6/8/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Zachary Bunnens
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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 had a student in one of my concert band classes that was non-verbal. He was very polite, and was excited to be in the class, he just never spoke. Because of this, I knew he would struggle being on a wind instrument and thought he would enjoy being in the percussion section. I gave him a pair of drum sticks and let him start on a practice pad. I was able to pair him up with another percussionist and they went over some simple rhythms, and by the end of the first week he was able to play simple quarter note rhythms. In this instance, I don't think his disability really affected his learning, he already had all the tools necessary to be successful, I just tried to put him in the best situation for him. He was just happy to be in the class and creating/listening to music, and I was glad to see how he lit up when he arrived in my classroom. Unfortunately soon thereafter COVID-19 shut everything down and I won't see him again because I am moving schools. |
6/8/2020
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Zachary Bunnens
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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 music classroom. Be sure to identify or describe the specific technology and the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion."
This past year I taught several sections of class piano. One student I had was autistic, however, he was also very talented. While he never got the rhythms quite right, he worked through the entire first book that we use, when most of the class barely got out of G position, this student was playing full songs in the back of the book. When it came time to do our composition project, this student again completed his assignment before everyone else. I allowed this student to use my personal laptop (my school district did not have technology for students to use) and introduced him to Finale. He quickly got the hang of it, and was able to copy his assignment into the computer to create a polished version. He was very proud of this feat, an even performed his piece for the class after we finished our projects. He even tried to create other songs, and I also showed him some of the free software versions available to him at home like musescore. |
6/8/2020
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Zachary Bunnens
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Option 1: Provide/Describe one or more examples of adapted or alternative assessments you have successfully used in the music classroom for students with disabilities. Be sure to identify the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
Over the years I have had several students who suffer from performance anxiety. As band is a performance based class, I had weekly playing tests. In order to adapt this for the students who had performance anxiety I allowed several options until they felt comfortable to play in front of the class (if that ever happnened).
- They were able to record themselves at home and send to me via email.
- They were able to come before or after school to do their pass-offs
- They were able to do their pass-offs immediately after class if time permitted.
These options allowed for these students to still do their assessments, while not being worried about the other students in the room. Over time I believe this helped with their performance anxiety and made the process more tolerable. |