6/25/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Anita Malcolm
|
I have a kindergartener who is blind. While I teach many students with disabilities, this is the first time I have taught a blind student. She comes with a para who is wonderful. I have seated her next to me so that she can hear me clearly. I have velcro spots on the floor for students to sit on, and her spot is next to my desk, so we taught her to walk to the desk and then feel her spot on the floor, which she does independently now. If there are motions to a song, I describe them as I teach the song with motions, or I show her hand over hand while I am singing with the class. When we do movement/dances in a circle, her para usually dances with her first and then she continues on by herself. We have also taught the other students to reach out to her if they are the next partner in the circle or say "I'm here" so that she knows where to toss the bean bag/stuffed animal/scarf. When there is movement around the room, her para generally goes with her, but she has learned the layout of the room pretty well. When we play xylophones, I have showed her how to feel the big to small sizes and say the letters from C to whatever we are playing. She has not mastered this, but it is a start. She is a joy to teach, and I look forward to working with her as she gets older and more skilled. |
6/26/2020
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Anita Malcolm
|
I recently had a small group of students who had specific learning disabilities and ADHD and were very disruptive in my class. I was fortunate to be able to teach them in a very small group in 4th grade. I used to technology, in the form of Garageband, to engage the students, build relationships, build their confidence, teach social skills, and showcase their strengths. After showing them how to create songs in Garageband using loops, One of the students wrote a rap and the others created the background tracks. They even learned how to make sure they had the same tempo and key so that they could combine their tracks. They also created a dance with ribbon wands, and we videotaped the performance. Because I built relationships with them, they were then open to working on learning recorder and reading notation (which is what the rest of the grade level was working on). When they returned in 5th grade as part of a regular class, all of the boys exhibited much better behavior! |
6/26/2020
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Anita Malcolm
|
I have taught several students with physical disabilities that prevented them from playing the recorder or limited the notes they could play. Examples are only one functional hand, broken arms, missing fingers, and a lack of the finger dexterity needed to move individual fingers and cover the holes. I have adapted recorder assessments by having students be responsible for fewer pitches, letting them play with right hand at the top (if the left hand is disabled), and having them play the same songs on xylophones rather than recorder. I assess students individually so that those who need to play at a slower tempo can do so. |