The student was finally allowed to sit in the rocking chair. For decades, Ms. Cassant has had a simple rule: students were not allowed to sit in her rocking chair. As a new Kindergartener to Doane Stuart many years ago, Anna Marinello ’09 followed this same rule. Now, as an educator working on a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and Childhood Special Education (Grades 1-6) at The College of St. Rose, Ms. Marinello was warmly welcomed to have a seat Ms. Cassant’s chair.
“I knew she would become a teacher,” Ms. Cassant said, when recalling Anna in Kindergarten. “I was inspired to become a Kindergarten teacher because of the Kindergarten teacher I had. I hope that I was able to play this same role for Anna.”
The topic of Ms. Marinello’s lesson was learning with disabilities, specifically blindness. This introduction gave student’s the opportunity to discover how blind people learn using their other senses. Ms. Marinello showed the students the Braille alphabet, while teaching about reading using touch and raised print. She then had the students feel raised drawings on a black page to see if they could tell what they were.
After this lesson, students made their own raised print drawings using black paper and a white crayon, which was then traced over with Elmer’s Glue to make the object stand out. Students drew flowers, strawberries, a police car and a sun, among others.
Thank you to Ms. Marinello for returning to Doane Stuart to share this lesson with our students! Good luck as you complete your Master’s Degree.
Drs. Anthony and Nina Marinello have always been strong supporters of Doane Stuart. Dr. Nina Marinello is a former trustee and past-parent with Dr. Anthony Marinello of three Doane Stuart graduates: Dr. Patrick Marinello ’04, Hildy Marinello ’07 and Anna Marinello ’09.
