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Terry Thimlar Posts: 3
6/24/2019
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I had a student that was a high functioning autistic individual. He liked to draw a lot and when there was an important point to get across I allowed the student to use his drawing skills that then enabled him to fully understand the discussion(s) on the important topic at hand.
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Terry Thimlar
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Lara Slatniske Posts: 3
6/27/2019
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I'm an art teacher that had a student with SLD and she was always very respectful, quiet, missed a lot of my class due to being pulled out. She stayed on task and completed the project to the best of her ability. We don't ever grade on completion/non completion unless the students are off-task and my student with SLD rarely completed her projects due to being away from her art time for therapies with our ESE team. Even though it was clear her grade would not be affected for in-completion (she was my student for 3 years), she would sneak her project home and never bring it back. I would remind her, give her extra time to bring it back, contact parents, etc. She would give me excuses that she forgot, or she left it in the car, etc. Very frustrating because I know she did the project, she knew she needed to bring it in, but wouldn't. I'm not sure if the disability was a factor in this process for her, but it definitely affected the learning piece of turning in your work.
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Meredith Nation Posts: 3
6/29/2019
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- Art project lessons are tiered to make success more attainable or more challenging based on the differentiation most suitable to an individual, whether due to a specific disability or to a lack of prior exposure to art (often cultural). Students who have a background knowledge in art vocabulary and technique work at an accelerated pace from students who are new to art. Students with disabilities may work at a pace that best suits them; in fact I usually have a small group consisting of students that work at a specific pace that includes students with a disability and those without. Accelerated students are provided a larger option of materials to use, options that can be overwhelming to new art students or students with processing disorders. Lessons all have a basic structure to them and students are all prompted to problem solve and persevere, the amount of structure and prompting required fluctuates. I have some Autistic students who require almost no structure or prompting who work well paired with seasoned art students at an accelerated tier level. Conversely I have gifted students that struggle unless provided with explicit structure so they can make a good peer partner to a student that has a disability requiring numerous repetitions to understand a task sequence (ADD, ELL, Vision).
In addition to designing tiered lessons I use established pneumonic devices (like the acronym R.O.Y.G.B.I.V) and encourage students to make meaningful personal connections with concepts and vocabulary (for example pointing out that horizontal lines are laying down like one of the lines in the letter “H”). Graphic organizers are useful for nearly everything we do in class. Having a visual explanation is essential for some students understanding and supportive for me to assess students quickly as I walk through the room. T Charts can point out comparisons like which tools have a fine point for detailed drawing, Venn Diagrams can demonstrate how combining primary colors results in Secondary colors and itemized task lists/forms can used to completing a reflective assessment of completed projects.
I would love to discuss technology use in my classroom, unfortunately my school does not provide me with any technology resources.
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Meredith Nation Posts: 3
6/30/2019
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- Describe an example of adapted assessment you have successfully used in the fine arts classroom for students with disabilities.
My students compete a unit on color theory by creating a 10 page story book using the color wheel illustrations they complete during the weeks spent understanding color relationships. Students can either describe/explain color theory (non-fiction) or use their imagination to develop a story (fiction). Students are evaluated on how well their text and illustrations work together to create a children's book, how well they followed sequential tasks, the quality of photograph they take and submit to their online portfolio, how thoroughly they complete their reflective graphic organizer, and the quality of their craftsmanship. Nearly all my students complete this task as described above, with a tremendous range of final products. The best student books are then entered in the Broward County Literary Fair.
Recently I had a student in my class with Down Syndrome who was assessed on this project. I evaluated her on the same items but adapted the process of reviewing her work. Her paraprofessional uploaded the photograph for her and read the reflective organizer aloud to her while completing it for her. Questions were rephrased by me where needed to reach the student at her developmental level. The student’s craftsmanship was assessed taking into consideration her developmental age and physical limitations. To grade the content of her story, I asked the student to read it aloud to me and explain the pictures. She was extremely proud to be able to present her final work to the class by reading it aloud as well.
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Walter Younglove Posts: 3
7/1/2019
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Ryan would always be seen around campus with a smile on his face and he was always happy to see you. I must say that I have never met a kid with Downs Syndrome that had the personality that Ryan did. I teach Television Production and suggested that Ryan sign up for my class. Sometimes a class that can be as creative as mine is a way for a student to use photography or shooting video as a great way to be self expressive.
When Ryan started in TV he was great at doing graphics that we use in our daily Television show and it seemed like he found his niche. I could always count on him to get something done. I did notice that despite his personality, he was having trouble working in groups to do other projects. Maybe he wasn’t sure what to do so I tried to direct him as best
I could. He had other assignments that he could do by himself but it seemed that he lost interest in doing them. Still had that same personality but started to not be interested in trying or doing what it took to get some projects done. I grade very fairly when if comes to students with disabilities or other family hardships that limit what they can do in my class but I do have one stipulation, and that is that they should at least try.
