6/12/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Benjamin Adams
|
I have a student who is on the autism spectrum. He is a great french horn player, but can get excited very easily about the emotion of the music. As a horn player, you can imagine that sometimes his powerful playing can be a little much. When faced with a situation such as this, I use a number system on a scale of 1 to 5 to let him know how loud I would like him to play. This seems to be much more effective than telling him to always play softer. In some cases, I prefer to talk to him one-on-one about the situation so that he doesn't feel embarrassed. Socially, he can easily shut down if you show him disapproval. I think the most important strategy with him is to always remind him that I'm on his side, and I value his love for music. It's my job to show him how to harness and manage that power. |
6/23/2016
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Benjamin Adams
|
I recently had a student with a learning disability who struggled with the concept of music notation. With this student, I used flash card program on my ipad called Name the Note. The interactive program seemed to stimulate retention and provide a means to connect with the student on a technological device that made her feel comfortable. I found that her retention of music notation increased immensely. |
8/4/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Benjamin Adams
|
Last year, I had a student in my piano class who struggled with transferring music notation to the piano keys. During the ongoing assessment process, we made a plan to extend time for her to complete the assignment by setting up additional practice time after school so that she could improve on this skill. With extra repetition, the student completed the assessment successfully while not missing further information that was taught in class. |