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Marco Thomas Posts: 3
9/14/2017
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I currently teach a student who has a physical disability due to an injury. He can't hold instruments properly any longer. I need to come up with strategies to help him adapt to the music classroom. I believe he can work with one hand but I want to make sure he can do so easily.
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Rainy Barton Posts: 3
9/19/2017
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Last year, I had a student with both cerebral palsy and an intellectual disorder. For the first two months, it was not noted in her IEP that she needed an aide to be with her everywhere she went, including specials, which made it extremely difficult. She struggled with walking immensely, and would burst out with different comments every five seconds. I was essentially having to focus all of my attention on her, because she needed it, and I could not find the balance between teaching my class and providing for her. Finally, an aide started attending with her, and it was still difficult to have her do what the other students were doing, simply because she could not go at the same pace of instruction. Some of the students would be bullies, which of course I handled, but I just wanted to help her succeed in any way that I could. Some accommodations I tried that seemed to help was putting her in between two students who excelled at music and were positive role models. They were always willing to help her, and she seemed to do better when she was sandwiched between the two students. I also would make sure her seat was in the front row when I was teaching at the front of the class, in order to help her with immediate questions, and break things down for her more easily.
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Jovanna Magersuppe Posts: 3
10/2/2017
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My school includes a center for students with Autism. We have about 60 of these students, and most are mainstreamed with the general population for lunch, recess and Fine Arts. This lines up with their IEPs, which do not list Fine Arts specifically, but mentions a percentage of time each day that they should be with the general education population. We had a class of six K-2 non-verbal, very low functioning students with ASD who were mainstreamed with an incredibly large class (and a half!) of 3rd Graders. The Fine Arts Team begged administration, and got permission from each parent, to temporarily see that group alone until they could manage the procedures and routines of the Fine Arts classes. In the meantime, the students are having a lot of success being by themselves! There are 4 adults with me, assisting 6 students. We can take things at a slower place, do lots of repetition, practice procedures, do hand over hand for playing instruments, use puppets to "sing" for they don't. We do a lot more movement and musical games. We celebrate each little success as it happens and the students are happy in music! The parents, however, are concerned that they aren't getting the benefit of the mainstream experience, so we will soon return to them being mainstreamed. This time, however, they will be with a small 1st Grade class, which is more age appropriate for them. I wish their parents could see that the rigor and pace of the "typical" music room is overwhelming for their children, and that having them alone, even for a while, IS the least restrictive environment for them!
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Anka Pink Posts: 5
10/20/2017
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I had a student who was hard of hearing, and had to wear hearing aids to help her process any auditory sources found in the classroom. She struggled to hear very high sounds, because her hearing aid piece would cause feedback, and if she wasn't directly facing the teacher, she would struggle to catch all the specifics with directions.
In order to provide the student with equitable access to music education, I used a wireless speaker head phone that amplified my voice through speakers in the ceiling. This system provided freedom for the student to not be tied to one specific location in the classroom, but to move freely about the room for all whole-group and small-group activities. I also played all recorded music through the in-ceiling sound amplification system. When playing on classroom instruments, I ensured that the student was seated right next to the sound source to provide her with the best opportunity for success.
Administrator wrote:
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.
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Alicia Coon Posts: 6
11/2/2017
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A few years ago I had an elementary general music class with 6 non-verbal autistic students. During the first two weeks, I found it challenging to know what activities to do with these students since each of them had such varied needs. I met with the teachers and we discussed my concerns and they offered suggestions such as providing activities where they could touch and feel objects related to things in the song. That afternoon, while I was shopping at Walmart I noticed some kids books that had touch activities such as fur on the animals, scratch and sniff smells, and press for sounds. I bought a few and tried them the next week in class. I read them the book and let them touch, smell and listen to the sounds. Then I moved to an activity that went along with that story. such as: tossing scarves to the beat, shaking little maracas to create the sound of the snakes to a song that went with the story. That was so successful that the following week I purchased velvety, large pole stick horses at a dollar store and and had the students move around the room to the horse song. Galloping was not an option for most but the students enjoyed dragging the horse while the music played. What started out as a challenging class, ended up being one of my favorite classes to teach simply by thinking outside the box and becoming creative in meeting the needs of the students.