The third grading period, I decided to give Ryan a low grade in my class because in my opinion, he wasn’t even trying anymore. This of course raised some eyebrows with his parents. My thinking was that even though a kid has some disabilities, they are not always perfectly behaved or do perfect work. They can be just like other students. They can be lazy, they can misbehave, they can be procrastinators. When I read the People First language of folks with disabilities, I feel that it justified my reasoning for giving Ryan a low grade. Just because Ryan has a disability does not mean I have to look at that disability and take pity on him, he is just like many of my other students who have a hard time getting motivated.
I still run into Ryan at the grocery store where he works, and he still has that same personality. He is always asking “Do you miss me?”
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Kathleen Sterwerf-Jackson Posts: 3
7/8/2019
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Coteaching with an art teacher. Our student identifies as a student with profound hearing loss and intellectual disabilities. There is an ASL interpreter in the classroom that facilitates communication. This particular student demonstrates some impulse control when he is highly excited or engaged in an art project which can cause him to become off task and not complete his work. Coming to art class is highly motivational for him so in order for him to find success we have established a charting procedure that allows the student to follow the daily routine of entering class, collecting the appropriate art tools, and getting organized for the lesson. For each task the student completes he checks off his responsibilities on his task chart. The task chart assists the student to remain focused in class and complete each stage of his project without having any major behavioral incidents in class. Using the task completion chart also allows for the student to gage getting his projects and assignments turned in on time or to know when to request extended time or help.
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Teresa Zemaitis Posts: 4
7/8/2019
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I had a student with cerebral palsy. She was highly intelligent but her physical disability was great. When I had the class doing hands on projects, I would scan documents and email them to her so that she could edit/manipulate them on her computer and then upload them to the grade book for credit (of course, with additional time to do so).
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Teresa Zemaitis Posts: 4
7/8/2019
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- Describe at least one way you have used technology to meet the needs of a student with a disability in your classroom. Be sure to describe the specific technology and how it assisted the student with a disability.
| I had a student with cerebral palsy. She was highly intelligent but her physical disability was great. When I had the class doing hands on projects, I would scan documents and email them to her so that she could edit/manipulate them on her computer and then upload them to the grade book for credit (of course, with additional time to do so). More specifically, the class was creating black out poems where they take an existing text (a page ripped out of a book - don't worry, I went dumpster diving through the library's recycle bin) and they "black out" with markers words they don't want to leave words that will create a new poem that is different from the original content on the page. My girl with cerebral palsy simply cannot hold a marker to cross out words - let alone be creative with the marker to draw a picture of any kind with those lines. So I scanned pages for her and sent them to her as a .jpeg file so that she use a photo editing program to complete the assignment. Same exact assignment just completed a different way. |
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Teresa Zemaitis Posts: 4
7/8/2019
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- Describe an example of adapted assessment you have successfully used in the fine arts classroom for students with disabilities.
- At the end of unit, I asked students to complete a graphic organizer to demonstrate their understanding of the content. A girl who had ADHD and could become very disruptive did not want to do the assignment. I recognized it was not active enough for her. I asked her what she had in mind. She wanted to perform a rap song. I agreed with the stipulation that the song had to be planned and hit all the same points that would have appeared on the graphic organizer. She was so excited to write and perform the song for the class that she did not realize she did way more work than everyone else. (That same girl is now a Master Drill Sergeant in the U.S. Army!)
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Clifford Beaman Posts: 4
7/15/2019
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- Think of a student with a disability you have now or in the past. Describe ways in which their disability affected their learning in your class.
- I recently taught a student who was visually impaired as well as Orthopedically Impaired (MS), and TBI. She loved to draw comic characters, and would resist doing the assigned work, and I believe not due to her physical limitations, just preferred activity. I would give her several options to adapt her work to 'fit' with the assigned work and her interests, but sometimes there was not much flexibility for that to occur. Her para came up with lots of creative ways to adapt the assignments, but the thing that worked the best was positively reinforcing the most minor progress, sort of like a bread-crumb trail. By the end of the year, she would do the work with almost no prompting, and at her end-of-year IEP wrap-up it came up in discussion that maybe her auditory senses were the most active senses she had, and that she gravitated towards that good feeling as an intrinsic motivator, rather than just the other carrots like being able to read a comic at the end of class or end of week. My experience with her reminded me that while it is important to focus on ways to help equitably support your student's areas of need, you can't forget to focus on the things they are able to do!
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Clifford Beaman Posts: 4
7/15/2019
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Teresa Zemaitis wrote:
- Describe an example of adapted assessment you have successfully used in the fine arts classroom for students with disabilities.
- At the end of unit, I asked students to complete a graphic organizer to demonstrate their understanding of the content. A girl who had ADHD and could become very disruptive did not want to do the assignment. I recognized it was not active enough for her. I asked her what she had in mind. She wanted to perform a rap song. I agreed with the stipulation that the song had to be planned and hit all the same points that would have appeared on the graphic organizer. She was so excited to write and perform the song for the class that she did not realize she did way more work than everyone else. (That same girl is now a Master Drill Sergeant in the U.S. Army!)
