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William Ruswick Posts: 2
12/5/2020
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Accommodations that I use out of four areas: • Presentation—how students receive information, • Responding—how students show what they know, • Setting—how the environment is made accessible for instruction and assessment, and • Scheduling—how time demands and schedules may be adjusted. Is Responding, I find my ESE students after one a week hour class activities they can respond well. I repeat the activity over and over, then repeat it the next week and they respond well. I have found the memory of some of the ESE students is very good. They might not be able to express it verbally but they can respond through movement and motion.
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Amy Joy Posts: 3
12/5/2020
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I teach a 2nd grade class in which nearly half of the students in the class have ADHD. I use many adaptations to engage students and hold their attention. I use visuals (google slides), realia (instruments and props) to keep things interesting, lively pacing, proximity - moving towards students who are off task to help them reengage, I make use of the space in the room- moving as I teach, auditory cues (clap a rhythm and they clap it back) to get their attention quickly (this is taught day 1), and movement as much as possible (moving to music or standing to sing) so they are not sitting for long periods of times.
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stephanie v elliott Posts: 1
12/9/2020
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I taught 5th graders and had one visually impaired student. I used several of the modifications and adaptations suggested in this course already. He was allowed to choose a seat he felt best allowed him to participate in the class so he could hear and feel the "sounds". Anything written was enlarged or provided digitally so he could himself enlarge the size as well as change contrasting if necessary. For my ADHD students, I employed a variety of methods that helped all students as well. Materials or procedures with multiple steps were broken down into small chunks and practice lessons. Using hand signals that also include auditory cues was beneficial in maintaining attention as well as student engagement. Having students repeat back to me the phrase or instruction has been most helpful as well.
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Jennifer Moats Posts: 3
12/9/2020
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In one of my 4th grade classes, I have a student with Autism. While we were learning about the note names on the staff, she was having difficulty keeping up the speed of the class. I set her up on an iPad and had her play the game Staff Wars. This allowed her to practice her skill of reading notation in a fun and interactive way on her own. She ended up loving the game so much that she had her mother download the app on her iPad at home and she is now a master at reading notation. It is amazing!
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Carrie Brooke Posts: 5
12/16/2020
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I had a wonderful student with pronounced Autism during his 4th and 5th grade years. He had great difficulty dealing with sensory experiences and with social interactions. However, he really loved music and especially singing, so my Chorus room was a happy place for him. I made sure to maintain a familiar and consistent routine in rehearsals, and was grateful to have a very caring group of girls in the group who took this student under their wing whenever he showed signs of frustration or anxiety. I was thrilled when he accepted my invitation to perform the duties of Chorus Librarian, which made him feel important, and also helped him interact with peers. There was a water fountain right outside our classroom, and we had an arrangement that if he ever felt overwhelmed and needed to step away for a moment, he only needed to ask to get a drink, and could slip out for a moment without feeling conspicuous. I am always amazed by how the Fine Arts setting diminishes 'disabilities' and brings out extraordinary talents and, of course, so much joy!
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Carrie Brooke Posts: 5
12/16/2020
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Great approach, Ruthie! There are always mature leaders in the room who can model supportive and compassionate outreach to their peers. We're lucky to have those students around to help us foster the "team" spirit we're striving for. Ruthie Antmann wrote:
I teach a student who is autistic. He is fairly high-functioning but has a lot of social trouble. He has a hard time understanding the correct and appropriate ways to interact with others. I try to help him by carefully choosing students to do cooperative activities with him, and by structuring those activities to help him have the appropriate social reactions. I also remind him frequently about how others might perceive his words and that helps him function better within his classroom.
