7/11/2023
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Derek Weston
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Think of a music student with a disability you have now, or have had in the past. Identify their disability. Describe the way in which their disability affected their music learning. Describe at least one or more ways you successfully accommodated or modified instruction for this student. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
Our magnet program just graduated a student who was very strongly on the Autism spectrum. This stretched our entire music department as well as myself as an adminstrator. This student was almost completely non-verbal, but an exceptionally talented pianist. The teachers had to adapt to working with a one-on-one aid and created differentiated structures in the classroom to meet the needs of all students. The student with autism had a very short attention span and one of the tasks for the aid was to keep him on task by breaking things up into tiny elements. Once the teachers saw the value in the work which was being performed by the aid, they began to structure their instruction for the whole class in that manner, and it served to be of greater assistance to them as well. |
7/11/2023
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Derek Weston
|
Identify at least two ways school and/or district administrators can support fine arts educators' use of explicit and intensive instruction for students with disabilities.
Administration can support arts educators instructional practices for students with disabilities by providing access to professional development that focuses on Universal Design for Learning and inviting teachers to visit classrooms (both regular ed and ESE self-contained) where teachers model effective practices. It is also critical that arts teachers are made aware of student's IEP's and are invited to be a part of IEP meetings.
Administration must also recognize the many varied teaching strategies that arts teachers already use that are effective for all students, including students with disabilities. Scaffolding and differentiation are hallmark strategies used by ensemble-based performing arts teachers, and these techniques can be applied to all areas of education. |
7/11/2023
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Derek Weston
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Identify at least two ways administrators can assist fine arts educators' in learning about how to use adapted assessment in their fine arts classroom.
Adapted assessment is critical for educators to determine the mastery of standards by all students. Adminstration can work with educators directly to determine appropriate means to assess a particular standard in a way that is accessible for the individual student. Adminstration can also provide any needed resources and exemplars of adapted assessment by connecting the teacher with ESE specialists or other recognized teachers who have been effective with their use of varied assessment strategies. |