7/23/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Rebecca Stevens
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One of my 6th grade students last year was high functioning autistic. Since I entered the school several months into the school year, all the other students in the class were aware of his exceptionality before I arrived, and had become accustomed to his need for a bit more attention and problem solving from me, as well as his socialization limitations. When we began to answer questions relating to current well-known musicians (based on magazine articles) I assigned another student to sit near him and to help him navigate the readings and write down the answers in the format requested. Both students worked well together, with the first showing improvement in relational skills, and adding positive self-esteem to the second as he was chosen to help the first. I also made a point of always quietly checking with the first boy personally after giving the class the overall assignment, which further aided in his socialization as well as building trust that I would always think of him individually. He began to demand less attention in the class, and always turned in the complete assignment. I plan to have him be in one of the instrumental classes next year. |
7/27/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Rebecca Stevens
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I would like to use class wide peer tutoring (CWPT) in most of my classes next year to improve retention of beginning musi theory content. In classes of 6th/7th graders as large as 52 with at least 35 of the students dealing with some sort of disability and an extreme spread of intellectual abilities, the students become irritable as I conduct lessons to review from the front of the class. Their misbehavior increases, they begin discussions with neighbors or friends across the room, making the review even more time consuming, and lack of attention means they are not all thinking with the class to produce the desired practice. Allowing them to choose their first partner before moving is a definite social incentive to peer review, and the timed intervals of practiced response - for points in competition! - aids BOTH the tutor and tutee! A WIN/WIN/WIN!
The second strategy that I can see would work well in all of my classes would use cubing, especially given that even my best students misbehave when bored. The use of the tiered taxonomy gives students useful respectful practice, meeting them where they have to work a bit, but still seeing they have a real possibility for success. Each side of the cube also increases important contributions of each member group of the class, increasing self-esteem in the process. This is a much improved method of practice and review for comprehension and reinforcement over the teacher being able to call on only a few of the highest students with the answer, while the others sit around bored!! |