5/9/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Cathy Fant
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I am actually a retired special education and regular elementary education teacher, who happened to teach piano privately for a few years after retiring from the classroom. As a classroom teacher, I had one student who had ADHD. He comes to mind in responding to this question. As his kindergarten teacher, I regularly used music in my classroom. This student truly enjoyed music, but became overly excited at times. I found it helpful to seat him near me and give him frequent reminders to stay on task or make accommodations for him in order to keep him under control. If we were playing rhythm instruments, for example, I might ask him to sit in a chair and "lead" the class, rather than sit in the circle on the floor. This would avoid him hitting another child with an instrument or rhythm stick. Activities that involved music combined with movement were helpful to this student, as he really did need to move around more. So, while music presented some challenges for me in keeping his movement and activity level under control, it also served as a motivator and a release for this particular child. |
5/10/2020
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Cathy Fant
|
In considering a particular student with ADHD, who I previously taught in a regular kindergarten classroom, two of the strategies discussed in this unit seem particularly appropriate for working with him. The first is "discovery learning." Since this child was especially active and enjoyed any movement and hands-on activities, allowing him to explore materials, objects or even a variety of books related to a subject, would be beneficial and enjoyable for him. With teacher direction, such exploration could lead him to gaining a good deal of knowledge from such exploration. While this would not necessarily be related to music in every case, the strategy could be applied to learning about particular musical instruments or other facets of music education.
A second strategy that would be beneficial to this student is "peer partners." I found the suggested article very informative and feel partnering this student with another child to work on particular projects or lessons would potentially help both of them learn the concepts more thoroughly. In addition, the communication and cooperation skills required to work together with a partner would be helpful to this student. |
5/10/2020
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Cathy Fant
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I looked at the Assessment Accommodations Checklist and found numerous accommodations that would have been helpful for a kindergartner with ADHD, who was in my class years ago. While I realize it's unlikely his IEP would include a list of the seven accommodations I noted, I will mention the two that would be most helpful, particularly if he was taking a test or assessment. These are both in the area of the "setting." One would be to provide a distraction-free space or alternative location for him. A study carrel is one suggestion given on the checklist. Another setting accommodation on the list that would be appropriate is to allow this student the freedom to move, stand or pace during an individualized administration of the test. Since sitting still would be such a strain for a student like him, I could imagine focusing on the test items would be more difficult. Therefore, giving him the freedom to stand or move as he completes the test would take some of the stress off this student and help him focus on the assessment. |