As part of our continuing series "On the Road," Steve Hartman reports on Jim Hughes, a blind high school history teacher who has developed an uncanny ability to verbalize information to his students.
I’m so glad a school gave him a chance! You never know what someone can do until they have a chance to prove it. The students clearly love him and the one guy who said the other teachers should teach one day with a blind fold on to learn from how their teacher does is a pretty damn good idea!
I'm in a loop of On The Road stories and this was a great one. There's more to be learned in school than just from textbooks and he's teaching them lessons they won't likely ever forget. -- I used to work in university student affairs and advised thousands of students in my career. I had one student in particular who needed extra encouragement because she too wanted to become a high school teacher but was challenged by a disability, rheumatoid arthritis. I remember telling her once that schools needed more teachers like her, to demonstrate to students that not everyone is able bodied and everyone is capable as long as their willing to put in the work. I believed it then and still do today. Diversity in all it's forms is important in education because the students are all unique individuals searching for and wanting roles models and mentors whether they know it or not.
This is such a great video about not letting your limitations set you back. Awesome job Jim. You are an example to your peers and students. We believe the blind deserve a diploma or certificate they can read, we create thin wooden diplomas with a textured seal and Braille they can read and understand.
Well the school he works for is Farmingdale High School in Farmingdale, New York so I would reach out to the school to see if they can connect you two.
Awesome story! I love that the KIDS are the ones saying that teachers rely too much on PPTs and handouts instead of verbalizing their ideas! Unfortunately, nearly all of my kids' high school teachers use PPTs, videos (argh!), and handouts way too much. Also, yay Farmingdale! I used to live on Long Island, and I used to hang there all the time. :)
I loved many of my teachers through the years...but fo sho I would have enjoyed him as my History/Government teacher in high school.....REALLY AWESOME to hear and see his current students respect him so much...Cheers All
i am visually impaired and i became a teacher too. It is difficult being unique but very rewarding. I am so glad to hear others with more vision loss than myself are also in the field!
Cool guy. Good teacher. It makes me feel less defective I've got three learning disabilities and Mild cerebral palsy. Not to mention I suffer from fibromyalgia and post-traumatic stress disorder. I've had all this since I was pretty much born. And at the age of 40 I was beginning to wonder if I was even a good teacher. I'm an American living in Taiwan
That principal's opening remark... that attitude is prevalent in many schools. 'ooh how can a teacher who's blind teach public high school' that's why I am being told. 'ooh Tan, kids will not let you survive' though it might be true, I believe that blind teachers should be given much more support in terms of classroom management, for example, given a teaching assistance who is fully sighted. if the excuses are 'there are no finances' then make it a law to help provide those finances. it keeps blind people and a lot of other people [the assistants] employed, that reduces unemployment.
I don't think you truly understand what i'm talking about. I have been studying this for some time now. There is a VERY GOOD REASON why legally blind people feel discouraged from teaching itself in public schools, let alone in science subjects.
Probably on the honor system...i had a teacher that had us students grade our quiz and tests......he'd collect them....pass them out again and students would do the grading....when there were essays involved of course he's do those himself. Just chiming in.....Cheers
It’s crazy because he could be a homeless but he decided to make something with his life THEIRS THE HOMELESS THEN THEIRS THE HOPELESS AND HE OBVIOUSLY DID NOT GIVE UP
This is such a great video about not letting your limitations set you back. Awesome job Jim. You are an example to your peers and students. We believe the blind deserve a diploma or certificate they can read, we create thin wooden diplomas with a textured seal and Braille they can read and understand.
