We're leaving the indoor games behind. We are finally leaving the coffee shop taking off our jackets because it is almost springtime. And what better way to get your learner's motivated with some amazing springtime orientation and mobility lessons that we've got ready for you in this episode.

In this podcast episode:

• Introduction

• National Days on March

• National Days on April

• Recap

• Outro

Transcript of the Episode:

Introduction

Okay, on this question friend, how is it March already? Granted, when this episode drops, it's only March 1st and only because February has 28 days. But still we are in March. Welcome to the beginning of springtime! For some of us, it's the beginning of a rainy season. For some of us, we are starting to leave our coats behind. And we are really looking forward to getting back outside if we haven't been outside very much during the winter.

You know, with it being March, I came across a Facebook post that I had posted March 13 of 2020. And that was a Friday, before… you know what happened. It was a video of just the outdoors near playground with some soft music and the words inhale and exhale. I think I'm going to post it soon, just as a reminder, because at that time, I could feel that something was approaching like a larger wave when you're at the beach, but I couldn't see what was coming. By that time our family had already stopped going places indoors and touching stuff that people were touching. I had also picked up my… I think four year old from school that day. Now a little did I know that he wouldn't go back for another seven months.

And even at that sometimes it felt early to go back. But if I could go back to that moment, watching my kids play as I tried to regroup and gather what I needed to gather for my nervous system. I don't think that I would change my theory. To become more and more present with the exact moment that I had at hand. And at that exact moment, all I could do and all I could think to do and all I could think to share was to just breathe in and breathe out. Do that with me now. Just inhale and exhale.

Sometimes coming to this very moment, and learning how to accept what is right now is all we need to do to stop the stresses that can compound us and make us feel really overwhelmed. Now you don't need me to tell you that things have been topsy turvy since that day. And we keep going through things and keep getting thrown for loops that we aren't expecting. Some of us are having to reintegrate to life without masks right now, some of us are still going virtual at the drop of a hat. And while we've gotten good at being able to keep our heads above water, for most part, congratulations to all of us. Getting back into the full swing of things will continue to take some time. And hopefully we'll never go back to the way it was. And at some point, I do fully believe that it will get better. I think we're at a breaking point for a lot of people. And as you know, some doors have to close before better ones can open.

In today's episode, the big thing to take away is that that's okay. It's okay to just be in the present moment. We're here to support you and give you ideas so that you can go from burnt out and overwhelmed to impactful and overjoyed. It's important that you get off of the cycle of burnout so that you can continue to make a significant impact in the lives of your learners. Because let's face it, they need you now more than ever. But first I'm going to share some amazing things that we have coming up at Allied and some of them are really new in they’re really exciting and I cannot wait for all of these great springtime activities.

Okay, so first coming up on April 7, are having a workshop where I'm going to teach you how to help your learners generalise their skills. So that way you can help them increase their orientation and mobility or ECC skills without you having to be there. And without you becoming the O and M police or burning out. There are some key ingredients that I have found that people miss, and I was missing them too. But once I started implementing them, things became a lot easier. We're going to be going over the fundamental communication strategies that they don't teach you in school, and you're going to walk away with simple ways to get your team members on board with your ideas without having it feel like you're pulling teeth or pushing a barrel uphill. You're going to also walk away, understanding why your learner's skills aren't improving, and how to fix that. And even how to motivate your learners to increase their skills when you aren't there to watch them like a hawk. That's happening on April 7.

Also April 27, soundscape workshop, this is going to be a great introduction to soundscape and a refresh. So if you were at the symposium in 2021 or if you're at the symposium in 2022, you might already understand what soundscape is, and you might already be implementing it in with your learners. And if you weren't, this webinar will help you to understand what soundscape is and how it works. You're also going to learn how O and Ms around the world are using soundscape in their day to day work with clients.

