In today’s world it is very stressful to try and find a job in education, unless you happen to become a teacher of the visually impaired. Teachers of the visually impaired may luck out when it comes to this, but the schooling that this major requires is very rigorous.   

To be a vision teacher you must go to college for your bachelor’s degree which takes four years to complete. Then, if motivated, go get the Master’s certification which is usually around two years. Future teachers of this field have it much easier if they go for their masters. Then, after all of the hard work and dedication, students can finally become teachers themselves.  Jessica Sloan ended up being a teacher of the visually impaired so here are some questions that she was kind enough to answer.  

The school work is very hard and can easily over-whelm a student if they do not set the right amount of time aside. Some of the assignments can take over three hours to do, so people must be very responsible with how they manage their time. When asked what made her the most stressed she said that having to balance school assignments, work, house-hold chores, and family life were the main causes. Jessica Sloan has children, and said that she would have to stay up all hours of the night in order to be able to make it to her children’s activities that where right after normal school got out.    

It is a fact that when a student goes to college for this particular field of education, they will need to take a braille class at some point. Jessica Sloan commented that braille is “almost like a secret language” to the blind community and the people that aid them in their everyday lives. This class may seem like it will be easy, but that is far from the truth. “Braille class was one semester long, and there was a lot of pressure. If you did not maintain a “B” average, you had to retake the class. That alone was several thousand dollars.” Jessica Sloan answered. She would often stay up until three in the morning to work on her assignments.    

Technology has played a huge role in Jessica Sloan’s job when it comes to aiding with teaching her students. The older teachers may not have had all of the modern technologies that today get used every day, but the new teachers do and use it to their advantage. The range of technology that is used can definitely be all over the place. It just depends what kind of visual impairments the students may have. It can range anywhere from iPads, enlarged computer screens, along with several other devices, said Mrs. Sloan.  

When questioned about why she went to college for the major of Visual Impairments, Mrs. Sloan answered, “I worked with a student at my old job who was totally blind and loved watching his vision teacher work with him. How she impacted his life in so many great ways was almost a blessing to watch.” She has been doing this profession for a few years now and loves it. Needless to say, even though all of the school work was very difficult Mrs. Sloan loves her job and would never give it up.