Harlan,+Megan,+Inclusion+Strategies+in+Music

**About Me:** A simple granola loving, small town hippy, adventure seeking, Christian girl who will try almost anything once. I was born in Alaska and moved all over the United States, but a small farming community called Kuna, Idaho is my “hometown” where life is like a true country song. I believe everyone should live life to its fullest with no regrets or looking back. My passion is the outdoors and my current portfolio of activities includes: rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, camping, rafting, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and shooting guns. I am terrible at baking and hate doing dishes, but I love cooking and cleaning. I love dogs and one day I want a husky named Denali.

**Educational Goals**: Next year completing the licenser track. After a few years of teaching I want to go back to school and obtain my Masters in Teaching. Eventually I also would like to be certified to teach Special Education, and obtain a Masters in Environmental Education. If I have the time and money I also want to major in Environmental Studies and/or Geology.

**Career Goals:** Teach in a low income school for a few years, and then teach at a rural school (both in the Southern Oregon area). I would also like to teach in Russia for a few years, but if life takes me in another direction I am p erfectly fine with that as well.

**Joys:** Jesus and my every growing relationship with Him, Family, Friends, Outdoors, Music

**Greatest Teaching Fear:**The parents and paperwork. Kids are easy, but parents can make the job awful and desk work is not something anyone enjoys.

**Difficult to Learn & How Helps Me Connect to Students:** Math. It was not until this year did I really understood began to enjoy math, and before I avoided m ath like the plague. I cried so many tears over math and is the only class I have received a B in. In college math classes I spent countless hours on my math homework with tutors and my professors trying to understand simple concepts. Last year I enlisted my best friend to be my math tutor, and many times I would be so frustrated with a math problem that we would start yelling at each other or I would give up and try and get her to do my homework for me. At the time I hated having such a hard time with math, but now looking back on it I am glad it was so hard because I am able to understand when students get frustrated with math. To teach math I am going to show the students many different ways to solve a problem and encourage them to find and use a way that works best for them.

**Gain From Course:** How to help/teach students with learning disabilities in my classroom and how to spot a learning disability.

Inclusions in Music

One of my greatest joys in life is having the ability to listen to and create music, and this is why I choose inclusions in music for my topic. It is a common misconception that children with disabilities do not have the ability to be involved in music, but with my research I have discovered that there are many different ways to include students with disabilities in the music world. I also chose this topic so when I get my classroom I can feel confident in my ability to use music to complement teaching, because I believe that music can increase learning because it is fun and simple beats helps with rote memorization. While doing some research I found this really cool music video of a song written by Speach Pathologist Katrina Marie R. Lopez aimed at helping an autism awareness campaign []
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 * Top Resource: **

"Special Education Music: Songs for Children, Teens and Adults with Special Needs." Songs for Teaching. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2012. [] Fantastic source for general education and music teachers alike. This resource has songs for almost anything that you are doing in the classroom that would help all students. The song are broken up into sections of: Songs that Reinforce Good Behavior, Activity Songs for People with Physical Challenges, Songs that Assist in Transitions, Songs for Children with Cognitive Challenges, Dance Therapy Songs, Songs that Teach American Sign Languages, Understanding and Acceptance of Emotions, Teaching Social Skills, Everyday Routine Skills, Music for Children with Autism, and Songs for Speech Therapy.
 * 5 out of 5 stars **