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Barbara McNeely-Bouie Posts: 4
11/5/2017
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I have a student in my Music World class, I did not realize had a learning disability until the student questioned a number of times how to do the research project required and gather a title for it. After continuous questioning, I realized I had to slow down, write down, answer questions, and explain several times. After the student gathered the understanding, the research project was quite good.
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Kathleen Morrow Posts: 3
11/8/2017
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I have a student with down syndrome. They are delightful to have in my class but at the beginning I was unsure about how to accommodate their learning. After research I discovered an easy way to accommodate their learning is proximity. Simply by being close to the student I can get a good picture about what they can and cannot do and respond appropriately. This helped greatly in my learning of better ways to help. In reading music one of the ways I accommodate them is by changing the music from a staff to letters so they are reinforcing skills that they have learned in their regular class, and still able to perform in mine. All of the notes on instruments are also labeled. This is in addition to the music and instruments already being color coded. As this student is younger this will help in the transition to reading music if they so choose to do and in fifth grade where it is the goal to have them reading staff music.
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Alicia Coon Posts: 6
11/21/2017
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Last year I had a student with Cerebral Palsy. He was confined to a wheelchair and had limited control of his hands. In order to assist him with playing the recorder, his teacher helped him hold the recorder, we taped the thumb hole on the back and he used just his first three fingers to play BAG. When the songs became more difficult with more fingers needed, we added a tabletop to his chair and, with the assistance of an aide, he would play the songs on a xylophone while the other students played it on recorders.
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David Hahn Posts: 6
12/27/2017
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I have a student who's on the spectrum for autism. One of the major things noticed about this student is that he is highly sensitive to loud noises. Instead of using bucket drums during his class time for music, students would have to keep a beat or echo drum patterns on their laps because the volume wasn't as loud. He specifically sits in the row furthest away from the sound speakers so that there is no over-saturation with noise; the volume is also kept down lower as well. I check with the student about the volume every time we have to use the speakers to play music. If the volume is too loud, then I adjust either the volume or the way in which the class makes/experiences music.
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Rachel Grelle Posts: 3
1/2/2018
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I have a self-contained class that pushes in during one of my 4th grade classes. The students are not on grade level with the 5th graders, but based on their IEPs I have accommodated our lessons to meet their level and keep them engaged with the rest of the class. For example, my 4th graders are expected to read from a staff, noting the letters of the lines and spaces. My push-in class cannot tell me letters but they can identify if the note is on a line or space. Therefore, I call on them first and then let one of the 4th graders tell me the letter of the line or space.
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Shannon Hull Posts: 3
1/2/2018
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I currently have a young lady that is considered Visually Impaired which makes reading music/rhythms extremely difficult for her. She learns best by peer-tutoring with a strong singer in the class who helps her through rote instruction. When we include creative movement in our lesson, she stands and moves inside a hula-hoop. Her feet touch the edge of the hoop so she knows her "bubble" of space and stays safe.
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Jennie Atkinson Posts: 1
1/3/2018
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I have a student who is hearing impaired. He wears a special hearing device and I have to wear a special microphone when he comes to my class. This works quite well for him and he is successful in class. However there are some times that he forgets to bring the microphone with him to my class, or for some reason, didn't wear his hearing piece to school. On those days I must sit him close to me, and to the speaker that I use for the music, and continually ask him if he understands the lesson/question etc.
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joimclain Posts: 2
1/3/2018
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I have a second grade student with Down's Syndrome. One way i have used technology is in the use of our new music curriculum this year, which is all digital. Instead of projecting it on the screen I project it onto the dry erase board. This way the students' focus is forward and on the board, and I and the students can circle notes, text, or music symbols right beside the digital text and music.
