NC ELSSP-VI Newsletter
March 2017
Each child will be honored, respected, and empowered to achieve success in school and life.
Georgia
Teacher, Lori Bartram
Lydia
Lydia painting a textured Valentine with her mom.
Teacher, Lori Blaney
Kaison
Teacher, Heather Bradford
North Carolina Early Learning Sensory Support Program for Children with Visual Impairments
Office of Early Learning
Email: bethany.mayo@dpi.nc.gov
Website: earlylearning.nc.gov
Location: 6371 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699
Phone: (919) 733-0533
March's Quote
Your life as a teacher begins the day you realize that you are always a learner.
-Robert John Meehan
Contents
Student Pictures Submitted by NC ELSSP-VI Staff
Professional Development Submitted by Lin CauseyNCCVIB Conference Submittedy by Pam Bye and Paula Roten
Teacher Talk 101 Submitted by Kim Sawyer
Early Learning Progressions Submitted by Bethany Mayo
Student of the Month Submitted by Joy Fleming
Director's Spotlight Submitted by Bethany Mayo
Staff Birthdays for March
Photo/Video Credits
Professional Development Opportunities
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North Carolina Conference on Visual Impairment and Blindness (NCCVIB)
Looking Forward to New Opportunities
March 9 - 10, 2017
NC-AER - North Carolina Association for Education and ...
NCAER is the North Carolina Chapter of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired
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FREE training opportunity sponsored by NCDPI and ECU Teacher Support Program, and the NC Deaf-Blind Project. This event will be held on March 10, 2017 in Chapel Hill.
The morning session will consist of a presentation of a case study by Becky Clem and her work in describing how a team worked together in developing a child's communication skills.
The afternoon session presenters will be Monica Faherty and Andrea Blackwood.
Please see the attached flyer for more information regarding the target audience, presentation information, and registration information.
If you have any questions, please contact Sandra Warren at warrens@ecu.edu
- ECU+TSP+March+2017+Workshop++-+Registration+Flyer.rt
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NCCVIB Conference
Pam Bye and Paula Roten
Teacher Talk 101
Recently I discovered TED talks on the Internet. Many of you probably know what I am referring to. If you don’t, TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading worthwhile ideas on almost all topics. This global community supports conferences, projects and educational lessons. A clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world’s most inspired thinkers in the form of short, powerful talks can be found at TED.com. Talks can be searched by topic, language, duration, events and speaker. They can be sorted by newest oldest, most viewed, jaw-dropping, funny, persuasive, courageous, ingenious, fascinating, inspiring, beautiful and informative. The agenda of TED stated on their website is to make great ideas accessible and spark conversation.
One such talk is by Ed Boyden, a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences. In 2011 he gave a fascinating talk about the brain and developing research being done. He explained in understandable terms how the brain functions and explained that if researchers could figure out how to turn off and on specific cells in the brain, it could lead to controlling and eliminating many diseases and conditions. The research Boyden showed is in the beginning stages to do just that. Proteins from an alga that converts light into electricity were inserted into neurons in the brains of mice, via a virus. The neurons then fabricated the light-sensitive proteins and installed them all over the cell. This made the cell able to be activated by light. These specific neurons were turned on and off with fiber-optic implants. These mice had been cured of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness in which the photoreceptors in the eyes were damaged or atrophied. This research is very exciting.
Take the time to visit TED.com and learn more about things that interest you!
Early Learning Progressions
Camilla and Mom
March's Marvelous Student...Camilla
Paula Roten
Paula Roten will have been with our program for 20 years in August of this year. Before coming to the program, she worked for two years at a developmental day school as the Infant Toddler Specialist. In addition to being a TVI, Paula has worked as an adjunct instructor for Wilkes Community College and Appalachian State University in their Early Childhood Education departments.
Paula received her undergraduate and masters degrees from Appalachian State University in Birth to Kindergarten Education, and received her K-12 teacher of the visually impaired certification from North Carolina Central University. In 2005, Paula received her National Board Teaching Certification in Exceptional Needs Early Childhood through Young Adulthood-VI, and achieved renewal status in 2014. Paula is also a certified NC Early Intervention Infant Toddler and Family Specialist.
Paula lives in Ashe county with her husband and two sons, 17-year-old David and 13-year-old Joshua. Her boys keep her busy with basketball games, track, cross country, and other school related activities but in her free time, she loves to read biographies, watch her favorite television programs, walk for exercise, and pin on Pinterest.
Paula has a passion for helping others. This is seen in her work with children and families but also with her fellow teachers. This year Paula has dedicated herself to helping other teachers who would like to go through the National Board Process. She is meeting with them individually to share her experience and coach them along through this very involved process. Paula is such a wonderful representation of a selfless leader who strives to support others in lifelong learning. Thank you Paula for all that you do and for being our Director’s Spotlight.
Photo/Video Credits
NC ELSSP-VI Staff