Skylark asked: I have been volunteering at a center for the hearing and visually impaired in China the past few weeks teaching art and dance classes to the hearing impaired students, and giving music lessons to the visually impaired, and for my last few days here I will be switching things around, and I could definitely use some pointers. The age range of the students is vast; the youngest is twelve and the oldest is probably in her early 60s, but most are in their 20s.
The visually impaired students have astonished me with their beautiful, intricately crafted needlepoint work, so they have a high level of artistic skill and are wonderful at following complex directions, and I am optimistic about teaching them a few art classes. My plan is to try to incorporate as much texture as possible into the art so that they can literally get a feel for it. I am hoping to be able to find an arts & crafts store here that has paints of various consistencies, and items like ribbons, felt paper, buttons, dried flower petals and foam beads. There will only be 13 students in that class, and I’ll have a few people with sight to translate and help me, but I could definitely still use a lot of advice on how to plan out the curriculum. I’ll be teaching them for two full school days. I don’t think we are going to teach them dance…. but if you have ideas, please do share!
I’ll only be teaching the hearing impaired students for half a day, so I don’t have to put quite as much time into the prep work, but once again, ideas and advice would be lovely. My plan is to teach them some simple guitar and piano lessons, first by demonstrating to the group and then working with them individually. Only one of them can read music, so I need to come up with a few songs that are simple enough that they can learn from watching my hands. They are amazingly attuned to the vibrations from music (it’s one of the ways they have learned to dance), so that will hopefully assist them in the learning process as well. YouTube is blocked in China, but if anyone knows of another site that is broadcast here that would show guitar and piano tutorials, could you please let me know, or better yet, post the links? I was thinking I could bring in my laptop to show those videos to the group while doing the one-on-one lessons in another part of the room.
I’m a recent high school graduate, and have previously only ever taught in English and to children, so this is a bit daunting (but really exciting!!!) and I’d be very grateful for any suggestions or advice anyone may have. Thank you in advance!
And to any of my contacts reading this: Ni hao & (((((hugs))))).
~ Peace from the East : )
Jei – your answer is awesome. Thank you!
L ~ your answer was encouraging, and the sites you linked were immensely helpful. I wish I could give you both Best Answer! I’m actually not planning on pursuing a career in teaching, but art, music and dance are passions of mine that I love sharing with others. I absolutely loved my time volunteering in China, and am already planning my return trip!!! It was beyond amazing. It was actually one of the best experiences of my life.
It’s awesome that you are also into teaching art, and if you have the time to spare I encourage you to look into volunteering. I think you are also in the LA area, (based on a previous question of yours I answered) and there are some really great organizations here you could plug into if you had the time like Art Share LA and HOLA. VIP (Violence Intervention Program), Children’s Institute Inc, and the Boys and Girls Club also are often seeking volunteers who can teach art. http://www.heartofla.org/
http://artsharela.org/
Thank you / xie xie L! : )
how to sight read music
