Standard #3: The
teacher understands how pupils differ in their approaches to learning and the
barriers that impede learning and can adapt instruction to meet the diverse
needs of pupils, including those with disabilities and exceptionalities.
Artifacts: Concert Chorus Lesson 1 (Mozart Melisma), Concert Chorus Classroom Profile, Quiz
Knowledge of Students’ Varied Approaches to Learning
In every classroom, you have a variety of learning styles, multiple intelligences, ability levels, and exceptionalities. This is evident in my Concert Chorus Classroom Profile, where it is notated that there are a mixture of men and women, racial backgrounds, and ability levels in the class. Because these students all learn differently, it is important to adapt instruction to meet the needs of all students. In my Concert Chorus Lesson 1, I modified a warm-up into the Spanish vernacular to engage a student who predominantly speaks Spanish (and for whom many of the quick English and vocable warm-ups had previously been a difficulty). I also used a visual representation of a duet so that students could follow along to as the music played. The visual representation not only showed the varying pitch “levels” of each soloist, but distinguished soloists by using different colors for different voices. Finally, the students were given a formal assessment in a quiz to determine what information they had learned in that immediate lesson, as well as to check on musical literacy in the form of writing major and minor keys through sol-fege and note names. The quiz was adapted to meet the needs of two new students – one is a foreign exchange student, and the other had recently joined choir from the alternative school. Instead of giving these students the paper quiz, I went over the vocabulary/piece questions verbally and reviewed previous literacy lessons with them to assess their learning.
Artifacts: Concert Chorus Lesson 1 (Mozart Melisma), Concert Chorus Classroom Profile, Quiz
Knowledge of Students’ Varied Approaches to Learning
In every classroom, you have a variety of learning styles, multiple intelligences, ability levels, and exceptionalities. This is evident in my Concert Chorus Classroom Profile, where it is notated that there are a mixture of men and women, racial backgrounds, and ability levels in the class. Because these students all learn differently, it is important to adapt instruction to meet the needs of all students. In my Concert Chorus Lesson 1, I modified a warm-up into the Spanish vernacular to engage a student who predominantly speaks Spanish (and for whom many of the quick English and vocable warm-ups had previously been a difficulty). I also used a visual representation of a duet so that students could follow along to as the music played. The visual representation not only showed the varying pitch “levels” of each soloist, but distinguished soloists by using different colors for different voices. Finally, the students were given a formal assessment in a quiz to determine what information they had learned in that immediate lesson, as well as to check on musical literacy in the form of writing major and minor keys through sol-fege and note names. The quiz was adapted to meet the needs of two new students – one is a foreign exchange student, and the other had recently joined choir from the alternative school. Instead of giving these students the paper quiz, I went over the vocabulary/piece questions verbally and reviewed previous literacy lessons with them to assess their learning.