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Carrie Brooke Posts: 5
12/16/2020
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Sara - Bravo on your heartfelt and honest post! I'm sure most teachers, brand new or teaching for decades, would agree that we have learned (and will continue to learn) much more from our students - especially those with learning challenges - that we could ever teach them. Every student has unique needs. The fact that you are trying so many accommodations just means that you have more tools in your toolbag to assist future students! Sara DiPardo wrote:
I have a wonderful student with cerebral palsy. The student is in a wheelchair but also has a very nice walker. The student usually comes to music in the chair though. The student also has a paraprofessional that helps. the student sits on the end where I can get to them more easily and help. The student is very rigid and stiff and has limited use of the left hand but can more easily use the right. I do accommodations with mallet instruments with by having her play the larger ones. I still help with my hand on top to guide. Recorder is something I am struggling with accommodations for. I try to cover the students hands but it's difficult having to use both and not very successful.
I repeat directions although the student doesn't have any problems with hearing but with speaking. I have had the most success with dancing/motion that only requires the upper body. The student LOVES this especially if it's a game where if you move robotically or can be "silly" the student is more successful and obviously has more fun too.
This has been my first student with Cerebral Palsy and I have already learned so much about accommodations. I am embarrassed honestly in how little I feel I have done. I need to work on SO much. This course has made me so aware. I look forward to using a lot of these ideas next year!
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/28/2020
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I have a wonderful second grader who is autistic. I have had him in my music class since kindergarten. He does not like to be touched. Whenever we are learning a folk dance or some kind of movement which requires touching, I allow him to be by himself, if he chooses, and pretend to 'dance' with his invisible partner. When we are completing a listening activity, I give him a set of headphones which allows him to listen but with less volume. His ability to hear and match different rhythms and melodies is wonderful and because he is verbal, I will ask him to work with other students who are having difficulty matching. I have found he does not do well with movement routines with lummi sticks so I have learned to pear down the movements for him. Instead of a movement on every beat or every other beat, I will give him one movement for every two or four beats. I also try to make sure the movements he does are the important, BIG movements.
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/28/2020
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Zadda Bazzy wrote:
Several years ago I taught a student with autism. He was easily overstimulated by the sounds in the elementary music classroom and our many movement activities. It was not unusual for him to make loud noises and hide under the furniture when he could not handle the stimuli. His teacher gave him noise cancelling headphones for music class. In addition, I gave him a special place at the far corner of the music class where he could go if he needed to get away from the noise or movement. In addition, I featured this student during singing activities. He loved to sing -- especially into a microphone -- and he matched pitch very well. The class and I celebrated his strengths in music class, as well as allowed him to modify his participation in certain activities that overstimulated him.
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/28/2020
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I have also used headphones with my autistic students. It seems to really help them focus and to not become overwhelmed. I have head several autistic students and, so far, they've done really well in music. Of course in music they are able to express themselves in ways not available in the regular ed classroom.
Zadda Bazzy wrote:
Several years ago I taught a student with autism. He was easily overstimulated by the sounds in the elementary music classroom and our many movement activities. It was not unusual for him to make loud noises and hide under the furniture when he could not handle the stimuli. His teacher gave him noise cancelling headphones for music class. In addition, I gave him a special place at the far corner of the music class where he could go if he needed to get away from the noise or movement. In addition, I featured this student during singing activities. He loved to sing -- especially into a microphone -- and he matched pitch very well. The class and I celebrated his strengths in music class, as well as allowed him to modify his participation in certain activities that overstimulated him.
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/28/2020
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I have had one students who was EBD. That was a tough class because I never really knew what would set him off. Unfortunately, in my school, I see the students once a week and I never was able to really understand his needs. I wasn't given any information and as I was a first year music teacher, I didn't really have the time to go and seek out the homeroom teacher or his file. Sounds like you did the best you could at the time.
