Tips for Youth (Grades 6-9)
Wasn’t the story about Anne Sullivan Macy and how she taught Helen Keller fascinating? You can learn more about what it means to educate another person by e-mailing people just like you, who have vision loss and work as teachers! Some of them teach students who are blind or visually impaired and some of them teach a class full of sighted students. How do they do it? Read the tips below and e-mail someone in the list of teachers to begin an interesting and informative conversation about their work and how they succeed at it.
AFB CareerConnect® lists hundreds of jobs being done by people with visual impairments who are willing to talk with you about their work. Before e-mailing AFB CareerConnect® members, read the “tips” and “questions” below to help you get started:
Tips on writing a letter:
Start your letter with “Dear CareerConnect Mentor,”
Introduce yourself by your first name and tell them a little about the book you just read with the Braille Bug Reading Club.
Let them know that you would like to learn more about their work and how they do it. You may ask your own questions or use some of the ones below.
After you finish your letter, be sure to thank them for their time and for answering your questions before you send it.
Questions to consider:
- What did you want to be when you were my age?
- How did you learn about and decide you wanted to do this job?
- Do you like your job? What do you like best about it?
- Did you have other jobs before this one? What were they?
- What things are you best at doing and how does it help you succeed at your job?
- Is there a dress code? What do you wear?
- Did you have responsibilities and chores at home when you were growing up? What about after school or summer jobs?
- Where and how long did you go to school to learn your job?
- Did you think it was hard? Was it worth it?
- What are the five things you most commonly do while at work?
- Are you responsible for getting to and from work on your own? How?
- Are you always on time? If not, what happens? Is some of your pay deducted from your pay check for being late?
- Did you have to learn how to read and write braille?
- Do you use a computer or other technology to help you at work?
- If I work and study hard to become really good at something, do you think I could get others to pay me for what I do well?