7/7/2021
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
John Kendall
|
Recently, I had a student with numerous learning, physical and behavioral challenges. His ability to function in a typical beginning orchestra class was severely affected by these challenges. He initially chose to learn the cello. Learning the skills necessary to perform on this instrument in the traditional orchestra environment proved to be more frustrating than productive. Consequently, his frustration manifested itself in vocal outbursts and fidgeting on his instrument. Overtime, progress was made but at avery delayed rate with many frustrations and teacher interventions during class time. One -on-one instruction was used on many occasions but in this environment, the student had the same challenges and frustrations. Eventually, he just shut down.
However, there is more to the story. I happened to need a percussion part for a piece we were learning in class. I asked my student if he would like to try this part on the Cajon. He was very excited at this opportunity. In the days that followed, I had never seen him as focused and genuinely involved in the process as when he was playing the Cajon part. He still had challenges in the ensemble, but his behavior turned from negative to positive and he now felt like he was part of the group. This positive development prompted me to seek out music that could feature or at least include him in the performance. We lost a cellist, but we gained a much happier and fulfilled young man who enjoyed the process and community of music making! |
7/9/2021
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
John Kendall
|
I had a student on the Autism spectrum who had attempted traditional band and orchestra classes. These environments were over stimulating due to his sensory issues and attention deficits. In my Understanding Music through Digital Music class he was able to learn and explore his musical creativity through an online music composition/production program called Bandlab. This program allowed him to work in a musical environment where he had control over the parameters of his work and free of the distractions and sensory overload in the traditional music classroom. His level of engagement and happiness in class was obvious as he his creative work would demonstrate. |
7/10/2021
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
John Kendall
|
I had a student on the Autism spectrum who had great difficulty maintaining focus during one-one-one performance assessments. He became very anxious even though I knew through his work with the whole orchestra that he could perform the required material at a acceptable level. I allowed him to complete his assessment by making a video of his performance at home and uploading it to his YouTube Channel. He performed his material at a better that acceptable level and was proud of his work. Since then, I allow other students to complete their assessments in this manner. |