6/22/2023
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Maeanna Callahan
|
One of my students had severe anxiety, with an extreme aversion to bugs of any kind. Unfortunately, my classroom was located in a small building outside of the school's main building with four doors and two full walls of windows. Bugs are often found dead in the windows or in the corners of the room where there is less foot traffic. This particular student would have to leave often to see the guidance counselor when he was triggered by the sightings. To help him, I vacuumed once per week and regularly checked the bass section (I'm an orchestra teacher) for bugs. I put this student in the bass section for two reasons: 1) the bass part is less demanding so when he leaves my class it doesn't take long for him to get back on track when he is able to come back to class (learning accommodation), and 2) the bass section is the furthest from the main doors where most of the bugs enter the room (preferential seating). I noticed his anxiety most often when he was trying to learn his part during rehearsals, especially if he had missed a couple classes that week. He would frequently stop playing and hug his bass. I created practice tracks to play during rehearsals so that the whole class could rehearse sections together and I was able to walk away from the podium and coach him on his part one-on-one. I also created a "bass only" practice track for him to listen to and practice with at home for the days he wasn't in class. |
6/27/2023
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Maeanna Callahan
|
One of my students had severe anxiety, with an extreme aversion to bugs of any kind. Unfortunately, my classroom was located in a small building outside of the school's main building with four doors and two full walls of windows. Bugs are often found dead in the windows or in the corners of the room where there is less foot traffic. This particular student would have to leave often to see the guidance counselor when he was triggered by the sightings. To help him, I vacuumed once per week and regularly checked the bass section (I'm an orchestra teacher) for bugs. I put this student in the bass section for two reasons: 1) the bass part is less demanding so when he leaves my class it doesn't take long for him to get back on track when he is able to come back to class (learning accommodation), and 2) the bass section is the furthest from the main doors where most of the bugs enter the room (preferential seating). I noticed his anxiety most often when he was trying to learn his part during rehearsals, especially if he had missed a couple classes that week. He would frequently stop playing and hug his bass. I created practice tracks to play during rehearsals so that the whole class could rehearse sections together and I was able to walk away from the podium and coach him on his part one-on-one. I also created a "bass only" practice track for him to listen to and practice with at home for the days he wasn't in class. |
6/27/2023
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Maeanna Callahan
|
- Describe how two of the strategies discussed could potentially be implemented in your classroom. Be sure to identify the two strategies by name and describe how they could be used to address the needs of a student with a disability.
I use technology all the time in my classroom, so I would like to briefly explain one of my favorite teaching tools for students who need more time/extended time to learn a piece, particularly when it comes to rhythm and note recognition. One of my students had severe anxiety, with an extreme aversion to bugs of any kind and would have to leave or miss my class regularly to see our guidance counselor. This caused him to miss many rehearsals! To help him (and other students who needed more time than my class time allowed), I created practice tracks that I uploaded to our learning platform (google classroom, Canvas, etc). Using the tracks allowed all students to rehearse together and I was able to walk away from the podium to coach him on his part one-on-one. I did this with other students as well, regardless of disability or not. I also uploaded tracks for each individual part for the pieces we were learning for that unit (i.e. First Violin, Second Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass) for students to listen to, memorize, and practice with at home.
A strategy that I would very much like to use in my classroom is CUBING. I really like the visual element of displaying the completed cube in the classroom, as well as having 6 different ways of approaching/learning about a new skill. I am very passionate about teaching students new bow strokes on our stringed instruments. I haven't designed the lesson yet, but I would like to introduce a new bowing term and use the cubing tool to compare and contrast the new bow stroke to previously learned ones. I would also like to adapt one of the sides to be called "Teach It" where the student has to attempt to teach the bow stroke to a partner. I feel that this should be a small group assignment and I would have students of different levels in a group. I would use Think-Pair-Share during the instruction phase of the bow stroke, and then use Cubing as the final product. I really believe that trying to understand a skill from 6 different viewpoints will enable both disability and non-disability students better understand a bow skill. Combining Think-Pair-Share with Cubing would give struggling students an opportunity to learn from their peers and give high-level students the chance to further develop or build upon what their partner contributes. |
6/27/2023
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Maeanna Callahan
|
- Think of a fine arts student with a disability you have now or in the past. Review the Assessment Accommodations Checklist and select two options that could potentially benefit this student in assessing his or her fine arts learning. Discuss how they would benefit the student.
I know that accommodations can be made in four areas: (1) Presentation, or how students receive instruction, (2) Response, or how students show what they know, (3) Setting, or how the classroom is set up for instruction and assessment, and (4) Allotted Time, or how time is adjusted for students to work or be assessed. Most often I have students with behavioral disabilities such as ADD or ADHD in my classes. I would provide accommodations in Allotted Time, Setting, and Response. ADD/ADHD students get distracted easily, so increasing the amount of time during assessment could give enough time for a distracted student to get back on track if I gave a written assessment. I also know that these students will better succeed in an organized and familiar space. If I was preparing an assessment performance of any bow strokes/pass-offs/scales, I would offer Setting options. Students can (1) submit a recording from home or (2) perform for me in class within a window of time that they would sign up for. Because these students can feel easily overwhelmed when performing in front of others, I could also provide options for Response that a student can choose from. If I were preparing an assessment of the C Major scale I would give students the option to (1) Perform the scale on their instrument, (2) Dictate on staff paper the note names, fingerings, and location of whole or half steps for the scale in first position, or (3) Have the student listen to 3 different sound samples of the scale where two are incorrectly performed and the student must choose the one that is performed correctly and describe why the other two sound samples were incorrect. All options would allow me to understand what the student understands or does not understand about the C major scale. |