My sister, Jessica,
one of the most remarkable freshmen that I have ever met, recently came across
a problem. But in order to get to that part, one must understand my sister.
Jessica isn’t just some ordinary freshman in high school, she is also visually
impaired. She isn’t completely unable to see, which is why doctors characterize
her as “partially blind”. This term has been given to her due to her ability to
see somewhat clearly those objects that are less than four feet in front of
her. Although she may not be able to see as clearly as most individuals,
Jessica is able to make out where people are (if they are standing close enough
to her), differences in light, and some minor details. Because she isn’t
completely blind, she can still use her eyes like we can, but with more
difficulty. And due to these factors, Jessica relies on Braille resources to
read, write, and for many of the other functions of her learning. Contrary to
some peoples’ beliefs, her disability doesn’t hinder her learning. In fact, she
may be a little more knowledgeable about things than I am, although I would
never admit it to her, because of the way in which she has been forced to learn.
My sister is able to use her disability as a guide rather than a hindrance in
her learning.
Although she
rarely lets her disability get in the way of her dreams and goals in life, her
Spanish teacher hasn’t made it easy for her during the Spring 2012 semester. Because
of Jessica’s disability, she has a different learning style than most students.
She learns best by listening as well as doing; therefore, she is an auditory
learner as well as a “learn-by-doing” learner. Her learning style, until my
family’s recent transition to a new area, has never seemed to bother anyone. As
long as she’s learning, why should it matter how she does it? It had never
occurred to me that any teacher would have an issue in adapting their classroom
to benefit a student’s needs. So, when her teacher commented on the fact that
Jessica was writing out complete sentences using the Spanish verbs on tests in
order to correctly conjugate them, as being a problem, I was shocked.
In my mind, it
just didn’t make sense. I grew up with one teaching parent, my mom. Being a
strong, opinionated woman, my mother always taught me that people with
disabilities are just like everyone else. And even though they don’t deserve
special treatment and should be treated just like everyone else, it’s the
teachers’ jobs to allow them to be able to learn in their classroom. And if
that means adapting to their needs, then that is exactly what the teachers
should do. Yes this opinion of my mother’s could have been brought on due to
the fact that she has a hearing-impaired brother, but she had also witnessed
this first hand when she was a certified elementary teacher with her specialty
being in deaf education. And this opinion became even more evident due to
recent circumstances, when she was now seeing the events through the eyes of a
student, my sister, as well. These views of my mother’s have been passed down
to me through various conversations, which might explain why my jaw literally
dropped when my sister explained this new situation to me.
As the series of
events continued to unfold, it became evident that more complaints were being
made on the same topic from both the teacher, and now the principal. All of
these concerns concentrated on my sister’s strategy for conjugating verbs. My
sister continually explained, to her Spanish teacher, that due to her learning
style, she needed to write out sentences to conjugate verbs in order to choose
the correct answers on the test. This tiny issue was blown out of proportion
when both my mother and the principal had to become involved in this small
issue.
This minuscule issue wouldn’t have been
a problem if the teacher realized, like my mother had early on in her teaching
career, that not all people learn the same way. This wasn’t just a problem of
Jessica’s Spanish teacher not adapting to her because of her disability, but it
was also a problem of the teacher not understanding that many students have
different learning styles and it’s up to her as the teacher to adapt her
classroom to the students. Everyone learns in a different way, that’s a plain
to see fact. And it’s important for the teacher to encourage these multiple
ways of learning and not hinder them; a student isn’t going to do well in a
classroom in which the teacher expects their students to conform to their way
of teaching. As a future teacher, I know that it isn’t “my way or the highway”,
I need to adapt myself to the environmental factors of my future classroom. All
teachers need to understand this: they, as teachers, need to adapt and change their classroom and “teaching” styles to fit their students’ learning styles. If a
class pertains of half the students being visual learners and the other half
being auditory learners, the teacher must suit both learning styles in order to
ensure that all students have the possibility to succeed in their classroom.
In the case of my
sister, I believe that her Spanish teacher as well as the principal need to
realize she’s just like every other student. And just as any teacher should
adapt to the needs of every student, in order to encourage their learning,
Jessica’s teachers must adapt to Jessica’s particular learning styles as well.
If a student needs to write out sentences in order to correctly conjugate
verbs, even if it causes more work on the student’s part, the teacher should
encourage her to do so if that’s what helps her succeed. A teacher’s job is to
encourage learning and help their students succeed to the best of their
ability. Students shouldn’t have to succeed on the teacher’s terms. Adaptation
to their class environment is an essential part of every teacher’s life. And
it’s important for all teachers to realize this when they assess the best way
in order to teach their particular classes.
From left to right: Anthony, Jessica, and Nina