If you've already been implementing this, I still think that it's important for you to come to see this presentation, it's going to be updated for you. And it's going to walk you through more information. You’ll have a better more foundational understanding already underneath your belt. So what you're going to get from it as somebody who's been using soundscape are going to be like the deeper tricks, the deeper ideas, their guidance on how you can use it in your day to day work.

And then they're also going to show what's next for soundscape and their aspirations for the future. Because this app is… they have not stopped. And that's what I love about working with them and learning from them is they're so humble. Nobody on the team that I've spoken with says, Oh, this is the one app that everybody needs to have at all times and we are the best in every area. And no, they are very much like Hey, you tell us how you use this. We want to learn from you. We've created this new idea, and how to get around. We want to show you how it works. So that way you can use it faster and easier. And not have to do what I personally did, which was like I tried to plug it into how other GPS apps work. And I was like, Wait, this is that like, there are noises. It's getting louder, I don't understand. And it wasn't really until I said, Oh, no, no, no, let me back up. Let's not just put this in the box with other GPS apps. Let's look at this as its own separate category. And from there, I was able to pick it up and run and use it with my learner. And they understand that it's really our interpretation of how we use this app, and how we work with our learners with it. That's going to help propel them forward. And man, they're just, these are really smart people working on a really cool project. So that's April 27. 

Okay, so without further ado, it is just about springtime, how we're going to differentiate our lessons this season from any other time, we know that creating lesson plans that are exactly the same over and over again, is fine. I mean, you'll get by you'll get your paycheck. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you want to get your learner's motivated and having fun, what I found is including themes, or whatever is going on at that time really helps to increase their motivation.

Like let's think about it. There are entire teachers pay teacher's stores, where teachers will pay lots of money to have the same worksheet go from hearts to clovers. Same one plus one, two plus two, if they could colour in hearts versus if they could colours in clovers. Why? Because it's just that much different and just that much more fun. And it keeps them motivated. And the most important part of our lesson is hooking them into it. You can have the best task analysis but if the learner is not motivated to learn what you have to teach them, you're not going to get very far. So here's some ideas that you can celebrate in March and April.

National Days on March

In March, we have National Women's History Month, which is always fun to think about people with visual impairments who are women, and who have made a difference in our lives. Or you can even make a woman's History Month, like pre biography for your learner, if it's a girl, basically pre celebrating the things that she wants to do, and pre celebrating her future self. Maybe spend a lesson doing what her future self would do. Just her future self. Go buy clothes a target on her own. Does her future self host dinner parties? Does her future self have tea parties, just her future self run a book club? And what does her future self do? And then see if you can create a lesson or even a unit around that.

March 1 is Share A Smile Day which I love and National Pancake Day. Now I'm gonna share something with you about pancakes. So a little morbid… in those pancakes. When a student is at, like a crossing, or when we're travelling, there's one main thing that we don't want to have happen in O and M and that is to perish. So I call that… my young students. I call that smashed like a pancake. So you can have little pancake party. You can buy many pancakes from the freezer section or I'm sure the school cafeteria has extra pancakes at some point and get little toppings and celebrate the fact that they have not been smashed like a pancake. I know it's morbid. I know it is. So it is okay.

And I have done this in person except where we griddled the pancakes. And it was a mess, and too much too much ratio. But it was a fun time. And by too much ratio, there had to be too many adults because we were really griddling pancakes. And the kids were mixing their own batter in their own bowls to make their own pancakes. I mean, it was adorable. Also probably wouldn't do it again.

March 6 is National Oreo Day. There's a lot of stuff happening in March. March 16 is Everything You Do Is Right Day. How fun is that? Of course, St. Patrick's Day on March 17. March 20 has International Day of Happiness. You guys can do something that makes the learner happy. Or write out a card where the learner shares what makes them happy or a joke, and then go hand it out. March 26, has Epilepsy Day. If your learner has epilepsy, maybe that's a day that they can showcase a little bit about themselves, or use that as a teaching day for their friends. And then March 31 is Transgender Day of Visibility. I don't think it's our place to force or force anybody to be more visible than they're comfortable with. With the discretions happening against our LGBTQ+ youth, by the politicians here in the United States. And all that they're faced with, just in general, on a sub cultural level. If you are at all on the side of letting our young ones be themselves, then this is a good day just to have on your radar. And if there's a way to celebrate it between you and your learner, then that might be a great one.

