6/25/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Rachael Joachim
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I had a 2nd-grade student this year with many disabilities, including and not limited to: Autism Spectrum Disorder, EBD, etc. This meant that each week I wasn't sure what his behavior was going to be like, or if he could function in the music classroom. I would see him once a week for 45 minutes, and for the first several months of the school year, he would make it either between 20-30 minutes into the class before his behavior for whatever triggers he may have had, would set him off and he would start acting out with violence and impulsive behavior, which resulted in activating the intervention plan of calling the front office for a team member who was certified to help and remove him from class to keep himself and the other students and myself safe. When this particular student was able to stay in the class for the whole time, I made sure to not give either too much or too little praise, as I was told by his teacher during one of his IEP meetings with the parent that if he felt singled out for either a positive or negative could set him off. Basically the only consistent thing about this particular student was his inconsistency. Behavior plans, multiple meetings that the parent had were held throughout the school year to continue to re-evaluate what works and what didn't for this particular students. One thing I was able to do for him was give him his own set of mallets that I allowed him to put into his mouth when we played on the Orff instruments. He knew he had his own pair to do whatever he wanted to do with, which was helpful for the rest of the class to not have to worry about non-sanitary mallets when we switched instruments. Needless to say, it was a challenging year with this student in my class, and I have learned a lot about the importance of being flexible, and being proactive with my strategies. |
6/26/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Rachael Joachim
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One strategy that would work well and I have used in my classroom is Peer Partners. For example, I've had a class when learning a new note on the recorder turn to the person they are sitting next to, and then play for each other. Beforehand I lay out what is expected from each person in the partners and what each person is responsible for when they play for each other. This helps any of my students with disabilities because they get direct help from a peer, they may get more time to practice a skill, and more time to process how to do the skill. Plus, the whole class had lots of fun!
Another strategy that I have used and has worked well is the Mnemonic Instruction when it comes to learning how to read the notes on the treble clef. I break it down into smaller steps eventually leading into the letter strategy of FACE for the space notes, and creating different sentences for the lines, EGBDF. I also have a worksheet where the students can create their own sentences using the letters of the lines to help them remember. This helps any students with disabilities by giving lots of different strategies of learning. |
6/26/2016
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Rachael Joachim
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Option #1: I have used the adaptive strategy/accomodation of more time for a response. For example, one of my lessons is for the class, in this example, a 3rd grade class, to show their knowledge of rhythm notation value at the same time practicing writing music notes. Each student had their own individual white board, dry erase marker and eraser. We did rhythm dictation where I would clap a 4 beat pattern using the note values we have been reviewing to write their answers on their own boards, and then show me when complete. I clapped the rhythm as often was needed, and I didn't move on until I saw something from everyone. I was aware of a student of mine who had his own full-time para due to his disabilities: he was on the spectrum, he was a little person with limited physical activity due to encephalitis and a heart defect and he had OT issues with his hands. I allowed him more time to write his answer. Turned out he was able to hold his marker by using strategies he has already learned, and he had a love of music and retained his knowledge of it, and where I thought he needed more time, he didn't! |