"D" always enters my classroom with a question. "Do you like the band Tool? I've been listening to them a lot lately." or "How's your family? My brothers are doing well." He has a curiosity for life that is truly contagious. Luckily for me, piano is something that has caught his attention, and he made immense progress over the year. "D" is the youngest of five brothers, and also has mild intellectual delays.
Teaching group piano creates the perfect atmosphere for differentiating instruction. Class starts with introduction of a common concept to the full class. ,Students are asked to show understanding and mastery of that concept over the span of the unit. The remaining time in class is used applying those concepts to performance on the piano, and I am able to work with each student individually while other students practice with headphones on.
"D" generally needs extended time for his assignments, and I have adjusted/reduced concepts so that he won't feel overwhelmed. "D" has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) that helps guide priorities and accommodations that should be incorporated into his instruction. After a couple weeks of working on matching fingers to the piano keys, I noticed that "D" would do great after the concept was re-taught, but that his hand would end up in the wrong place.
"D" had hit a road block, and was becoming discouraged and distracted. I tired to think about accommodations that had helped me through my own musical training, and got an idea. On string instruments, it's common to use color-coded tapes to correlate with the finger and where it should be placed. To take it a step further, you can color code the music so that you can make a visual connection of which note that finger plays.
Excited to apply this concept to piano, I grabbed some Post-It Note Flags and Crayola Markers from Office Depot and got to work. I placed the note flags on the keys and marked the music for "D" with the matching color. "D" was able to gain some new found motivation and confidence in his piano performance, and he successfully perform a full length solo at our end of the year recital.
Comentários