Rachael Joachim wrote:
I had a 2nd-grade student this year with many disabilities, including and not limited to: Autism Spectrum Disorder, EBD, etc. This meant that each week I wasn't sure what his behavior was going to be like, or if he could function in the music classroom. I would see him once a week for 45 minutes, and for the first several months of the school year, he would make it either between 20-30 minutes into the class before his behavior for whatever triggers he may have had, would set him off and he would start acting out with violence and impulsive behavior, which resulted in activating the intervention plan of calling the front office for a team member who was certified to help and remove him from class to keep himself and the other students and myself safe. When this particular student was able to stay in the class for the whole time, I made sure to not give either too much or too little praise, as I was told by his teacher during one of his IEP meetings with the parent that if he felt singled out for either a positive or negative could set him off. Basically the only consistent thing about this particular student was his inconsistency. Behavior plans, multiple meetings that the parent had were held throughout the school year to continue to re-evaluate what works and what didn't for this particular students. One thing I was able to do for him was give him his own set of mallets that I allowed him to put into his mouth when we played on the Orff instruments. He knew he had his own pair to do whatever he wanted to do with, which was helpful for the rest of the class to not have to worry about non-sanitary mallets when we switched instruments. Needless to say, it was a challenging year with this student in my class, and I have learned a lot about the importance of being flexible, and being proactive with my strategies.
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/28/2020
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The way you made accommodations for this student is wonderful. Anything is possible when we think outside of the box!
william barnes wrote:
I had a student who was born with only an upper left arm. We were reading and playing rhythm on rhythm sticks. He was having difficulty holding rhythm stick under his left arm. I bought a 2" dowel rod cut it a 2' length and he was able to play holding under his left arm. He wanted to play the snare drum. I found some Velcro straps and was able to attach the drum stick to his left arm. He was in heaven.
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/28/2020
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I think that many times we 'learn' how to accommodate students by accident. It's wonderful when what we have planned works out for individual students.
Christina Torrez wrote:
I have a student who is in fourth grade. His name is Samuel. Samuel has a speech impairment as well as other health impairments. He has a one on one para who travels with him to his specials classes and he uses an iPad to communicate. Samuel does as he is told and is usually on task. It does take some encouragement to have him participate in hand signs or playing instruments. I did learn that he loves movement activities. Last week I used the parachute to demonstrate the form for William Tell Overture. Samuel practiced the motions in his seat and was very excited to hear the music. It was like he was a different student. When we actually went to the parachute he listened and had so much fun using the parachute. He doesn’t let his disability hinder him in class. You can tell that he really enjoys music and loved moving around instead of just sitting and using instruments.
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Jordan Sawyer Posts: 3
12/28/2020
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For two years I taught a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder and a handful of other auxiliary circumstances. This was middle school aged band; what was most incredible was that this student was able to successfully make music "at level" per se with regards to what the surrounding students knew as well. He was a 7th grade beginning band student in a blended 6th, 7th, and 8th grade beginning band class. I found that this student was rhythmically able to demonstrate musical principals such as rhythm, tempo, dynamics, nuance, and a whole other list of concepts, so I spoke with his mother and the ESE facilitator and worked to keep him in the class and in the percussion section. By pairing him with another student who could comfortably and quickly demonstrate verbal explanations of rhythm, or by working with him myself while a reliable student worked in each other section in small groups, the whole class was able to embrace him and include him without sacrificing rigor much at all. Throughout the two years I had him in my band classes, we discovered that he also had perfect pitch - which accounted for his distress to many of the beginning band sounds! I was able to modify many of our second-level band lessons to include him in actively aiding the other students tuning their instruments (so precise was his understanding that he was able to pick out overtones!).
This isn't to say that there were no challenges. I found myself constantly seeking out the kernel of a concept in a lesson and making sure I could demonstrate and physically aid him if necessary or made sure I could brief his percussion partners to ensure he was receiving the highest quality education we could all provide him with.
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/31/2020
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I have also used the noise-cancelling handphones with specific autistic students. They have worked wonders, both for that student AND for the rest of the class. The headphones have allowed that student to participate but to also calm them down so they do not interrupt the class.
