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The Orange
County Register
Santa Ana, California
March
19, 2004
Teacher
shows the world to visually impaired students
Carol Anne McGuire
goes to great lengths to inspire her students to gain experience through
their other senses.
by Jit Fong Chin
A student once told
teacher Carol Anne McGuire that he didn't believe in lions because he'd
never seen one.
Made sense, she thought. The student was in her visually impaired class
and couldn't see.
So, in classic McGuire fashion, she brought a lion cub to school.
"The kids got to come up and touch its tail," she said.
"They were really surprised at how a lion smelled. They heard these
gurgling sounds and the purring, and it wasn't the same sounds as 'The
Lion King.' "
McGuire likes to organize spectacular show-and-tells to inspire her
students to experience the world through their other senses. She has
hauled trees into the classroom, dressed students in oversize clown
costumes and even brought dead flounder for her students to prod.
"A fish is not something that's going to let you pet it like a
dog," McGuire said. "We wanted for them to pick up the fins and
touch the eyeballs."
McGuire started as a substitute teacher in Anaheim 14 years ago in a
regular classroom. She was thrown into a visually impaired class one day
without preparation. Something clicked. She decided to dedicate her career
to the program and has never looked back.
"You could walk around this classroom all day and be very depressed.
They all have their own little story. But when you come in and meet them,
these kids are the happiest kids. They just have this spark in them for
life. ... They make it impossible to be depressed.
McGuire left Anaheim City School District in July to start a program for
visually impaired students at Imperial Elementary School in the Orange
Unified District. Every day she teaches Braille, typing and computer
skills to visually impaired students of all grades before they split up to
join regular classes.
Class is an affectionate affair, with students hugging McGuire and her
aides as they feel their way.
Last year, while tinkering around with a new laptop, McGuire noticed how
easy it was to make a movie using Apple's iMovie program. She decided to
make a movie on the rain forest with her visually impaired students at
Barton School.
But first came the show-and-tell. McGuire bought 40 6-foot-tall ficus
trees, got a store to donate monkey and crocodile props, and assembled a
mini-rain forest in a corner of her classroom.
She sprayed the forest with water. A friend brought in squawking macaws
and toucans.
As the students walked through, they learned that rain forests were soggy,
claustrophobic places with branches that poked.
Instead of writing reports on rain forest animals, the students narrated
findings from their research and shot footage of their own pets. Several
months later, a 22-minute documentary was born.
Her students were thrilled, and so were their parents.
"Losing your vision is a really tough thing, but these kids have
gotten the opportunity to do some truly miraculous things," said
Sulynn Means, whose daughter, Cianna, 11, is in the class.
Educators agree.
"Carol has a real knack, a real creativity, and was always willing to
go the extra mile to put in the extra work to completely transform the
environment," said Hanan Brown, Barton School's principal.
McGuire, who has two daughters, says she just wants to give her kids her
best.
"I figured if this is my kid, I would want the teacher to do the same
thing."
Some students' vision is fading - giving McGuire a short window for
showing them the world and inspiring them to learn.
"It's so important to let them use the vision that they have
now," McGuire said. "You never know what's going to happen
tomorrow." |