A Teacher for Integration in “The Baxter Experiment”: Part 1

by www.eteachers.info in Education, June 14, 2009

Outside the realm of behavioral plans and 504 plans developed by Child Study Teams, more teachers are adapting their lessons and teaching styles so that students with difficulty learning in a specific subject area can be aided through teacher modification. One such method is a Student Success Plan. While this may be part of a formal CST plan, the Success Plan is often retained within a classroom. For this study, the sample plan is created for a 6th grade student named “Baxter.” The plan will demonstrate how this individual student will achieve the standards in music.

Baxter has difficulty not being the center of attention and is unable to concentrate for long periods of time. Though he does not have a 504 plan, the parents have acknowledged the issue and have chosen to address it privately rather than have a modification plan school-wide. He is friendly and quite popular yet gets unnerved easily. At the first sign of difficulty, he becomes discouraged and will stop working on his assignment and contributing in the class. Through the difficulties, he has an appreciation for music but is not able to grasp the concepts in the same ways or in the same amount of time as the other students.

The most basic of standards that Baxter must tackle before proceeding with the more advanced ones is Standard 1.2.B.1. “Read music from progressively complex notation, including mixed meters, compound meters, and the grand staff” (New Jersey, 2004). Without the ability to read basic notation, he will be unable to understand the reading or writing assignments and be unable to keep up with the rest of the class. To begin the Student Success Plan, Baxter will complete one double sided worksheet with the teacher during the lunch period before he has music, once per week. This worksheet is a remedial method that the teacher will craft based on “Every Good Bird Does Fly” and “Great Big Dogs Fight Animals,” which is the acronym for the treble and bass clef.