11/6/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Diara Morris
|
I had a student with an intellectual disability. She could not do simple mathematic computations or process information in order to demonstrate knowledge of or understand musicianship concepts (rhythms, sight-reading, note naming, etc), but she participated in class everyday with eagerness and fervor. She was always very adamant about working on activities alone, but I encouraged her to work alongside two very strong musicians. At first she would just copy everything they did, but after a while of what seemed like 'immersion in a foreign language', she was able to demonstrate some parts of concepts all by herself, and even recognize when a mistake was made, although she may not exactly be able to articulate how to fix the error. She has since gone on to high school and is participating in Chorus there. |
11/22/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Diara Morris
|
Option 2
I could, and have used Cornell Notes in class. Anytime we focus on music theory concepts (the rule of the dot; key signatures, time signatures) these can be useful, especially for those students who need visual/organizational aids. My 'version' of these notes contain lines for writing and staff lines for notation of musical examples.
Cooperative learning is great for improving social skills and allowing students who aren't exactly self-sufficient in a particular skill to get tons of practice in a more comfortable setting. I use "section circles" during sight-reading practice. This allows students to work together to solve problems and think critically prior to performing. |
11/22/2016
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Diara Morris
|
I had a student with a brain injury that resulted in speech problems, affecting her ability to talk, sing and match pitch. During sight-reading assessments, I allowed her to view the melody to be sung, and played two versions of it (one was incorrect). She told me which one was incorrect, pinpointed the mistakes, and then sung the melody along with me. I sang the melody very softly. |