introductions
Opening
activity: Mapping internal and
external daily and routine contacts; round-robin sharing:
1.
What are the main, most important tasks in a typical day?
2.
If serving blind or visually-impaired students, what outside agencies or
contacts are most helpful in making your work easier?
Looking
inside our agencies: What do we do?
With whom do we do it? What
would we want to do?
Reaching out to form Interagency Collaboration: Kaizen + St. James = Enhanced ESL, Kaizen-St. James collaboration
* Structure
* Learning for SJESL
* Learning for Kaizen Reaching in to facilitate Intra-agency Cooperation
*
Changes in mainstream ESL Program
Where
can we go from here?
Wish
list: given no restrictions of any
kind, what would make the biggest contribution to making your work more
efficient and effective?
Round-robin sharing.
Challenges
and solutions: Round-robin--each
one share one challenge, others offer solutions
Open
discussion and Evaluation
Kaizen
Program
for
New English Learners with Visual Limitations
810-A Hiawatha Place S., Seattle, WA 98144, U.S.A.
phone: (206) 784-5619
email:
kaizen_esl@literacynet.org
web:
http://www.nwlincs.org/kaizen/