5/6/2021
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Roberto Giovanetti
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I had a student who was born without arms but loved music. He especially loved percussion instruments. He was able to write, feed himself, and do almost everything that is done with arms and hands. The obstacles that he found to participate in a music ensemble where the obstacles of instruments and settings that where not designed to be adaptable. He was able to participate fully when we started adapting the instruments to fit his toes. He loved to play a "güiro", which is a long dried gourd that has one side covered in parallel carvings and has holes on the other side to hold it. It is played by striking the carvings with a "puya", which has a wood handle and very thin, blunt metal sticks. This instrument produces a sound that keeps the rhythm and is at the heart of a large portion of Puerto Rican music. For my student to be able to hold the "güiro" we custom-fitted the circumference of the holes used to hold it to the size of his toes. Then we sanded and reduced the size of the handle of the "puya" to make it thin enough for to hold it between his toes. He also required an adapted seating setting that allowed him to raise his legs to play without putting too much stress on his back/waist. When he was at the center of the rhythm section he was able to keep everyone else coordinated as they followed his steady lead. Instead of making him adapt to what was available, we needed to adapt what was available for him to be able to express himself. |
5/11/2021
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Roberto Giovanetti
|
During the 1st semester of this school year I was working from home via Zoom. My students were also working from home. In the middle of the semester I received a Middle School student who needed to stay home due to having relative living with him with a high vulnerability to COVID-19. His mother had been trying to find the right setting for his emotional disability. Not having a school building to go to had made my student deal with irritation, anxiety, restfulness.
When I received his name I called and talked to his mother and also to him. He was reluctant to talk to me and his mother shared with me how difficult it had been to keep him occupied while his siblings attempted to go to school via Zoom too.
We set up a date to have our first Zoom meeting. When we started my students was still reluctant that he was going to get the same experience as in the school building. However, as we interacted, as we started a conversation, I could sense how his emotional state was relaxing, which gave way to him being open to learn the about the topic of the day. Had it not being for the ability for my student to see my face, hear my voice, make comments , ask me questions, look at the examples that I showed him from my computer his first semester experience would not have been a productive one. At the end of the lesson he was smiling and looking forward to our next lesson.
Technology is not the answer to all problems but if definitely helps us stay connected to each other in meaningful ways. |
5/12/2021
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Roberto Giovanetti
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I had a lesson in which students needed to compare similarities between musical styles. This was a very active middle school class with students with Emotional/Behavioral disability. The lesson required listening to a diverse set of musical performances to be compared. When we tried to complete this activity as a group, a few students were able to follow along, were very engaged and offered answers to how the musical styles compared. There was this student who did not raise her hand to participate and looked annoyed by the eager participation of her peers.
For the 2nd part of this lesson, the students used their headphones and went online to look for a list of songs to be compared in writing. While the students were working on their own I took turns sitting with each student to check for understanding. This setting provided my student with Noise Buffer as well as an Individual Setting within the small group setting. Once all students were on task, listening to their selections with their headphones, there was no noise and it was possible for each student to listen and to talk without interruptions or distractions. |