6/6/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Richard Ballinger
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I have had many students with various physical and intellectual disabilities that could have impeded their progress over the years. One that I had not too long ago had a birth defect that left her with partially deformed fingers on both her hands. She was missing a large portion of her ring finger, and her middle finger and pointer fingers were a little bit short, and her right hand had other parts of fingers missing. We worked to modify her bow hold and fingering to accommodate her hand shape as well as teaching shifting early on so that she could catch play certain passages easier. She did a great job and was actually one of our highest achieving musicians by the time she graduated 8th grade. I have also had students with some hearing difficulties, visual difficulties, and other learning disabilities. But with modifications of instruction and a little thought, we've always been able to find success. |
6/7/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Richard Ballinger
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I have often used peer partners as a universal design for my entire class, but I would specifically set it up for students to mentor and evaluate each other as they were learning concepts. After reviewing what we had previously learned, I would demonstrate the new concept we would be working on then give the students direction for small group (pairs, usually) practice where they would evaluate and coach each other. This would be followed by opportunity for students to share what they had learned and achieved as well as what was suggested to improve. This worked very well even for students who would struggle with certain concepts for various reasons including disabilities. I have also used mnemonic instruction for memorizing the note names, key signatures, and other concepts such as sightreading. Students would help eachother in memorizing them so that we are all eventually reading music together. Of course, many of the other concepts are always used (Tiered instruction, differentiated instruction) to lead to eventual success for the entire ensemble. |
6/7/2016
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Richard Ballinger
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I had a student who played the violin that had an injury during a surgery that resulted in her having to wear a halo. With the brackets coming down to her shoulders, it was impossible for her to play the violin, so we switched her to cello and she modified the posture the best she could and became quite proficient and continued her progress. She enjoyed the challenge, but when the halo was finally removed, she returned to the violin. It was amazing to see how well she did. Recently, I had a student who injured their shoulder and was unable to play leading up to the concert. When it came to performing scale tests, I would have her do left hand only while I played to bow for her so that she could demonstrate the proper finger pattern (along with the comedy of violin, 2 hands, 2 people for the class). |