4.4 Observations
4.4.3 Observation Lesson Three
had just explained on the carpet. While the learners were busy with the worksheet, Mandy was assisted by the teacher aide who orally told her the numbers she had to break down. She used her Brailler to Braille the answers. The teacher then called small groups of learners to the carpet to further test their understanding of breaking down numbers. She used flard cards to do this while other learners worked independently to complete the worksheet. She then explained to learners who were done to complete a dot-to-dot worksheet on counting in 5’s and 10’s when they had finished their work. She left this in a basket, explaining that this was an extended activity. The blind learner did not get called to the carpet to work in a group.
When she had finished her work, the teacher aide handed a Braille number chart to her and they did bonds of 15 as an extended activity, because she could not do the dot-to-dot activity.
My time was then up so I let the teacher know and left the classroom.
4.4.3 Observation Lesson Three
at the back of the rows close to the door. The sighted learners kept their bags in lockers along the left side of the room. The blind learners had a plastic rack next to each of their desks with their Braille paper on the top shelf and their reading books at the bottom. Their desks were also larger to accommodate bigger books and Braillers. The name of every learner appeared on their desks and the visually impaired learners had their names both in Braille and in sighted words. The teacher sat in front of the classroom near the windows. The teacher aide did not have a space defined for him personally, as he walked around to help all the learners.
Classroom Observation:
I arrived at 10h30 at the classroom. The learners had just arrived back from break and were lined up outside the classroom, waiting for their teacher with the teacher aide. The teacher arrived and opened the door to let the learners in. The learners quietly went to their lockers and put their lunches away and settled in their seats. I noticed that the visually impaired learners had also put away their lunch containers in their bags by themselves.
Mrs Summer: Hope you had a good break, learners. Now we are going to be writing a
creative story about a picture. (She put a picture up on the board showing a park with lots of children playing. She did not explain the picture orally.)
Mrs Summer: Who can suggest a title for this story? (A sighted learner put up his hand and
said, “A strange day in the park.” The teacher praised him.)
Mrs Summer: Who wants to tell me a few sentences about what they see in the picture?
(A few learners put up their hands. These were all sighted learners as the blind learners could not see the picture to tell the teacher what it was about yet. Sighted learners orally explained what they saw in the picture.)
Mrs Summer: Now I want Ahmed to tell me what happened before the learners got to the
park? Why are they there, Ahmed? (The boy told the teacher he thought the children were on an excursion with their teacher and they had come to the park by bus. The teacher praised the learner.)
Mrs Summer: Who wants to tell me what happens that makes it a strange day in the park?
(Ahmed put up his hand and was eager to answer. He stated that he thought they had found a mysterious bag in the park while the children were playing, and that the bag contained a treasure map. The learners were delighted at his answer and all began to make “Ooh” and
“Aah” sounds.)
Mrs Summer: Well done! That sounds very interesting. Who knows what will be the ending
of the story? (A sighted peer put up her hand and said she thought it led to the ice-cream cart and the teacher bought all the children ice-creams. This was again met with cheers and laughter. The blind learners also giggled at the learner’s comment. Londeka seemed to be listening and laughing; however, she did not participate by answering during the lesson.) Mrs Summer (laughing): Okay, settle down learners. Today each of you will use your imagination and write me a creative story. Do not forget the beginning, middle and ending of the story. You must also give your story an interesting title.
The teacher aide handed out the writing books to the sighted learners. The aide also assisted a learner who was using a computer to type as he had no use of his hands. The blind learners put their own Braille paper taken from a basket next to their desks into their Braillers. The teacher sat beside them and quietly discussed the picture again with the learners. She then asked the learners to write the story. I observed that she asked Londeka questions about her story and she prompted her thinking by assisting with language as it appeared that she was a second language learner.
While the learners were busy with their stories, the teacher then listened to some group reading. I observed how the sighted learners used phonics and had bright, colourful pictures to assist them with their reading. Learners who needed help with words for their sentences put up their hands. The teacher aide helped learners with their words. The sighted learners each had a small book that they used as their personal dictionary. They asked the teacher aide to write words in these books for them. It appeared that the blind learners did not have this personal dictionary and relied on the teacher or the teacher aide for help. I observed them putting up their hands and waiting when they needed help with words.
Mrs Summer: Boys and girls, when you are done, read your story to make sure your
sentences are correct and they have the proper punctuation. You can then draw a picture for your story if you like. (Some learners continued with their writing piece while others who had finished were given a word search worksheet or puzzles to complete.)
Mrs Summer: How is it going, Ahmed and Londeka? Would you like to read me some of your story that you have Brailled so far? (Ahmed was confident and read his Braille writing piece well. Londeka was shy; however, she had written a good story. The teacher praised the learners’ work and made a few corrections to their sentences orally.)
Mrs Summer: Ahmed, do not forget your capital letter and full stops, please. Londeka, the
girl is in the park, not on the park, okay?
(The teacher then asked the two blind learners to read from their books for her while others were busy with a word search. The Braille books were big, square books with tiny little Braille dots covering the pages. I listened and watched as the learners felt the words and read. The boy read well at his level and sounded out words he didn’t know while reading with expression. The girl battled with some words; she sounded them out but besides phonics, she had no other clues like the sighted learners had for decoding words. The teacher assisted and
had a normal reader in front of her. Once the learners had finished their reading, the teacher aide played a guessing game with the blind learners as an extended activity because they could not do the word search.)