4/25/2016
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
KAREN ROMINE
|
I have had many students with a variety of disabilities as I teach at two schools that are specialized for students with severe behavior and learning disabilities. I have had students who were profoundly mentally handicapped and those who have been physically handicapped. I currently have several students who are hearing impaired and a couple who are visually impaired. In addition I have several behaviorally challenged students in my choral program. I'll share about the blind student. At the time, I was teaching band and chorus, and he was in the band. In addition to his visual impairment, this student had been diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome which made social situations in a group performance class challenging. He loved the piano and was quite gifted, however he was very set in his ways regarding what he wanted to play and when. He also had difficulty learning that other people and musical parts were as important to the whole process of performing. The accommodations I made included making a recording of his part that he could listen to and learn. I provided time for he and his para-educator to have access to the piano for practice. We worked as a class on taking turns and letting one instrument be heard more predominantly to teach him how to blend and balance his instrument. It was also important to have a plan for the rehearsal time and let him know about it in advance so that he could mentally prepare for the pieces that we would be working on as a class. |
4/25/2016
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
KAREN ROMINE
|
I have a couple of students who are hearing impaired and I teach Chorus. It affects the class in that if the student is unable to hear the music, it makes pitch matching, improvising harmonies and many other elements of this performance based class difficult for all concerned. One thing I always do is make sure that they are close to the source of the music...whether that be an instrument, a person or a speaker. Another thing I do is surround them with strong singers so that they are encompassed by the sound. Finally, I have worked with students privately after school to help them with pitch matching and recognition incorporating hand signs to communicate pitch directionality and specific interval sizes. I also provide recordings of their voice part, the accompaniment and the voice parts of all the other singers to allow them to practice at home. |
4/25/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
KAREN ROMINE
|
I use technology in many different ways in my choral classroom. I use GarageBand to record accompaniment, and then I use multiple vocal tracks to record each vocal part. I can then play it for the students in the classroom; highlighting, removing, subduing parts as needed. In our sectional rehearsals, these recordings are AirPlayed to student leaders who are then able to facilitate a peer-led sectional rehearsal. I upload all of the recordings to YouTube, and then link them to our school's website. I found a free tuner/metronome/recording app that is available for both Apple and Android devices and made that known to the students so that they can check their progress and learning on an individual basis. I use an online sight-reading website that we access in class, and that the students are able to access on their own to facilitate learning of intervals and sight singing. I project music and activities on a white board to aid my students who are visually impaired, and I also allow them to use personal devices with scanned copies so that they are able to zoom in whenever needed. These accommodations help my students with behavioral disabilities, hearing and vision impairments and for those who require additional time because of either delayed learning or behavioral deficits. |
4/25/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
KAREN ROMINE
|
I have had many students with a variety of disabilities as I teach at two schools that are specialized for students with severe behavior and learning disabilities. I have had students who were profoundly mentally handicapped and those who have been physically handicapped. I currently have several students who are hearing impaired and a couple who are visually impaired. In addition I have several behaviorally challenged students in my choral program. I'll share about the blind student. At the time, I was teaching band and chorus, and he was in the band. In addition to his visual impairment, this student had been diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome which made social situations in a group performance class challenging. He loved the piano and was quite gifted, however he was very set in his ways regarding what he wanted to play and when. He also had difficulty learning that other people and musical parts were as important to the whole process of performing. The accommodations I made included making a recording of his part that he could listen to and learn. I provided time for he and his para-educator to have access to the piano for practice. We worked as a class on taking turns and letting one instrument be heard more predominantly to teach him how to blend and balance his instrument. It was also important to have a plan for the rehearsal time and let him know about it in advance so that he could mentally prepare for the pieces that we would be working on as a class. |