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Visit the FIMC-VI TRAINING page and CALENDAR to view upcoming meetings and conferences for the 2015-16 school year! Do not miss out on Working with the Experts - Are You Ready for Unified English Braille (UEB)? In addition to addressing UEB, the topic of using the Nemeth code with UEB will also be covered.
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We have a lot of great webinars this year addressing UEB, assistive technology, the Expanded Core Curriculum and much more! Click here to view topics and register for FIMC's 2015-16 webinars!
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"Welcome back! I hope
everyone had a safe and restful summer break. Please be patient with
your latest APH materials orders. American Printing House’s fiscal year
ends on September 30th. Everyone who participates in the Federal Quota
Program has been trying to spend all their remaining funds before this
date or it is re-distributed. This last minute ordering creates a
back-up of orders and extends the delivery times."
Regards,
Kathee Cagle
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ECC Spotlight: Goalball
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| Adapting sports for students with visual impairments is a good way to get more students active, but teaching them how to play a game that is already designed specifically for them is an even better way! Dozens of TVIs, O&M instructors, PE teachers, agency personnel, paraprofessionals and volunteers from several districts have already attended one of two goalball workshops presented by FIMC-VI. Whether districts/agencies have one student who would like to learn how to play or multiple, our goalball workshops will teach you the basics and show you how to get started. Contact Sue at FloridaGoalball@gmail.com if you would like a training in your area. |
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The staff at FIMC-VI hope you enjoyed your summer and are ready to get back into the swing of the school year. This newsletter will be jam packed with information about this year's upcoming professional development opportunities, new Florida Department of Education documents, and friendly reminders about the school year. Welcome back!
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FIMC-VI has been hard at work this summer planning trainings, proofreading tests, website updates and many other tasks to help support teachers and families! Please be sure to stop by www.fimcvi.org to check out our new calendar and the many other updates we have made. There is more to come, so please continue to check back to see what is new!
- *NEW* Book Port Module: Need help getting started with the Book Port Plus or Book Port Desktop from APH? We have developed a great step-by-step module for both models starting with the basics! Click here to check it out!
- *NEW* Calendar: Visit www.fimcvi.org to view this year's schedule!
- Scholastic Book Program: A quick reminder that we have partnered with Pinellas Braille Group to offer FREE Scholastic books for emerging braille readers! Contact Teresa Gutierrez for an order form today!
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Florida Department of Education (FDOE) Updates
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Assessments
Statewide Assessments for the 2015-16 school year are as follows:
Florida Standards Alternate Assessment
- In spring 2016 FDOE will administer the new Florida Standards Alternate Assessment in Grades 3-10 for ELA, Grades 3-8 in Mathematics and EOC examinations for Algebra 1 and Geometry, aligned to Florida Standards-Access Points. The assessments mentioned above will be provided in addition to the NGSSS Access Points in science (Grades 5, 8, and Biology 1 EOC). FDOE indicated that these new assessments will align to Florida's new access points for students with significant cognitive disabilities. More information will be provided in fall 2015. Click here for the most up-to-date information.
New Matrix of Services Handbook
Please be sure to check with your district for upcoming training regarding the new Matrix of Services Handbook from FDOE.
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Braille Challenge 2016
and UEB
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Attention anyone who has students participating in Braille Challenge 2016.
The Braille Institute has posted on their website that some of the contests will be in UEB and some will remain in English Braille American Edition (EBAE).
The Apprentice level (1st and 2nd grade) will be offered in UEB only, with the option of contracted or uncontracted versions. If students participate in uncontracted braille, they will be eligible to win at a regional event but they will not be eligible for the National Braille Challenge Contest. For students in the Freshman level (3rd and 4th grade), UEB will be an option in addition to EBAE. Whichever code a student in this level chooses they must do all their tests in that same code—he or she cannot take spelling in UEB and then do reading comprehension in EBAE. Students with the best scores nationally will advance, regardless of which code they choose to use. Sophomore (5th and 6th grade), Junior Varsity (7th-9th grade), and Varsity (10th -12th grade) participants will continue to take their contests in EBAE.
The Braille Institute will post 2015 Apprentice and Freshman practice contests in UEB as samples. Practice contests for all other levels and from previous years will be in EBAE. If you are looking for more examples of UEB braille, try the Braille Authority of North America’s (BANA) website: http://www.brailleauthority.org/ueb.html (hint, scroll down towards the bottom of the page).
For those teachers of the visually impaired (TVIs) that have not had the opportunity to get trained in UEB or if you feel you need additional training before you start instructing your younger students in UEB, there are many resources available. Posted on both BANA and Braille Institute’s Braille Challenge websites are several online courses and materials available including the UEB Online course, the Hadley School for the Blind UEB course and CNIB’s Transcriber’s UEB course. There is also the UEBOT (online training) being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education for people proficient in EBAE. Note there is an EBAE pre-test to be eligible for this training. Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired (FIMC-VI) will be offering UEB and UEB with Nemeth training at both Working With the Experts this year in Ft. Lauderdale (October 22-23, 2015) and Tallahassee (October 26-27, 2015). In addition, FIMC-VI will be offering two different webinar series—UEB Instructional Practices for the TVI (starting in December 2015) and UEB and Nemeth (starting in January 2016).
As of January 2016, UEB will be the official braille code for the United States. Now that we know how this will be implemented within the Braille Challenge 2016 contests, we can prepare our students accordingly and set them up for success, for the LOVE of braille!
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Thank you for taking the time to read The Visual Field Newsletter. Keep checking www.fimcvi.org for updated information.
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This
document was developed by The Florida Instructional Materials Center
for the Visually Impaired (FIMC-VI), a special project funded by the
Florida Department of Education/Bureau of Exceptional Education and
Student Services, through federal assistance under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, and State General Revenue
funds. Hillsborough County Public Schools has managed FIMC-VI since
1972.
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Resources to
help kick off
the new school
year!
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Florida
Cane Quest and Braille Challenge
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A Florida Department of Education Discretionary Project
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