A website for teachers who are blind or visually impaired.

Using Tips and Tricks

There are hundreds of resources containing teaching tips and tricks for sighted teachers, but not so many exist for teachers who are blind. This section contains quick ideas for classroom management, keeping organized, and conducting assessments and evaluations. These tips and tricks are submitted by real teachers, so if you are a blind or visually impaired teacher you are welcome to contribute tips and tricks you use to be added to the list below.  To submit an idea please contact the site manager at XXXXX. 

Classroom management

Classroom management can be challenging for any teacher. For a teacher who is blind or visually impaired some of the following tips and tricks may be useful:

  • Have students say their name as they raise their hand. This will enable the teacher to learn names faster, as well as make student-teacher communication during a class lesson run smoothly.
  • Use an individually designed system to let you know when students are out of the room and who is gone.  For example, it might be helpful to use brightly-coloured "Boys" and "Girls" signs (perhaps neon orange for one and neon green for the other) to indicate when a student has left the room to go to the bathroom or on another errand. After gaining permission from the teacher (if necessary), the student places the sign on their desk before leaving, and returns it to the chalkboard after returning. This enables a visually impaired teacher to get a better idea of who is out of the room, as well as ensuring that only two students are gone at any one time. (The sighted cooperating teacher of the visually impaired student teacher who came up with this strategy now uses the same in her own classroom!).  Another example would be to use a tactile system of index cards with students' names brailled at the top and a slotted pocket system in a convenient spot.  Students would place their index card in the pocket indicating where the are going (e.g., the library, the office, the bathroom)
  • Put a bell or wind chime high up on the door so that you know when it is being opened or closed, or never have a squeaky door fixed.
  • Use strips of masking tape placed on the chalkboard or whiteboard to make tactile lines so that your writing will remain straight and so that you don't accidentally write over text already written.
  • Keep attendance records electronically so that you can print them later and send them to the office. Taking attendance can be tedious.  Make it fun.  Ask each student to speak about a different topic you choose each day.  This way you will be sure that the person you believe to be in class is really there.  Students can sometimes be "tricksters" and this will be harder for students to be off task.
  • Use the "power of proximity" to your benefit.  Moving around periodically in the classroom and situating yourself close to students who are misbehaving can be the first step in controlling your classroom atmosphere.
  • Use technology where appropriate and available.  For example, some versions of CCTVs have an option for "flipping" the camera to get a closer view of distance activities.  Focusing the camera on the students can help you pay attention to what is happening in your classroom, including the back row!

Evaluation and assessment

Many formal and informal methods of assessment rely heavily on vision. These are some tips and tricks teachers who are blind or visually impaired can use to conduct assessments:


  • Consider alternate methods of student responses.  For example, sighted classroom teachers often use visual techniques to spot-check understanding and group preferences.  This could be a simple raising of the hands, or a "thumbs up, thumbs down" strategy. Teachers may ask students who understand a concept to give them a thumbs up, and those who do not to give a thumbs down, or may use the same to gauge which students want to play Silent Ball and which want to play Four Corners (classroom games). A teacher who is blind or visually impaired can gain similar information by asking students to "clap once, clap twice." Having many students clap first and only a few a second time sounds very different from having the same number of students clap twice.
  • Ask students to email homework assignments to you or to provide their homework files on a thumb drive or sd card if they are able to use a home computer to complete assignments. In this way, you will be able to have direct access to the students' work and will be able to respond directly. There may be some instances where you will need to problem-solve a solution for access to handwritten assignments that you are unable to read.  There are several possible options for getting access to this student work, however, none are as effective as having work turned in to you electronically.  Therefore, spending some time at the beginning of the school year making sure that students are able to do their work on a computer would be a good use of your time and resources.  If this is not available, or for rare instances where handwritten work is necessary, you will need to find a way, through the help of a colleague, a classroom assistant, or other school personnel, to gain access to the text. It is also possible to employ someone for this purpose.
  • Remember that there are many ways to present and teach curriculum. Choose options that you can evaluate without assistance if possible. For example, use classroom think-aloud procedures to gain a sense of student understanding and processing of subject matter. Students can verbally describe what they are doing and why on a particular task given as a progress monitoring probe. An added benefit of using this technique is that students learn from each other.

Organization and time management

  • Find a way of labelling papers and filing them so that they are easily retrieved later. Adhesive braille or large print labels can be stuck on the back of any papers that are filed so that papers can be flipped through quickly. The same types of braille labels can be stuck on the back of tabs on file folders, so that they can be easily accessed. These types of labels will not interfere with or cover up any print labels on the same file.
  • Go on a container hunt to find a variety of boxes, trays, etc. that can be used to organize your important materials and student work.
  • Save yourself time in the morning by making sure that materials needed for the next day are where you can find them. Involve students in all aspects of classroom organization and maintenance. Establishing student feeling of ownership can go a long way. 
  • Use your typical mobility techniques and aides to navigate around the classroom. Remember that this classroom is shared space, but your safety and the safety of the students is paramount. By creating an environment of mutual understanding and respect early on, students will learn to keep aisles clear.
  • Use an audible timer or talking watch to help you keep track of your pace during your busy day.