I like how you differentiated your requirements of her work- how did the other students respond to the accommodation you used? I find that sometimes other students notice, and it starts a conversation about equity vs. equality in the learning environment.
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Lee Taylor Posts: 3
7/15/2019
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I had a student with a language disorder in that she did not speak English. She moved to Florida as a result of Hurricane Katrina. A 504 plan was implemented for her due to her inability to understand or speak English. In order to properly explain the lessons in class I was fortunate enough to have another student who spoke the same language who acted as the interpreter for her. In similar situations when I had a child with autism, I was able to find a student that the child with autism appeared to gravitate towards and use that other student as a guide for the child with autism. This was not only beneficial for the child with autism but it also taught the other students the importance of helping others, especially others that may not learn in the same way.
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Diana Fernandez Posts: 1
7/16/2019
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I had a student with ADHD and Behavioral Disorder who, for the most part had no interest in art. I decided that I would play soft music in my room and sat him at the back of room; therefore, I was able to get around to the back and work with those at his table (with a focus on him), before I would walk around to other groups. After completing my lesson, I would go to his table and demonstrate lesson once again. I would reassure him that he just had to do his best but to take pride in his work. Once he realized that it was doable, he took interest and ownership. He began to turn in his work and focus a little more. By the end of the semester, he was actually asking the class to be quiet so that he could understand what he had to do, which created a reaction from others. I believe all students can be successful in art. It is a subject that can be taught just like any other subject and is as important as any academic subject.
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Clifford Beaman Posts: 4
7/16/2019
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- Last year I taught a student who was visually impaired and could only see about 2 to 8 inches in front of her, and also had difficulty with depth perception as well as attending to any task for longer than about 3 minutes. For an assignment for understanding how to mix colors, I used a document camera that was trained on what her hands were doing, which allowed her to see better and she was able to not only do the assignment, but also engaged her beyond just the assignment- she would often prefer to use the screen for other tasks such as writing. Once she got over the difficulty of not looking right in front of her at what her hands were doing (it was hard for me to even model!), she became used to it and enjoyed the class rather than avoiding effort and assisted her with making some amazing work that she was proud to share with the class.
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Corazon Bryant Posts: 3
7/23/2019
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I had students before with mental disabilities. They would have hard times following written instructions. So what I did to remedy this was I created video tutorials that show step-by-step instructions on how to make visual arts using 3D software programs. What was helpful about this was not only can they hear my voice as I go over the instructions, but they can also see my recorded computer screen. They can work at their own phase because they can rewind and pause the video anytime in case they get lost. But ofcourse I was also there to help them in case they couldn’t figure out how to solve a specific problem.
edited by Corazon Bryant on 7/23/2019
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Rebeccah Adney Posts: 4
8/27/2019
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I recently had a student with autism complete a Discussion-based Assessment over the phone with me. He was not my student as I am a lead teacher that covers so I had not met him yet. His mom was nervous when she passed him the phone and explained that he has really long pauses and often needs a long time to even come up with a 1-word answer. I assured her that all would work out well. When I spoke to him about his bird photograph, I asked him questions about the type of bird and what facts he knew about it and this led to an in-depth conversation about the photo. Finding out what his hobbies and interests were really got him talking and teaching me something which kept him engaged.
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Diana Egan Posts: 3
9/12/2019
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I have a student with a hearing disability. She comes to class with an interpreter. She does wear a hearing aid, and she can also speak quite well for someone with hearing loss. I have played videos using closed captioning for her so she can follow along with the lesson being presented. I have also learned a few signs to be able to better communicate with her.
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Hayley Calhoon Posts: 3
9/13/2019
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I have a student who has Autism Spectrum Disorder. After the first few weeks of school, I was able to understand her specific characteristics, which allowed me to better accommodate her as a teacher. She can become overwhelmed if I move too quickly through a task. Further, she requires constant reinforcement of instructions - I must repeat everything specifically to her and she likes to repeat it back to me to ensure her understanding. Although this characteristic takes extra time and effort for both of us, it is actually effective in ensuring that she is able to correctly complete her work. Once I go through this process for her, she is able to complete work at the same quality or higher than other students who do not have this same disability. In summary, with the necessary accommodations, this students learning does not have to be affected in my course.
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Caitlin Clay Posts: 1
9/20/2019
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I have taught art to many students with Down syndrome. We first identified their current skill set and interests and then worked on expanding them. The content that I would normally teach in the class was modified to fit their current level and ability, and we set goals for the year of new skills or techniques they would work on mastering.
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michelle debello Posts: 3
9/20/2019
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I currently have a 10th grade student with autism. This has affected his behavior in class and his writing ability. He loves to construct things so when he has completed his work he gets extra time and materials to create items. His drawing skills are weak so I have had him working on the computer, he is familiar with photoshop and illustrator, he does his drawing on there then we print it out and he finishes it with what media the rest of the class is working on. I also have him type his written reflections because he seems to have issues communicating through regular hand writing.
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