Greetings fellow educators of the Deaf/HH!
For those of you who do not know me, my name is Brian Newton. I am a Training and Research Consultant for the Resource Materials and Technology Center (RMTC), located at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB). Previously, I taught in the Deaf middle school at FSDB for 6 years. My position allows me to travel around the state of Florida, working with teachers of the Deaf and Hard-of Hearing. I discuss various strategies for working with the Deaf, as well as introduce technology that may make the curriculum more accessible for their students. My districts include, but are not limited to: Alachua, Broward, Citrus, Gilchrist, Hernando, Hillsborough, Levy, Marion, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, and Polk.
The idea behind this blog is to create a forum where I can disseminate stories about my travels on the road, along with ideas that are shared with me. The vast majority of my time in the classroom as a teacher of the Deaf was spent finding ways to take curriculum written on the current grade level of the student and construct a more accessible approach. Whether I was drawing diagrams, making movies, or using any piece of technology that I could find, I was constantly fighting an uphill battle. One of the more challenging tasks for me was deciding what passages could be diluted to a point of accessibility, while still conveying the higher level concept. It's an issue that many educators of the Deaf wrestle with, "Do I teach them using all the language that is in the book for the sake of exposure or do I 'dilute' in order to communicate the sustenance of a concept."
Well, I hope that this blog will serve to keep people informed with the latest strategies and technology surrounding Deaf education in the state of Florida. I hope that readers will comment on my postings, sharing their thoughts on topics as well.
Take care,
Brian
A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary. ~Thomas Carruthers
