Vision

I was amused to read recently about the vision correction trials and tribulations of San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy. He is legally blind without his vision correction. I know THAT story, I am in the same boat; without my contact lenses, my vision is a step above being legally blind. And my eyes seem to be getting worse, as they do as one navigates through their 40's and beyond....

Anyhow, how do you handle your students in class, who cannot see? Teaching junior high, I annually get several students who have vision problems. At the start of each school season, I develop the first of several seating charts. I always ask my students for several bits of information, including the question of "Can you see the boards from where I seat you?" For those students who will tell me about their not being able to see, I try to find the best place for them to sit in my classroom.

But, not all of them will freely revel such information. Throughout the year, those silent about their vision difficulties will usually be reveled in several ways; I will see them constantly looking at what their neighbors are copying from the board or I will find out from a parent that they have glasses and often chose not to wear them. Occasionally they revel that their lack of work is due to the fact that they can't see well enough to do their work, or that yes, they do need glasses and need to either get new ones or get their current glasses fixed. At times, I have brought this issue to school administration when parents have said that they cannot afford glasses for their kid or don't have the money to pay for fixing the glasses. There are social services to help these families. [ An aunt of mine once told me that as a child of a poor family, she had to wear poorly fitting glasses provided by "the welfare" people and this was part of her motivation to get an education (which she did: She graduated from the Univ. of Chicago with her LLD in 1945 ---- and she is STILL practicing law in Chicago!) ]

Likewise, I have to take my own vision problems into consideration with my students. It is a rule in my class that if I cannot easily read their work, I will return it to them ungraded and they must redo it in a form that I can read.

Vision. Just one of the many aspects we teachers must take into consideration in working with our 200 or so students each year.

Thanks for reading my blog! As always, I welcome your comments!