7/19/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Kathy Stermer
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The students with autism that I have taught respond beautifully to movement and action songs with or without props. You never know which song is going to make an impact so find as many as you can. I had a student with autism this past year that was also non-verbal. He liked playing with the scarves and the egg shakers but didn't always follow along with the songs as the other students. During one class, I played "If You're Happy and You Know It," and this student did the appropriate actions, at the right time. he even shouted 'Hooray'!! His teacher was so happy to see him participate and respond correctly. I had another student, also non-verbal, that when I played "A Ram Sam Sam" with a video, he also started to participate with the actions while smiling and having a great time. I've also had students in the past that were general ed, however they were missing a limb. One little girl was born without her right hand. She still picked up two rhythm sticks and played them and the whole class followed her lead. Sometimes I forget how adaptive and resilient children are. |
7/28/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Kathy Stermer
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I would like to implement more of peer partnering in my class. I use it with my ESOL students by partnering them with other students that speak their language.Several students will benefit by working with another student, especially the shyer ones. It can also be a behavior incentive by letting them occasionally choose their partners.
I also like the idea of the cubing strategy. These could be made into different rotating center activities. This gives each student the opportunity to experience and learn the objective using different learning strategies. The student can then choose which activity they preferred and can be assessed on the activity of their choice. |
8/1/2016
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Kathy Stermer
|
I once had a 3rd grade student who was a select mute. She was very sweet, well behaved and an active participant in my class, however, she never spoke or sang a word in school. For her assessment, instead of having her speak, for example, the names of instruments, she was able to identify them by pointing at pictures. By the end of the year I observed her "moving her lips" to a song during class singing! |