6/30/2019
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Melissa Life
|
A few years ago, I had a wonderful student that was visually impaired that entered into my classroom. She was a last-minute join to choir about three weeks into the school year. I had no prior knowledge about having a student that had a severe vision impairment. She came into my classroom while I was teaching my other students how to sight-read with examples on my whiteboard. I felt awful as I watched her sit in class not fully understanding what was going on while the other students kept working on the assignment. Wanting to ensure that she was learning how to read and to be actively involved in class, I sought out her special education teacher who also happened to have a visual impairment and she provided me with tools to help my student learn how to read musical braille. So, throughout the year we both learned how to read music. |
6/30/2019
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Melissa Life
|
In my classroom, I have used mnemonic devices to help my students remember musical concepts with all of my students, regardless of their abilities. I would always give my mnemonic device to help students, however, some of my students would even create their own mnemonic devices to help them learn the material needed in class. Another thing that I have done with my students is to give them opportunities to do both a self-evaluation/reflection of their performance and abilities in the classroom and/or performances. Students have also shared with one another their assessments if we have done a performance evaluation as a class. |
6/30/2019
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Melissa Life
|
I worked with a student that was wheel-chair bound, could barely move her arms, and was non-verbal in my music listening class. I always knew she was listening to my instructions and to the musical examples played in class as she would smile at things she liked. When I had to assess her, I asked her special education teacher what tools they used when doing assessments. She communicated her wishes by a "yes" or "no" button on her iPad. Knowing this, I restructured her exam to be "yes" or "no" questions, but still testing the same content that the remainder of my class was responsible for knowing. |