Manda teaches literacy and numeracy to visually impaired students. She contrasts the visually rich environment of sighted classrooms with the unique needs of visually impaired learners. Manda uses tactile games and hands-on experiences to teach foundational skills, such as braille reading and math concepts. For example, in math lessons she used physical objects to illustrate abstract concepts like positive and negative numbers. Manda’s tailored, direct instruction provides visually impaired students with the same learning opportunities as their sighted peers, fostering their engagement and understanding.
Listen to Manda
“Sighted children are surrounded by letters and language and they can look around the room as their teachers are teaching them… My (visually impaired) students do not have access to that visual information, they do not have access to that incidental learning.”
Manda Nordes
Manda Nordes
Manda Nordes is an itinerant teacher of young students with visual impairments in California, USA. She specialises in teaching braille and develops activities that can be embedded into the areas of Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) instruction. The term ECC refers to concepts and skills that often require specialised instruction with students who are blind or visually impaired to compensate for the fewer opportunities they have to learn incidentally by observing others. Manda has also developed workshops for teachers, families and caregivers.
Manda Nordes
