Michael Parker

MUED 380
Jesse Rathgeber
10/25/16
Dr. Hammel Discussion Questions
Chapter 4:
1. What are some of the most important strategies a music teacher
can use to be part of the team at her school (discuss at least four)?
1. Get out of your own classroom. I have heard from many teachers that
their music classroom is in an isolated section of their school, which makes
interacting with the potential team even more difficult. To become apart of
the team of teachers, one must branch out and interact with these other
team members.
2. Be aware of student in the music classroom, as well as in relation to their
other classes. Communicating with other teachers about issues that you
may be facing in your classroom may lead to a better understanding of the
individual student, and therefore a more effective lesson plan to help
connect the student to you and the rest of the class.
3. Review your class lists with a guidance counselor. While we are preparing
our best to assist students in our classes day to day, the guidance counselor
at a school can hold a wealth of knowledge not only on the student but also
on other resources that may help you as an educator better craft your
teaching to fit the needs of every student.
4. Stay in touch with parents and other adult influences in a students life.
Parents will be much more willing to talk about their children with teachers if
they feel that it will lead them to receive a better education. You may also
try asking other adult influences in a students life, such as a team coach, to
see if they have found strategies that help lead to growth in that student.
2. What are the similarities and differences between and IEP and a
504 plan?
IEP and 504 plans both seek to assist students with special needs receive
the necessary accommodations in the classroom. While they are both
important for the success of the students, IEP plans tend to be more
structured for students with more severe needs.
3. Please choose five accommodations and discuss how those may
be beneficial for an entire music class or ensemble?
1. Copies of notes from teachers could help any student who has possibly

missed class or simply needs more of a concrete study guide to examine

when learning material.
2. Extended time to complete all classroom assignments could be beneficial
in the sense that it allows students to complete their work at their own pace,
and therefore take more control of their learning.
3. Extra sets of books at home would make it much easier for teachers to
make sure students have all of their materials in class every day by having a
copy of them at the school. Teachers could also send home extra method
books for students to practice.
4. Study guides, along with extra notes for class, once again help students
who may be visual learners to help grasp some of the concepts in an aurallydominated environment.
5. Extended time for taking tests could mean that for a particular playing
tests, the tempo can vary from student to student, and once again
personalizes the learning experience rather than expecting every individual
to be at the same place on the learning curve.
4. Based on what you have read in this chapter, what are some
specific adaptations, accommodations, or modifications that you
could use in your classroom (or future classroom)?
I think it would be important to have computers available in the classroom,
as a secondary and sometimes necessary way for students to continue
learning. I think it may also be beneficial to allow some students more time
(within reason) to complete assignment rather than expecting every student
to finish at the same time, thus allowing students to grow at their own pace.
5. Have you worked with students in any of the categories
mentioned above? If so, what were some of the challenges or
successes that you noticed?
I have not had the opportunity to work with students in these categories
much, but I look forward to being able to create an integrated environment in
my classroom one day!
Chapter 6:
1. Your fifth-grade music class on Wednesday mornings includes a
student with severe cognitive challenges. In reviewing your
curriculum for fifth-grade music, you see that every student is to
demonstrate mastery of sixteenth note rhythms in all variations
(duple and compound). You are sure that this student, whom you
have taught since kindergarten, is going to have a difficult time

achieving this district-mandated objective. What can you do to

modify or adapt the curriculum for this student?
It is imperative to get to know the student personally and what his or her
specific needs are. While I would still want to see that some progress has
been made on learning sixteenth notes, I would not necessarily expect
mastery of the skill. Instead, I would look to see that the basic
understanding is there, with or without rhythm syllables, and maybe try and
perform the sixteenth note subdivisions with them. We could also take
slower tempos and even not perform them, just having them notate specific
sixteenth note patterns. I would also potentially limit the content to only
duple meter.

2 Questions:
- At what point do most teachers/administration say that a student
should not be integrated into a regular musical setting and how can we
still make sure they have some level of music education in their lives?
- How would you accommodate movement activities for students with
limited mobility or possibly no mobility without them feeling excluded
from the activity all together?