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National Braille Association
Professional Development Conference
October 29-November 1, 2008
Updated July 10, 2008
This fall’s Professional Development Conference will take place over three days, October 30 through November 1, 2008. An evening welcome reception on Wednesday, October 29, will include great food, refreshments, and some “Kentucky style” fun.
This conference offers two courses, both intensely focused on a particular area of braille transcription. You will choose to attend ONE of the following:
Each course will focus on the same topic for all three days. The presenters are all nationally recognized experts in their respective disciplines. A detailed schedule of each course is listed on the following pages. You will indicate the course you are taking on the registration form, which is found following the course descriptions and schedules.
In addition to the course materials and resources you will receive, the registration fee includes the Wednesday evening Welcome Reception as well as a continental breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and all-day beverage service on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Member Cost Non-Member Cost
Early Registration (on or before 9/30/08)
$350.00 $375.00 On-Time Registration(10/1/08-10/8/08) $375.00 $400.00 Late Registration(10/9/08-10/15/08) $400.00 $425.00
ACCOMODATIONS
Our host hotel is the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort & Spa. For hotel reservations, call toll free 1-800-228-9290 or go to:
http://marriott.com/lexky?groupCode=nbanbaa&app=resvlink
If calling to make your reservations, please be sure to identify yourself as a member of the group attending the National Braille Association Conference to get the special room rate. If you use the above link to register, it will automatically provide you with the correct rate. Contact the NBA National Office if you have trouble booking a guest room before the October 5 cut-off date.
Room Rate: $109.00 for single, double, triple, or quad occupancy, plus taxes
Availability of rooms and special rates are
not guaranteed after October 5, 2008
Guest rooms at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort Spa feature high speed internet access ($12.95 per day), phone lines, pay-per-view movies, coffee makers, iron/ironing boards and hairdryers.
Several dining options are available within our host hotel. JW’s Steakhouse, open all day, offers American cuisine in a relaxed atmosphere. The Mansion at Griffin Gate provides a more formal setting for American cuisine and is open only for dinner. Season permitting, the 19th Hole and the Top Deck Poolside Bar are also available. The onsite Starbucks is a great place to get a cup of coffee and a light snack.
For more details visit:
TRANSPORTATION
Marriott Griffin Gate Resort & Spa
1800 Newtown Pike
Lexington, KY 40511
1-800-228-9290
By air:
From the Lexington Airport (LEX)
Turn left on Man-O'-War Boulevard from Airport Parking Area. Go East on Versailles Road (US 60) approximately 2 miles to Second New Circle Road (North) Exit. Follow New Circle Road approximately 4 miles to Newtown Pike Exit 9B North toward I-64 & I-75. Follow Newtown Pike for approximately 1.5 miles to Griffin Gate Boulevard. Resort entrance is on the right.
From the Cincinnati Airport (CVG)
Take I-275 East approximately 4 miles to I-75 South towards Lexington. Follow I-75 South approximately 65 miles to Lexington. Interstates 75 and 64 combine as one north of Lexington. Take exit 115 (Newtown Pike/SR 922) South off I-75/64. Follow Newtown Pike/SR 922 approximately .4 miles to second light and turn left onto Griffin Gate Drive.
From the Louisville Airport (SDF)
From the airport, take I-264 East approximately 4 miles to I-64 East towards Lexington. Follow I-64 East for approximately 80 miles to Lexington. Interstates 75 and 64 combine as one north of Lexington. Take exit 115 (Newtown Pike/SR 922) South off I-75/64. Follow Newtown Pike/SR 922 approximately .4 miles to second light and turn left onto Griffin Gate Drive.
Parking: Self-parking is complimentary. Valet parking is also available for $12.00 per day.
“Night at the Races”
Welcome Reception
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Join us on Wednesday evening at 6:00 p.m. for our welcome reception. You’ll enjoy a variety of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and a premium no-host bar. This will be a great opportunity to mingle with friends and other professionals in the braille industry and to meet your NBA Board of Directors. Later in the evening, “the gates will open” and we will “run for the dots.” Don’t miss the chance to participate in this fun-filled, “Lexington-style,” simulated horse racing event.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Choose ONE of the following courses
1) Focus on Solutions for Providing Quality Braille Materials to Students
2) Overview of the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation
1) Focus on Solutions for Providing Quality Braille Materials to Students
Wednesday, October 29
3:00-5:00 P.M.—Registration
6:00-9:00 P.M.—Welcome Reception
Thursday, October 30
7:00-8:30 A.M.—Registration
7:30-8:30 A.M.—Continental Breakfast
8:30-11:45 A.M.—Reviewing Literary Braille and Applying Basic Format
This session will concentrate on a discussion of recent changes to English Braille American Edition (EBAE) and on applying the page set-ups from Braille Formats: Principles of Print to Braille Transcription 1997 to daily worksheets, tests and similar material.
Presenter: Mary Ann Damm, Chair, NBA Braille Formats/Textbook Committee, NBA Braille Formats Course Committee, NBA Certified Textbook Transcriber.
