Teaching in a wheelchair

[andytgeezer]

Hi All

I'm an elearning advisor for a university that has a big teacher training programme, and one student came to me in a wheelchair asking me if I had  any tips for teaching with a SMART board in a wheelchair. 

I would love to help out but I don't have any experience of doing so. Anyone have any tips to share?

[Julie Baird]

My student teacher wasn't in a wheelchair but he did something that might work. He took one of the long wooden pointers that teachers used to have and secured an extra pencil eraser to the end of the tip. He was able to move objects easily with this device and the pencil eraser was gentle on the SB surface. 

Another idea is for your student to use the Smart Slate with the SB. It is a tablet that serves as the mouse. He or she could move any objects and also write on the SB via the Smart Slate.

[Joanne Villis]

I'm currently in a wheelchair and I am returning to teaching in a week (we are on holidays at the moment). I plan on positioning myself in front of the PC/laptop and letting the students run the SB themselves. Ideally it isn't good practice for a teacher to be seated in front of the PC/laptop but improvising is good.

When I am not normally in a wheelchair I often sit at the rear of the class anyway. If we are playing an interactive game I just call out the names of students and they jump up and have their turn at the board. A good game to get students used to this style of teaching is called Math Fries.

If the teacher with whom you are working is permanently in a wheel chair I suggest that he/she uses wiki spaces as a basic platform to present lessons. Wiki spaces are easy to navigate for students on the SB and the content and interactive games are all there in the one location. When conducting brainstorming activities I suggest that the teacher again positions themselves in front of the PC/lap top and type. Typed text can then easily be manipulated and moved by students as they approach the SB.

 

[andytgeezer]

Thank you both for your ideas. I'll go present these to my class. Still up for more ideas so keep em coming!

[Joanne Villis]

I've been teaching for a week in a wheel chair. I have found that teaching using an extension tool (pointer) is impractical as there isn't enough room for the teacher to be at the front of the board and then the students sitting in front of the teacher when teaching primary students. My PC is set up to the side of the SB, 15 students sit in front of the SB on the carpet and 15 sit at their desks (front rows or front groups of desks).

I also upload the Notebooks that I use on the class wiki or shared drive at school. We work through the documents as a class but then I book the computer room (1 lesson per day) and allow students to work through the Notebook documents a second time via their own computer. This allows students to reinforce concepts.

If you have a document camera (I am still waiting for mine to be delivered) or a scanner, use this to scan any worksheets and project them onto the SB.