6/26/2019
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Giselle Panagiotakis
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I had a student this passed year that had Autism. It was on the border of "knowing" she had a disability and not even being able to tell, so the kids would make faces when she sang at first. I put her in the front of the alto section and I made sure to take more time with that section when teaching. I taught a lot of music by rote and repetition. She also had some outbursts in saying what was on her mind or how she felt about something. I made sure to redirect the class and respond to her in a way that was very normal and controlled. When it came time to match pitch and/or sight read I had my stronger singers and sight readers sit around her, encasing her in the correct pitches so that she could conform to them. She definitely had her challenges but she pulled through and she chose chorus again or next year! I think she grew a lot as a student and as a musician in that class. I look forward to seeing her progress this coming year. |
6/27/2019
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Giselle Panagiotakis
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I have student who suffers from Dyslexia. I have used Sight Reading Factory (SRF) to help her overcome her note-reading struggles. With SRF, a student can choose the level of difficulties, key, time signature and a few other options to practice sight-reading. They can practice timed, or not and they can practice at their own pace. This student needs more time to distinguish what each not actually is, so the time can be increased on the practice exercise. She is able to do a sight-reading quiz multiple times before submitting for a grade. I think this has helped her tremendously because she was able to sight-read for an audition to be a part of our most elit ensemble! |
6/27/2019
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Giselle Panagiotakis
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I had the students sing in octets to ensure they knew their part before our Music Performance Assessment. There was a student with a disability (anxiety and dyslexia) who could not get up in a group and be the only one singing her part. I paired her with two others on the same part so that she could successfully sing through her part while still being tested and prepared fully for the MPA. |