12:00-1:00 P.M.—Lunch
1:15-4:30 P.M.—Follow a Road Map Through a Textbook
This session will concentrate on going through a typical textbook (i.e., literature, grammar, history, geography, science, etc.) and identifying how charts, boxes, illustrations, footnotes, numbered lines in poetry and prose, and marginal materials are handled. A booklet with lessons to share with your students will be provided.
Presenter: Mary Ann Damm, Chair, NBA Braille Formats/Textbook Committee, NBA Braille Formats Course Committee, NBA Certified Textbook Transcriber.
Friday, October 31
7:30-8:30 A.M.—Continental Breakfast
8:30-11:45 A.M.—Everyday Challenges in Nemeth
This session will concentrate on the sections of the Nemeth Code that deal with the production of material found on K-12 worksheets and tests—i.e., spatial problems, graphs, algebra, geometry, etc.
Presenter: Mary Archer, Chair, NBA Skills Committee, NLS Certified Mathematics Transcriber.
12:00-1:00 P.M.—Lunch
1:15-4:30 P.M.—Beginning Music Braille—You Can Do It!
You can provide your students with rudimentary braille music once you have a basic understanding of this exquisite code. We will look at examples representing a typical K-12 curriculum.
Presenter: Lindy Walton, NLS Certified Music Braille Transcriber; Member, NBA Braille Formats/Textbook Committee; School Transcriber, Madison Wisconsin Metropolitan School District
Saturday, November 1
7:30-8:30 A.M.—Continental Breakfast
8:30-11:45 A.M.—Promising Practices—K-3 Educational Materials
This session will concentrate on a presentation of the research being done by a Braille Authority of North America (BANA) committee on the special challenges presented by educational materials for primary grades.
Presenter: Betsy Burnham, Chair, BANA Early Literacy Materials Production Committee
12:00-1:00 P.M.—Lunch
1:15-4:30 P.M.—Efficient Use of Translation Software
- Braille 2000 – Presenter: Joanna Venneri, Braille2000 beta tester and software trainer; Member, NBA Braille Formats/Textbook Committee, NBA Computer-Assisted Transcription Committee; Chair, NBA Foreign Language Committee
- DBT (Duxbury) – Presenter: Jan Carroll, Vice-Chair, NBA Tactile Graphics Committee, Member, NBA Computer-Assisted Transcription Committee
- MegaDots – Presenter: Betsy Burnham, Chair, BANA Early Literacy Materials Production Committee
These presentations will include basic translation, scanning, spot checking your work, looking for glitches, etc. and will use materials that were presented in the previous workshops.
2) Overview of the Nemeth Code for Mathematics and Science Notation
Presenters
Dorothy Worthington, Chair, NBA Mathematics and Science Braille Committee, BANA Mathematics Braille Technical Committee, NLS Certified Mathematics Transcriber.
Mary Denault, Member, NBA Mathematics and Science Braille Committee, NLS Certified Mathematics Transcriber; Consultant, BANA Mathematics Braille Technical Committee
Wednesday, October 29
3:00-5:00 P.M.—Registration
6:00-9:00 P.M.—Welcome Reception
Thursday, October 30
7:00-8:30 A.M.—Registration
7:30-8:30 A.M.—Continental Breakfast
8:30-11:45 A.M.—Elementary and Middle School Mathematics, Part 1
The morning session will center on examples from textbooks used in elementary school and middle school. Full pages from such textbooks will be examined, with a focus on any rules, formatting choices, or dilemmas that arise in the transcription of these pages. Questions and discussion will be welcomed.
12:00-1:00 P.M.—Lunch
1:15-4:30 P.M.—Elementary and Middle School Mathematics, Part 2
Discussion and examination of elementary and middle school math texts continues in the afternoon session, with the added element of the tactile graphics required in these texts. The Draft Guidelines for Tactile Graphics proposed by the BANA Tactile Graphics Technical Committee will be applied to graphics decision-making and creation.
Friday, October 31
7:30-8:30 A.M.—Continental Breakfast
8:30-11:45 A.M.—High School and Advanced Mathematics, Part 1
This session will concentrate on the application of the Nemeth Code in High School and Advanced Mathematics texts. Once again, full pages from textbooks will be examined and discussed with regard to Nemeth Code rules and formatting suggestions.
12:00-1:00 P.M.—Lunch
1:15-4:30 P.M.—High School and Advanced Mathematics, Part 2
We will continue our discussion of advanced mathematics texts (calculus, trigonometry, advanced algebra, etc.). Tactile graphics required in these transcriptions will be analyzed and demonstrated based on the Draft Guidelines for Tactile Graphics.
Saturday, November 1
7:30-8:30 A.M.—Continental Breakfast
8:30-11:45 A.M.—Other Sciences, Part 1
The topic for these sessions is sciences other than mathematics which require the use of the Nemeth Code. We will consider physics, statistics, biological sciences, etc. Examples will be presented from chemistry books calling for the application of the Chemistry Code. We will discuss the use of Computer Braille Code in texts where Nemeth is the base code.
12:00-1:00 P.M.—Lunch
1:15-4:30 P.M.—Other Sciences, Part 2
Continuing examples from sciences other than mathematics will be offered, including examples involving graphics required in these texts. Draft Guidelines for Tactile Graphics will be used and demonstrated.