Examples of other technology I have used are YouTube, enhanced CDs, DVDs and MP3 files of music. Recently. some of these were used in a lesson focusing on form and movement to the March from The Nutcracker Suite. From the internet I used a video excerpt from the Nutcracker Ballet showing children dancing to the March. We then listened to just the audio of the music and discussed and identified the form of the piece. We then watched a DVD of elementary children performing to the same music, using large candy canes as horses. My students then listened to the audio again and performed different movements that correlated with different sections of the music.
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Melanie Wyatt Posts: 3
1/7/2018
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I have a student in my class that is hearing impaired. I have her sit in the front of the class. She also uses a hearing device when she comes to music class with a microphone that I wear. I make sure that I am in close proximity to her.
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Kara Thibodeau Posts: 3
1/8/2018
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I have a student with Orthopedic Disabilities that doesn't allow him to move freely and with control because of his spine. When we create movement to songs, I usually try and have a student create a new movement for the class to do. The rest of the class follows. If we are doing a more concrete pattern, I assign a buddy to hold hands with him and it is a great help when students are involved more.
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Fotini Panagiotouros Posts: 6
1/14/2018
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I had a student that had a speech impairment and was ASD. He always needed assistance from an aide if he needed to use his body for an activity or prompt for an answer. It was about half-way through the year when we got into music notation. I gave the same prompt for each student and worked one-on-one at the board to have them identify ta and ti-ti (quarter note and eighth notes - Kodaly). I gave him a review of the notes by pointing to specific values and saying the notation. He then spoke and said the whole rhythmic figure. Reviewing notes, vocalizing slowly, and then allowing him to point or guide the line helped him vocalize his answer.
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Chelsey Zimmerman Posts: 1
1/23/2018
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I had a 5th grade student with autism. He was usually very excited about music and engaged in the lessons, but only when the content peaked his interest. Otherwise, he completely shut off. I noticed he mostly enjoyed playing instruments and creating music in a hands on way, so I tried to tie in solid music making into every lesson. He also excelled in my Recorder Karate unit, but resisted learning notation as he was able to learn all the tunes by ear. I didn't want to discourage this, so I awarded him when he completed the song and allowed him to earn an extra white belt if he could tell me all the notes and use the sheet music. This allowed him to succeed in the way he learned best, but also meet the required instructional outcomes.
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Dustin Burgess Posts: 3
1/25/2018
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I have a 4th grade student that does not fingers on his left hand. He is very eager and willing to learn, so I let him devise ways that he can participate with the rest of the class when we play instruments. For example, when we play songs from "KidSticks" he is very creative in finding ways to perform drum rolls, stick scrapes, stick clicks, etc on his own. He very much feels like he is a part of the class, just like everyone else.
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Adam Koppin Posts: 3
2/14/2018
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I just started at my current school in September, a few weeks after school began. I raised a lot of money and was able to buy 30 soprano ukuleles that I use in my 2nd grade through 5th grade classes. I have one student that has an orthopedic impairment. She was born with no fingers on her left hand, but she does have a small thumb. Her right hand is normal. She would not be able to play a right handed ukulele, so I had the music store re-string the ukulele to make it a left handed ukulele. That's her ukulele. When the other students grab an ukulele from the tree, she gets hers out and is able to do everything everyone else is able to do.
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Scott Firestone Posts: 4
2/25/2018
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I have a 4th grade student with autism who is sensitive to noise and loud sounds. I gave him earplugs and headphones to reduce the noise level so he could comfortably play with us as a class. Sometimes I place him in a practice room with his para and a small group or his music partner so that he can practice the assignments on the recorder. During performances I place him away from any speakers, he can wear his ear plugs and he sits next to his music class partner. These accommodations have been helpful for the student to be successful in recorder class.
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