I'm gonna be on a look out on my Instagram, if I come across any friends who are trans and have visual impairments and my invite them to share the platform either that day or sometime around then. Only if that happens organically. So if you know anybody, you're welcome to send them my way.

National Days on April

And then April is a really good one. We have Autism Awareness Month. A lot of my learners in the past also had autism along with visual impairments. There's also a National Unicorn Day for anybody who likes unicorns on April 9. Of course, in April, we have Easter and you can buy beeping easter eggs from Macy's, Oriental Trading and Walmart. Very cool that they have expanded so much, but I would get them now, because they tend to either sell out or just be impossible to find or have crazy long shipping times. And April 27 has International Guide Dog Day. So you might be able to schedule something with a group of learners where you guys do Juno walks. Or if you have a puppy raising group near you, you might be able to have them come maybe do a speech or something of that nature. Or even just look up some information about guide dogs.

For our clarity members, there are some really cool lesson plans that we have already in the portal for you. Landmarks vs clues interactive quiz by Jenn Reeder. And for those of you guys who aren't in clarity, you might be able to go to Eye Teach Tactiles, Teachers Pay Teachers’ site and buy that there. April is also Explore the World Month. And in clarity, we have an explore the world month game, as well as an Autism Awareness Month puzzle that you and your learner can put together. And you can print this out, you can cut it out, you can put it on 3D with different textures and make it into a worksheet and that just showcases different parts about themselves. Now I know that the puzzle idea is a little outdated. And so if you don't want to use that one that's also absolutely a-okay. The point here is just to showcase what the learner likes and little bits about themselves and help them gain more social skills when talking about themselves.

Recap

Oh my gosh. So there you have it, friends. Quickly review we've got the hook that's going to really grab your learner's attention. And I like to make my lesson plans themed or in celebration of something that's happening already in the world at that moment. And then now way you can avoid burnout. You can avoid feeling a little overwhelmed. You've got a little bit more inspiration there. Hope into the lesson plan a little bit more. And you can tailor any of these ideas to your learners actual objectives. There is so much going on in March and in April for you to celebrate with your learners. I hope that you can use this information to help take one step forward towards being a much better version of your best O and M self.

Don't forget, on April 7, we'll be gathering together at our workshop. The time is not currently set. You can just keep an eye out on my social media, or if you're in our email list. I'll be emailing everybody about that once everything is set. If you want to get on our email list, just send me a DM on Instagram that just says waitlist. I'll grab your email information and I'll put you on our waitlist so that way you will be able to attend a workshop for free. And as always, there's a replay for six days typically the Friday after until the next Thursday, and you will be the first one to know so that way you can go ahead and sign up. You can help your learner's increase their skills through generalisation so that they can practice their skills more often when you aren't there. Does that sound nice? Sounds nice to me. Okay friends, I will see you next week.

Outro

You know that feeling when you've been rushing around all day. Your kids need food your students need to be scheduled. It's five minutes before your next lesson, and you have no plans. Teaching during a pandemic has had many challenges. Wouldn't you agree? One of which being it takes so much longer to plan for a remote O&M lesson, then he did to plan for a face to face lesson. But that's not a problem anymore because my friend we have got you covered. Your Allied Independence community stepped up. And we've bundled together eight remote O&M lesson plans that can be taught virtually or distance all created by your community and customisable to your individual students unique needs in five minutes or less. You want ‘em? I know you do. All you have to do is go to Allied Independence online.com forward slash remote R E M O T E and grab your copy. Eight free O&M lesson plans so you can start spending your time doing what you do best and that my friend is teaching.