PRESENTATION.
This website is the result of a whole year working at the IES Tierra de Ciudad Rodrigo. It started as a combination of the need and the challenge of giving all the students the same chances to study or do any kind of work or subject, beginning with the adaptation of the surroundings to allow all pupils to do the same jobs for which we carried out curricular adaptations in the means rather than in the contents.
This project started at the begining of the school year 2014/15 in which we found out that a visually impaired student had enrolled in the 4º ESO year optional course "Basic Carpentry Operations", a subject which is fundamentally practical and mostly done within the carpentry workshop.
After experiencing many doubts we considered two options: we could adapt the contents and activities or otherwise adapt the tools and the surroundings. Despite being the most dificult choice we decided to go for the second one as we thought the student would feel more self-fulfilled if she could do the same jobs as her classmates.
Step by step, lesson after lesson, Verónica (student) used all the tools and acquired the necessary skills and confidence to carry out the tasks achieving more than satisfactory results.
As we went on we tried to foresee Verónica´s future needs previously adapting the tools and equipment that she was going to need although it wasn´t always possible as we encountered new difficulties and drawbacks daily.
We must point out that for the correct development of the lessons it has been very important to count on the assistance of Mayte (ATE- Education Technical Assistant) who has helped Verónica at all times, supervising the use of the tools, taking care of her security and guiding her through the lessons, being not only Verónica´s eyes but the teacher´s too.
It is really sad for us all to end this school year now, at a moment in which we are working with most of the adapted means, with a working habit and all the skills acquired (by all of us) throughout the year.
This project started at the begining of the school year 2014/15 in which we found out that a visually impaired student had enrolled in the 4º ESO year optional course "Basic Carpentry Operations", a subject which is fundamentally practical and mostly done within the carpentry workshop.
After experiencing many doubts we considered two options: we could adapt the contents and activities or otherwise adapt the tools and the surroundings. Despite being the most dificult choice we decided to go for the second one as we thought the student would feel more self-fulfilled if she could do the same jobs as her classmates.
Step by step, lesson after lesson, Verónica (student) used all the tools and acquired the necessary skills and confidence to carry out the tasks achieving more than satisfactory results.
As we went on we tried to foresee Verónica´s future needs previously adapting the tools and equipment that she was going to need although it wasn´t always possible as we encountered new difficulties and drawbacks daily.
We must point out that for the correct development of the lessons it has been very important to count on the assistance of Mayte (ATE- Education Technical Assistant) who has helped Verónica at all times, supervising the use of the tools, taking care of her security and guiding her through the lessons, being not only Verónica´s eyes but the teacher´s too.
It is really sad for us all to end this school year now, at a moment in which we are working with most of the adapted means, with a working habit and all the skills acquired (by all of us) throughout the year.
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED.
- We must say it hasn´t always been easy for any of us involved in the project.
We have also realised the lack of training we teachers have in general in order to meet the needs of students with this kind of impairment and how little has been done (at least within workshops) for them to be able to study the subjects as normally as possible.
Another challenge we faced was the number of students in the workshop. Since it wasn't, by any means a small ratio, the teacher could not devote all the time Verónica needed during the lessons if he wanted her classmates to also enjoy a personalised learning and working pace.
Preparing these highly adapted lessons was timeconsuming since we started from scratch without the necessary training and information to do them with the quality we aimed at trying as well to avoid monotonous repetitions until full acquisition of skills.
Regardless of all, this project has gone ahead but it would't have been possible:
- Without Verónica´s relentless and positive attitude to work, the essential patience at the beginning and without her daily effort and self-improvement.
- If Maite hadn't worked hand in hand with Verónica, always alert at all her needs, watching over her safety and paying attention to the teacher's explanations as any other student. Her help has been essential.
- Without the help of Puertas (Woodwork Department) for all his advice on technical aspects when adapting the tools.
- Without the help of María and Luis (Technology Department) who lend us the gears for the caliper.
- Without the help of the CFIE Ciudad Rodrigo (Centre for Teacher Training): Alfonso, Ana, Emilio for their technical help on website development and their willingness to help at any time.
- Without the help of Nieves (ONCE - Spanish National Organization of the Blind) who lend us the labelling machine to mark some tools in Braille.
- Without the support of the Headmaster and the Head of studies as well as all the teaching staff in the IES Tierra de Ciudad Rodrigo.
And for course, without the help of the Project Coordinators:
- Rubén Ortega Jorrín: Teacher of the subject.
- Raúl Ortega Jorrín: Carpentry and woodwork teacher.
- Cristina Melliard Villanueva: English teacher.
VERÓNICA'S CONCLUSIONS.
When I started looking at the optional subjects for fourth year and they told me that OBC (Basic Carpentry Operations) could be a good option since I was repeating this year and this wasn't a hard subject, I thought they had all gone crazy, that it would be impossible for me, that I wouldn't be able to do anything, that I would lose all my fingers... and thousands of other cons.
However, these lessons became my favourite, Rubén made a huge effort so I could do the same things as my classmates, adapting saws, measuring tools... all so I could follow the lessons with the help of the ATE. What was the most dificult thing? The gauge tool.
It has been an amazing experience for me, thanks to my teacher's adaptations and Mayte the ATE's help I've felt very comfortable at all times and it never became the torture it seemed it would be at first.
I must say that, against all odds, I've kept all my fingers.
I'd recommend it to everyone since I've really enjoyed it and I've also learnt. I'm glad that a few difficulties didn't hold me back because the satisfaction I felt when I took my first job home, a coat hanger, was one of the best things of the year.
Verónica.
However, these lessons became my favourite, Rubén made a huge effort so I could do the same things as my classmates, adapting saws, measuring tools... all so I could follow the lessons with the help of the ATE. What was the most dificult thing? The gauge tool.
It has been an amazing experience for me, thanks to my teacher's adaptations and Mayte the ATE's help I've felt very comfortable at all times and it never became the torture it seemed it would be at first.
I must say that, against all odds, I've kept all my fingers.
I'd recommend it to everyone since I've really enjoyed it and I've also learnt. I'm glad that a few difficulties didn't hold me back because the satisfaction I felt when I took my first job home, a coat hanger, was one of the best things of the year.
Verónica.
FINAL OBSERVATIONS.
We are very proud of the result of this project which, like many things in life, the more difficult it is to achieve the more we value it.
Through this website we would like to share our educational experience in case one day other people find themselves in a similar situation since it might be helpful in order to lay down a basis using these ideas and serve as a starting point to add new things if necessary. We hope this will be inspirational for all those teachers that face situations which may seem impossible at first sight. We must load ourselves with patience, hope and dedication and soon we will achieve positive results. From then onwards we will be able to build anything that comes our way.
Through this website we would like to share our educational experience in case one day other people find themselves in a similar situation since it might be helpful in order to lay down a basis using these ideas and serve as a starting point to add new things if necessary. We hope this will be inspirational for all those teachers that face situations which may seem impossible at first sight. We must load ourselves with patience, hope and dedication and soon we will achieve positive results. From then onwards we will be able to build anything that comes our way.