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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Darrow, Alice-Ann. "Dealing with diversity: The inclusion of students with disabilities in music." Research Studies in Music Education 21.451 Dec. (2003): 45-57. Web. 9 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Great resource and the ideas contained inside can be used for almost any subject. This article is broken down into three different ways to instruct students with disabilities, and then how to grade such students. The three basic ways include: how a classroom teacher can plan instruction, peer-mediated instructional strategies, and how to group students. Under each strategy Darrow also gives practical ways to apply these into the inclusive classroom.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 5 out of 5 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Dominica, Sharon. "The Power of Music : Healing and Therapy Tips for Special Needs Children." Bright Hub. N.p., 19 May 2011. Web. 9 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">When looking for a quick way to use music in the classroom this article is fantastic. This article talks about what music therapy is and different ways of how to use it in the classroom. Also included in this article are different activities you can use in in music therapy for any type of children. One activity is how to teach children left and right by having the child hold two different sounding rattles in the left and right hand, and when you say left or right help the child shake the left or right hand
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 5 out of 5 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Hammel, Alice. "Inclusion Strategies that Work." Music Educators Journal 90.5 May (2004): 33-37. Web. 9 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Awesome resource to help teachers make a more inclusive classroom. Included are changes a teacher can do to create a more inclusive classroom, and the most practical way to make these changes. Hammel also mentions ideas of how to Adapt Instructional Methods and Materials for Special Learners in music. One such idea is to “Use Velcro strips to help students hold mallets or small instruments. Sticks can also be wrapped with tape or foam rubber to facilitate handling.”
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 5 out of 5 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">"Inclusion in Music Education Statistics." Inclusion in Music Education Statistics Section. Music Education Guide, n.d. Web. 9 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">If you ever find yourself working in a school where music is not seen as a valuable part of education this article is for you. In this article the author explains why music should be used in the classroom to help students with disabilities cope with certain things. One example is that music can be used to help reduce unsuitable behavior in students (fighting…) and “helps them relax and have a happier friendlier mood”.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 3 out of 5 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Jones, Kaye. "Music Activities for Special-Education Children." eHow Mom. eHow, n.d. Web. 9 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Quick and dirty resource for all teachers to know how to more effectively make music more inclusive. Jones breaks her article into sections (chanting, personalized songs, images, and movement) in which she explains ways to make music more friendly and effective with students with disabilities, and she explains the benefits of using music with all students.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 5 out of 5 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">"Deciphering IEP'S-What They Mean for Music Educators." Music Education Highlights. eHow, 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 9 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Good resources for music teachers to know the basic about what an IEP is, and what is means to them. This source also includes tips for a successful inclusion, and one such tip is “Present your lessons in a structured, well-organized, appropriately paced manner. Allow enough time for students to respond”. If you feel so obliged this site also allows readers to comment on the postings, so comment on! :)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Liyana. "Sugar Rhythms." 2008. Web. 9 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Awesome music video of a band from Africa whose members all have some type of disability, mainly physical. This is a great resource to change the perspective of students’ minds that a “limitation” can hold them back from accomplishing great things.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 4 out of 5 **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Jellison, Judith A., and Patricia J. Flowers. "Talking about Music: Interviews with Disabled and Nondisabled Children." Journal of Research in Music Education 39.3221 Jan. (1991). Web. 19 May 2012. [] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Awesome article about a research project that was conducted to get a better understanding of the type of role music plays in the life elementary students with and without disabilities. This article is a great way for teachers to gain a new perspective on how important it is to make music inclusive with statistics from the interviews conducted that are astonishing, and one such statistic is that “76% of the students with disabilities and 59% of the nondisabled students maintained a steady beat while clapping”.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Star Rating: 5 out of 5 **

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 19.3333px; text-align: center;">Top 5 Things I Learned

<span style="color: #267972; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">1. Songs that I can use in my classroom to help students with a variety of disabilities, and help for all students with different parts of a school day. <span style="color: #267972; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">2. All students love music, but some students just may need a little extra support in being able to create music. <span style="color: #267972; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">3. Music can be an inclusive subject, and only takes creativity and effort to make it that way. There are also many websites and workshops to aid creating music into an inclusive subject. <span style="color: #267972; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">4. Slowing down a lesson and being clear about what the lesson will be about is a key component in music being inclusive. <span style="color: #267972; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5. If a child has a physical disability instruments can easily be adapted so the student is able to play music.