Zadda Bazzy wrote:
Several years ago I taught a student with autism. He was easily overstimulated by the sounds in the elementary music classroom and our many movement activities. It was not unusual for him to make loud noises and hide under the furniture when he could not handle the stimuli. His teacher gave him noise cancelling headphones for music class. In addition, I gave him a special place at the far corner of the music class where he could go if he needed to get away from the noise or movement. In addition, I featured this student during singing activities. He loved to sing -- especially into a microphone -- and he matched pitch very well. The class and I celebrated his strengths in music class, as well as allowed him to modify his participation in certain activities that overstimulated him.
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Donna Flowers Posts: 15
12/31/2020
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This is a wonderful way to help that child fit in with the other students. Often the other students are able to help in ways that the teacher can not.
Devra Pollard wrote:
I had an ASD student who was high-functioning but was noticeably challenged when interacting with peers. There was a core group of students who were effective and patient when helping him understand appropriate ways to engage and interact with others while completing cooperative tasks. When creating groups and structuring in class assignments, I always included one student from the core group that partnered well with him. He changed groups with the same frequency as others; group assignments were not restrictive. By year’s end, he appropriately engaged with everyone in the class.
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Anne Klytta Posts: 3
1/9/2021
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Several years ago, I taught students in an elementary music classroom setting which combined students with 5-6 students with specific learning disabilities with 25 students in a regular-ed classroom setting. When those students reached 3rd grade, and they were part of the instruction on note reading on the treble clef staff, utilizing apps on an iPad allowed me to limit the specific notes they were learning, whereby they were much more successful. As students acquired sufficient knowledge to move on, we were able to add notes one at a time, building upon their knowledge base. The other option, which was very successful, was pairing up students with the 5-6 students that were being included in their class on many activities. Everyone felt as though they were really a true class working together. Also, these 5-6 students were included in small groups, giving everyone equal opportunity to engage in classroom activities.
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Anne Klytta Posts: 3
1/9/2021
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A few years ago, I had a student in my classroom who was on the Autism spectrum and was very sensitive to loud noises, including playing music on the stereo. The first objective was to move him as far away as possible from the source of the sound, and I was still conscious of how loud the music could be for the entire class. Occasionally wearing headphones that would muffle the sound somewhat when the class sang as a group also helped considerably. These headphones also helped him concentrate when it was time to do written work that required concentration. When we did a singing test, we were in a room together with a paraprofessional, and the test was conducted at a "piano" level, with this student able to echo the melody correctly, also at a "piano" level.
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Heather Lozano Posts: 6
1/13/2021
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For 4 years now I have had a student in my music class who is ASD. I have learned that he is very sensitive to loud noises. When he was in first grade he would not step foot into my classroom due to students singing and playing loud instruments. He would refuse to come in. I accommodated him by speaking with his homeroom teacher and parents and asked if we could have him use noise canceling headphones when he came to my class. His parents and teacher agreed and the noise canceling headphones worked perfectly. He was now able to walk into my classroom and participate in music class while wearing his headphones. Fast forward 4 years later and he still wears them! This accommodation worked perfectly for my ASD student.
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Heather Lozano
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Heather Lozano Posts: 6
1/13/2021
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Headphones are just an awesome accommodation for students with ASD. I myself have used them and found that they work nicely throughout our activities in class. Anne Klytta wrote:
A few years ago, I had a student in my classroom who was on the Autism spectrum and was very sensitive to loud noises, including playing music on the stereo. The first objective was to move him as far away as possible from the source of the sound, and I was still conscious of how loud the music could be for the entire class. Occasionally wearing headphones that would muffle the sound somewhat when the class sang as a group also helped considerably. These headphones also helped him concentrate when it was time to do written work that required concentration. When we did a singing test, we were in a room together with a paraprofessional, and the test was conducted at a "piano" level, with this student able to echo the melody correctly, also at a "piano" level.
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Heather Lozano
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